The Mystery of the Lost Cigars (And Special Orders No. 191)

(Kudzu Monthly) - General Robert E. Lee issued Special Order No. 191 on September 9th 1862, and it was was signed by Lee's chief administrative officer Colonel Robert Hall Chilton. Included among the recipients was Major-General D.H. Hill. When the Confederates moved on, the Yankee 27th Indiana Infantry camped on the very same field, and it was there that Lee's orders, wrapped around three cigars, were found. Recognizing what his men had brought him, General George B. McClellan jubilantly sent a telegram to President Lincoln stating, "I have all the plans of the rebels." But Lincoln and the others knew that these "lost orders" might have been carelessly dropped... or placed there deliberately for the Yankees to find... Continued

Photo: Label for McClellan Tobacco, which I'm sure burned extra slowly (Library of Congress).