Brian Klaas

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.

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.

And outside of the tent, you know, this is one of these periods where the generals all have their sort of assistant outside the tent to sort of, you know, filter out what's worth the general's time. And the guy who was filtering this day was named Colonel Samuel Pittman. And Pittman reads this and he instantly knows that the orders are genuine. And this is the second part of the story.

And outside of the tent, you know, this is one of these periods where the generals all have their sort of assistant outside the tent to sort of, you know, filter out what's worth the general's time. And the guy who was filtering this day was named Colonel Samuel Pittman. And Pittman reads this and he instantly knows that the orders are genuine. And this is the second part of the story.

And outside of the tent, you know, this is one of these periods where the generals all have their sort of assistant outside the tent to sort of, you know, filter out what's worth the general's time. And the guy who was filtering this day was named Colonel Samuel Pittman. And Pittman reads this and he instantly knows that the orders are genuine. And this is the second part of the story.

This is the part that I absolutely love. So the reason Pittman knows that they're real is because we worked before he joined the army as a bank teller in Detroit, Michigan. And he was the paymaster for the U.S. Army. And as a result of that, what he had to do was process checks that were signed by people in the military.

This is the part that I absolutely love. So the reason Pittman knows that they're real is because we worked before he joined the army as a bank teller in Detroit, Michigan. And he was the paymaster for the U.S. Army. And as a result of that, what he had to do was process checks that were signed by people in the military.

This is the part that I absolutely love. So the reason Pittman knows that they're real is because we worked before he joined the army as a bank teller in Detroit, Michigan. And he was the paymaster for the U.S. Army. And as a result of that, what he had to do was process checks that were signed by people in the military.

And it turned out that Pittman had seen Chilton's signature literally thousands of times before the war broke out. So he happens to be the one person in the Union Army who can look at the signature and say, yes, that's actually the right guy. This is a real set of orders and so on. And so he conveys this information. The Union Army changes its mind and moves and meets at the Battle of Antietam.

And it turned out that Pittman had seen Chilton's signature literally thousands of times before the war broke out. So he happens to be the one person in the Union Army who can look at the signature and say, yes, that's actually the right guy. This is a real set of orders and so on. And so he conveys this information. The Union Army changes its mind and moves and meets at the Battle of Antietam.