The Lost Orders

Lee's Special Orders No. 191, known as the Lost Orders, outlined the movements of his army for the operation against Harpers Ferry. Lee sent copies to his subordinate commanders on September 9, and the copy later read by General George B. McClellan was found on September 13 by three Federal soldiers in an abandoned campsite near Frederick, inside an envelope wrapped around three cigars and addressed to General D. H. Hill. Because of confusion between Lee's headquarters and General T. J. Jackson's headquarters over Hill's place in the chain of command, two copies of the order had been sent to Hill; Hill received Jackson's copy, while Lee's copy was lost. McClellan's discovery allowed him to move with unusual certainty, and Lee, puzzled by McClellan's speed, took steps to protect his army until it could be concentrated. Yet the opportunity created by the lost order has been overstated, because by the time Federal troops found it, the information was already dated: Jackson was already safely on the Confederate side of the Potomac, and General James Longstreet could have crossed at Williamsport if Lee had chosen to withdraw. Union troops in the Catoctin Valley could not have prevented Lee from seeking safety across the Potomac. Even before learning of Special Orders No. 191, McClellan issued orders on September 12 that led toward the Battle of South Mountain, placing the vanguard of General Ambrose E. Burnside's troops in the Catoctin Valley on the 13th, while McClellan's main force did not reach the foot of South Mountain until the 14th. Even without the Lost Orders, the battles of South Mountain and Antietam still would have occurred, and Lee's Maryland campaign still would have failed because his army remained divided too long and McClellan moved faster than Lee expected.

Maryland · United States