The finding of Lee's lost order.
by Silas Colgrove, Brevet Brigadier-General, U. S. V.
In reply to your request for the particulars of the finding of
General Lee's lost dispatch, “Special orders no. 191,” and the manner in which it reached
General McClellan, I beg leave to submit the following account:
The Twelfth Army Corps arrived at
Frederick, Maryland, about noon on the 13th of September, 1862.
The 27th Indiana Volunteers, of which I was colonel at that date, belonged to the Third Brigade, First Division, of that corps.
We stacked arms on the same ground that had been occupied by
General D. H. Hill's division the evening before.
Within a very few minutes after halting, the order was brought to me by
First Sergeant John M. Bloss and
Private B. W. Mitchell, of Company F, 27th Indiana Volunteers, who stated that it was found by
Private Mitchell near where they had stacked arms.
When I received the order it was wrapped around three cigars, and
Private Mitchell stated that it was in that condition when found by him. [See p. 664.]
General A. S. Williams was in command of our division.
I immediately took the order to his headquarters, and delivered it to
Colonel S. E. Pittman,
General Williams's adjutant-general.
The order was signed by
Colonel Chilton,
General Lee's adjutant-general, and the signature was at once recognized by
Colonel Pittman, who had served with
Colonel Chilton at
Detroit, Michigan, before the war, and was acquainted with his handwriting.
It was at once taken to
General McClellan's headquarters by
Colonel Pittman.
It was a
general order giving directions for the movement of
General Lee's entire army, designating the route and objective point of each corps.
Within an hour after finding the dispatch,
General McClellan's whole army was on the move, and the enemy were overtaken next day, the 14th, at
South Mountain, and the battle of that name was fought.
During the night of the 14th
General Lee's army fell back toward the
Potomac River,
General McClellan following the next day. On the 16th they were overtaken again, and the
battle of Antietam.
was fought mainly on the 17th.
General D. H. Hill says in his article in the May “Century,” that the
battle of South Mountain was fought in order to give
General Lee time to move his trains, which were then parked in the neighborhood of
Boonsboro‘. It is evident from
General Lee's movements from the time he left Frederick City, that he intended to recross the
Potomac without hazarding a battle in
Maryland, and had it not been for the finding of this lost order, the
battle of South Mountain, and probably that of
Antietam, would not have been fought.
For confirmation of the above statements in regard to the finding of the dispatch, you are respectfully referred to
Colonel Samuel E. Pittman, of
Detroit, Michigan, and
Captain John M. Bloss, of
Muncie, Indiana.
Washington, D. C., June 2d, 1886.
note.--Mr. W. A. Mitchell, the son of Private Mitchell, who, as General Silas Colgrove describes above, was the finder of Lee's order, writes to say that his father was severely wounded at Antietam.
After eight months in hospital he completed his term of enlistment, three years, and three years after his discharge died at his home in Bartholomew, Indiana.
As his family were then destitute, some efforts are said to have been made to procure a pension for the widow, but General Colgrove (in a letter to the editor of the “Century,” dated Washington, November 15th, 1886) states that “neither the soldier nor the widow has ever filed a claim for pension, and any seeming failure of recognition is not due to neglect on the part of — the Pension Office.”
The following letter from
General McClellan to the son is of interest:
Your letter of the 9th inst has reached me. I cannot, at this interval of time, recall the name of the finder of the papers to which you refer — it is doubtful whether I ever knew the name.
All that I can say is that on or about the 13th of September, 1862,--just before the battles of
South Mountain aid
Antietam,--there was handed to me by a member of my staff a copy (original) of one of
General Lee's orders of march, directed to
General D. H. Hill, which order developed
General Lee's intended operations for the next few days, and was of very great service to me in enabling me to direct the movements of my own troops accordingly.
This order was stated to have been found on one of the abandoned camp-grounds of the
Confederate troops by a private soldier, and, as I think, of an Indiana regiment.
Whoever found the order in question and transmitted it to the headquarters showed intelligence and reserved marked reward, for he rendered an infinite service.
The widow of that soldier should have her pension without a day's delay.
Regretting that it is not in my power to give the name of the finder of the order, I am very truly yours,
Editors.
