During the early morning hours of September 13, 1862, Corporal Barton Mitchell and Sergeant John Bloss of the 27th Indiana were having a pleasant conversation in a field slightly southeast of the village of Frederick, Maryland. Just the day before, the last elements of the Confederate Army had vacated Frederick as the vanguard of the Federal Army marched-in, and the 27th had been assigned a bivouac site recently occupied by the Rebels.
Mitchell suddenly noticed a large envelope in the grass nearby. Inside the two found three cigars wrapped in an official looking document. The cigars were a pleasant find, but the document seemed even more curious. When unfurled, the heading read: “Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, Special Order, No. 191,” and both soldiers fancied it something of importance. In fact, it would prove to be one of the most extraordinary intelligence windfalls in American military history.
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