Robert E Lee's Lost Orders
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What pivotal moment changed the course of the Civil War?
If you grew up in the United States, you most likely learned about the massive military battles and large-scale political fights that shaped the course of the American Civil War. Major moments in the history of the country carried out by names like Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War, fought between the North and South from April of 1861 to April of 1865, remains the deadliest military conflict in the history of the United States. The number of those who died fighting in the Civil War, estimated to be at least 620,000, is more than the number of Americans who died fighting in the War of 1812, the Revolutionary War, World War I, and World War II combined. But amidst the well-told stories of the Civil War, there is one that is much lesser known. And it's this hidden moment, a chance discovery really, which set off the bloodiest day in American military history and changed the entire outcome of the war and the future of the United States. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. On today's episode, Robert E. Lee's lost orders.
This is a twist of history. It's early morning on September 6th, 1862 on the banks of the Potomac River outside the town of Frederick, Maryland. A young man walks down a path toward the riverbank enjoying a pleasant summer day. But as he gets closer, he hears something in the distance and he stops. It sounds like it's coming from the river and it's bizarre, like hundreds of voices singing out in unison. The young man runs down the path and the sound gets louder. As he approaches the riverbank, he shields his eyes from the sun, and what he sees is even stranger than the sound. For a second, he can't wrap his mind around it, because in the shallows of the river, it looks like an army of dead men are waiting towards him, and they're singing. As they get closer, he sees sallow faces, hollow eyes, emaciated bodies. The young man hears something behind him and he sees a few other people from town approaching the riverbank. They look just as confused as him.
One woman says the group of men looks like a pack of ragged, lean and hungry wolves stalking through the river. The young man says it's more like something out of a circus sideshow. The singing gets louder and the two of them can make out the tunes. It's their state song, Maryland, My Maryland, and they can see the wet and tattered coats on some of the marching singers. This shocks them almost as much as an army of dead men would, because they realize they're witnessing something that has never happened before. The men's coats are gray. These are Confederate soldiers fighting for the South against the North in the American Civil War, and they're crossing the Potomac from Virginia into Northern Territory.
In September of 1862, the 34 states that make up America at the time have split apart and the Civil War has been raging for almost a year and a half. Tens of thousands of soldiers have already been killed. The issue at the heart of the war, of course, is slavery. While slavery had been abolished during the 19th century by major European powers like France and Great Britain, it continued to remain legal in several states and territories in America. President Abraham Lincoln, government leaders, and abolitionists, many of whom are free black men and women who escaped slavery like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, have pushed to outlaw slavery across the country. But other government leaders and many everyday people vehemently opposed them, especially in the southern states, the ones that used slaves to support their agricultural economy, by doing the back-breaking work of cultivating and picking crops like tobacco and cotton.
And the South's opposition to anti-slavery grew to the point that they were willing to leave the United States and go to war, a war that tore the nation apart and, as people would say, pitted brother against brother. By 1862, 11 southern states that refused to abolish slavery have seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, or the Confederacy.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What pivotal moment changed the course of the Civil War?
0:01–14:10
2
How did Robert E. Lee's decisions impact Maryland?
14:10–24:34
3
What was the significance of Lee's proclamation to Maryland?
24:34–28:35
4
How did Jeb Stuart react to unexpected Union scouts?
28:35–36:03
5
What challenges did General McClellan face after Second Manassas?
36:03–39:33