Found Antietam Battle Plan

[Miker91]

Anyone know if Lee's battle plan found by the Union stills exists and if so what museum or private owner has it ? Thanks.

 

[67th Tigers]

There was no "battle plan". If you mean the operational orders "Special Orders no. 191", it is in the National Archives. Several other copies exist, and probably there were eleven copies, thus:

Copies from Lee's HQ:
1. Retained copy
2. To Longstreet (Longstreet destroyed it after reading)
3. To Walker (Walker kept his)
4. To Jackson
5. To McLaws
6. To DH Hill (the lost copy)
7. To Pendleton
8. To Stuart
9. To President Davis
10. To the Adjutant-General

and

11. Copy of order to Jackson transcribed and sent to DH Hill

 

[Saphroneth]

It might also be useful to point out that it's not any kind of plan for the Battle of Antietam. It was issued on Tuesday 9th, for Wednesday 10th to Friday 12th inclusive, and was found on Saturday 13th; if it's a plan for any battle it's for the Battle of Harpers Ferry.

It's a plan for one part of the Maryland Campaign, and was useful, but by the Battle of Antietam it was hopelessly obsolete.

 

[ErnieMac]

The Lost Order did set the stage for the battles at South Mountain on the 14th.

 

[Saphroneth]

The Lost Order did set the stage for the battles at South Mountain on the 14th.

Yep, that it did - the extent to which it did is unclear, but it can't have failed to contribute.

Interestingly though the situation for South Mountain was different to the one in SO 191 - SO 191 only envisaged Longstreet going as far as Boonsboro, but by the 13th he'd moved on to Hagerstown.

 

[connecticut yankee]

The original Order 191 (shown above) in 2012 after 150 years of its finding was on display at Antietam National Battlefield Park. It is owned and resides now in the Library of Congress (LOC).

 

[Saphroneth]

An interesting point is that the found copy starts at entry III (3), and the first two were unknown.

 

[Miker91]

1

 

[Miker91]

Many thanks for all the info !

 

[67th Tigers]

The original Order 191 (shown above) in 2012 after 150 years of its finding was on display at Antietam National Battlefield Park. It is owned and resides now in the Library of Congress (LOC).

This isn't the lost copy. It is the one that DH Hill received from Jackson (which he retained and hence was able to prove he hadn't lost it). The lost copy was the one from Lee's HQ direct to DH Hill.

 

[Saphroneth]

The fact that Jackson made a duplicate was probably what led to the Lost Order being lost, as such - there wasn't a "missing copy", as in someone who should have got one but didn't.

 

[kholland]

View attachment 365231
The original Order 191 (shown above) in 2012 after 150 years of its finding was on display at Antietam National Battlefield Park. It is owned and resides now in the Library of Congress (LOC).

And the actual spot where the "lost order" was found is within the Monocacy Battlefield (near Frederick, Maryland) on the site. of the Best Farm. This battle in 1864 was instrumental in slowing the Confederate advance on Washington, DC giving time for reinforcements to arrive. As a matter of fact the PR bandied about for this battle calls it "the battle that saved Washington, DC".

As a matter of fact the Library of Congress copy was lent to to Monacacy Battlefield for a short time in August of 2012. Below is their Facebook announcement back then.

https://m.facebook.com/antietamnps/posts/122399584571698