Brian Klaas

This is one of my favorite stories because there may be a few people who know the first part of this story, but the second part of it I had never seen written about. I found it in a very obscure journal article, and it's just unbelievably fascinating because the fate of the United States does genuinely pivot on a complete accident involving three cigars. So this goes back to 1862.

This is one of my favorite stories because there may be a few people who know the first part of this story, but the second part of it I had never seen written about. I found it in a very obscure journal article, and it's just unbelievably fascinating because the fate of the United States does genuinely pivot on a complete accident involving three cigars. So this goes back to 1862.

This is one of my favorite stories because there may be a few people who know the first part of this story, but the second part of it I had never seen written about. I found it in a very obscure journal article, and it's just unbelievably fascinating because the fate of the United States does genuinely pivot on a complete accident involving three cigars. So this goes back to 1862.

And what you have happen is you have this person who is in the Union Army. His name is Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Regiment. And at 9 a.m. on September 13th, 1862, it's a Saturday morning. He sits down to rest, right? They're marching these long days as part of the sort of army's movements. and he sits down next to a fence row.

And what you have happen is you have this person who is in the Union Army. His name is Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Regiment. And at 9 a.m. on September 13th, 1862, it's a Saturday morning. He sits down to rest, right? They're marching these long days as part of the sort of army's movements. and he sits down next to a fence row.

And what you have happen is you have this person who is in the Union Army. His name is Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Regiment. And at 9 a.m. on September 13th, 1862, it's a Saturday morning. He sits down to rest, right? They're marching these long days as part of the sort of army's movements. and he sits down next to a fence row.

And he stretches himself out, and all of a sudden this thing catches his eye, and he looks at it, and it's a sheet of paper, and he unwraps it. It turns out there's three cigars inside this sheet of paper. But in the paper... What is written is it says, Confidential Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, September 9th, 1862, Special Orders 191.

And he stretches himself out, and all of a sudden this thing catches his eye, and he looks at it, and it's a sheet of paper, and he unwraps it. It turns out there's three cigars inside this sheet of paper. But in the paper... What is written is it says, Confidential Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, September 9th, 1862, Special Orders 191.

And he stretches himself out, and all of a sudden this thing catches his eye, and he looks at it, and it's a sheet of paper, and he unwraps it. It turns out there's three cigars inside this sheet of paper. But in the paper... What is written is it says, Confidential Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, September 9th, 1862, Special Orders 191.

And so what Barton has accidentally discovered is the marching orders of the Confederate Army, which have fallen out of a satchel of one of the messengers. And this is like the most priceless intelligence you can possibly get when you're in the middle of a war, because it's about to tell you where the Confederate Army is going.

And so what Barton has accidentally discovered is the marching orders of the Confederate Army, which have fallen out of a satchel of one of the messengers. And this is like the most priceless intelligence you can possibly get when you're in the middle of a war, because it's about to tell you where the Confederate Army is going.

And so what Barton has accidentally discovered is the marching orders of the Confederate Army, which have fallen out of a satchel of one of the messengers. And this is like the most priceless intelligence you can possibly get when you're in the middle of a war, because it's about to tell you where the Confederate Army is going.

And this, if you know the Civil War dates, September 9th, 1862, is not far before one of the most consequential battles and indeed the bloodiest day in American history of the Battle of Antietam. And so what happens basically is they sort of have this conversation in the Union Army of, OK, we found these cigars. It seems too good to be true, right?

And this, if you know the Civil War dates, September 9th, 1862, is not far before one of the most consequential battles and indeed the bloodiest day in American history of the Battle of Antietam. And so what happens basically is they sort of have this conversation in the Union Army of, OK, we found these cigars. It seems too good to be true, right?

And this, if you know the Civil War dates, September 9th, 1862, is not far before one of the most consequential battles and indeed the bloodiest day in American history of the Battle of Antietam. And so what happens basically is they sort of have this conversation in the Union Army of, OK, we found these cigars. It seems too good to be true, right?

We accidentally came across these sort of these special orders. So how do we know they're genuine? Because if we're going to move the Union Army and have the whole battle plan change based on this intelligence, we need to know this is a real order and not some sort of, you know, gambit by the Confederates to trick us. So they look at the document of the document signed by a guy named R.H. Chilton.

We accidentally came across these sort of these special orders. So how do we know they're genuine? Because if we're going to move the Union Army and have the whole battle plan change based on this intelligence, we need to know this is a real order and not some sort of, you know, gambit by the Confederates to trick us. So they look at the document of the document signed by a guy named R.H. Chilton.

We accidentally came across these sort of these special orders. So how do we know they're genuine? Because if we're going to move the Union Army and have the whole battle plan change based on this intelligence, we need to know this is a real order and not some sort of, you know, gambit by the Confederates to trick us. So they look at the document of the document signed by a guy named R.H. Chilton.

by command of General Robert E. Lee. So this, you know, OK, it seems plausible. And so Barton, you know, sort of sends this up the chain of command. The letters go to the Union tents and they go to a general named Alpheus S. Williams.

by command of General Robert E. Lee. So this, you know, OK, it seems plausible. And so Barton, you know, sort of sends this up the chain of command. The letters go to the Union tents and they go to a general named Alpheus S. Williams.