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Corporal Barton Mitchell mustered into the 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry on September 1861 at the age of 45. He is credited with discovering Special Orders 191 while marching through Frederick MD. Mitchell was wounded at the Battle of Antietam and spent eight months recovering in a Philadelphia hospital before returning to his regiment. He mustered out of the army in September 1864, returning home to Hartville, Indiana, where he operated a sawmill until his death in January 1868. During the few years from the end of the Civil War until his death, Mitchell embarked on a writing campaign hoping to receive "remuneration from Congress" for his part in finding the famous lost orders. The following letters, exchanges between Mitchell and persons he hoped could assist in his cause, are some of the earliest primary sources related to the Orders and remain part of the Mitchell family collection.
The letter from John McKnight Bloss to Mitchell, both soldiers in the 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, is in response to a letter that Mitchell sent him in early 1867. Bloss indicates that Mitchell had inquired about Bloss's recollection of the contents of the orders. Mitchell was likely trying to document the importance of the orders.
Also of interest is Bloss's reference to he and Mitchell being the only abolitionists in the camp, showing a former connection between the two comrades in addition to fighting together.
Mitchell secured this "certification" as proof that he was the finder of Special Orders 191 to further substantiate his claim. Dated March 9, 1867 and signed by Colonel Silus Colgrove, Colonel of the 27th Indiana and F. Colgrove, a major in the 27th Indiana.
On June 30, 1867, Mitchell wrote to James C. Wetmore, Ohio Military Agent in Washington, DC for assistance with his claim. The Washington office closed a month before Mitchell wrote this letter. Wetmore continued to process claims, but it is unknown if he forwarded Mitchell's claim to Congress.
Barton Mitchell died on January 29, 1868. In 1870 his son William took up his fathers cause, corresponding with former Union General George B. McClellan and Colonel Colgrove. Here the trail goes cold, and Mitchell never received the commendation he had hoped for from Congress. Mitchell is, however, most often credited as the soldier who found the orders by historians writing about the 1862 Maryland Campaign. |