The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Lost Orders of Antietam (9/13/1862)- Sep. 14th, 2003

http://bhere.com/plugugly/lost/story.html ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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THE LOST ORDER MYSTERY
On September 13, 1862, Robert E. Lee's Special Orders 191 was in Union hands. It detailed the detachments and orders of march of his Army of Northern Virginia which had disappeared behind the Blue Ridge Mountains during its invasion of the North. With this intelligence, the hesitant George McClellan was able to make an immediate and concentrated strike at Lee's scattered army that culminated in the the Battle of Antietam four days later. This battle ended Lee's first invasion of the North and, probably, sealed the fate of the Southern cause.


General Robert E. Lee

The circumstances how this order, possibly the most pivotal document in United States history, came into Union hands was, and still is, cloaked in mystery.

When and where did the Union obtain Special Orders 191?

Around noon on the 13th of September 1862 the XII Corps, 1st division of General Alpheus Williams bivouacked about a mile southeast of Frederick, Maryland. Williams' command had recently marched out of Washington in search of the invading rebel army which had passed through Frederick and then disappeared behind a cavalry screen and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The official story states that while the division was encamping on a former Confederate campground, a Private Barton Mitchell of the 27th Indiana, while chatting with a Sgt. John Bloss, was said to have found an envelope containing three cigars wrapped in a piece of paper.



Upon observing the paper, he noticed that it appeared to be an enemy order and took it his Captain Peter Kop, who in turn conveyed to the Regiment's Col. Silas Colgrove. Colgrove took the order to General Williams.

There it was determined to be a bona fide document by Capt. Samuel Pittman, Williams' adjutant, on the basis of his ability to verify the signature of the order's signer, Col. Robert Hall Chilton, AAG to Lee. Chilton, it turned out, had been stationed in the prewar Army at Detroit, home of both Pittman and Williams, and had known Pittman, and probably Williams. The circumstances of this relationship is cited variously as that of a friend, military colleague, and simply as knowing each other. The most interesting assertion is that Pittman has been a teller at a bank where Chilton had kept an account and therefore knew the signature.

The order ascertained, Williams hastily sent it to McClellan, with a cover letter, the only contemporary document referring to the discovery of the "Lost Dispatch", also called the "Lost Order". McClellan was to wire the President on the same day declaring, "I have all the plans of the rebels..."

When did the Confederates realize that the order was in the Union's possession?

Versions of the answer to this question range from as soon as the evening of the 13th to months later when stories of its discovery were published in the Northern press. Good arguments are made for both early and late realizations.

How could such an important order get lost?

As the order was addressed to General D.H. Hill, he became the goat since it was concluded that the order must have been carelessly used by one of his staff officers to wrap his cigars which then fell from his pocket and became lost. The order, issued on the 9th of September following a conference among Lee, Jackson and Longstreet, seemingly would have to have lain on the ground for 48 to 72 hours as Hill's forces, which formed the rear guard screen of Lee's movement behind the Blue Ridge, left the vicinity of Frederick on September 10th.


General George McClellan

In post-war statements, General D.H. Hill vehemently denied that the order reached anyone in his command with authority to sign for it, that is, him or his AAG Col. Ratchford. He pointed out that he had received the same orders in the handwriting of his immediate superior, Gen. Jackson, and even retained that order which now resides in the North Carolina Historical Museum. He also supplied an affidavit from his AAG, Col. Ratchford affirming that no other order came to them and then suggested that the order may have been passed on by treachery.

The writer of the order, Lee's AG. Col. Robert Hall Chilton, stated that he "kept no operational log or journal that would prove that his courier returned with the required evidence of delivery." In letter to Jefferson Davis in 1874, he blandly said that, "That omission to deliver in his [the courier's] case so important an order [would] have been recollected as entailing the duty to advise its loss, to guard against consequences, and to act as required... But I could not of course say positively that I had sent any particular courier to him [D.H. Hill] after such a lapse of time."

Suspicions: The Real Story of Special Orders 191?

In all the accounts that I have read about this extraordinary event, I have yet to read of any attempt to analyze this occurrence from the viewpoint that treachery was involved. In particular, I wondered why the signatory of the order, Chilton, has never been scrutinized in the manner. Perhaps, lack of hard evidence and the obscurity of time and the chaos that immediately followed the order's discovery made the task too daunting.

From what is known, the order was only seen by Pvt. Barton, Sgt. Bloss, Captain Kop, Col. Colgrove, Capt. Pittman, Gen. Williams, Gen. McClellan on the Union side and only by Col. Chilton on the Confederate side. If treachery was involved, then attention needs to be turned to Col. Chilton.



I found it a remarkable coincidence that of all the hands into which the order could fall, if it was lost, was into the hands of prewar acquaintances from Detroit capable of verifying his signature. I also found Chilton's memory loss, stated above, dissembling at the least. Certainly there must have been much speculation and inquiry among the Confederate officer corps when the fact of the order's discovery became verified in the Northern Press. Also curious is his lack of a log or journal of receipts, especially for an order of such gravity.

In those days where command structure relied on staff officers and couriers, the written or spoken words, of an AG necessarily carried with it the voice of the commander who could not be every at once. Had Chilton decided to be treacherous, he would have been in an ideal position to duplicate just such a order and then manage to obscure the fact that there had been no receipt for it.

The Confederates, who occupied Frederick and environs from the 4th to the 10th of September, mingled freely with the public in that generally pro Union region, most famously at the cavalry ball put on by Jeb Stuart at nearby Urbana on the night between the 8th and 9th. If Chilton was bent on passing this order to his Detroit acquaintances, who could vouch for his signature, one could speculate that he passed the order through a civilian in Frederick. That agent could have passed it directly to Williams or Pittman who then could have surreptitiously dropped in the camp thus providing cover for Chilton and directing the blame on D.H. Hill, who Chilton could have known would be receiving the same order through Jackson.

Chilton's Blemished Record: Beyond the Lost Order



If Chilton did pass the order to the Union, was it an act that could be negated by his service record? Was it an isolated incident or part of a larger pattern of Union collaboration?

To answer this question, I began by seeking out all references to Chilton, in William Southall Freeman's monumental study of the Southern command, Lee's Lieutenants. What I found was unflattering to say the least. In every major instance where he is mentioned his actions are counterproductive to the Southern cause. In no instance is he cited for a productive act or brilliant action. His role reads like a comedy of errors, grave errors, such that one wonders why Lee kept him around as long as he did and whether Special Order 191 was really "lost".

Thanks to FReeper Reo for the research and suggesting this thread

[SAMWolf]

Special Orders, No. 191
HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA
September 9th, 1862

The Army will resume its march to-morrow, taking the Hagerstown road. General Jackson's command will form the advance, and after passing Middletown, with such portions as he may select, take the route toward Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most convenient point, and by Friday night take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, capture such of the enemy as may be at Martinsburg, and intercept such as may attempt to escape from Harper's Ferry.

General Longstreeet's command will pursue the same road as far as Boonsboro', where it will halt with the reserve, supply, and baggage trains of the army.

General McLaws with his own division and that of General R.H. Anderson, will follow General Longstreet; on reaching Middletown he will take the route to Harper's Ferry, and by Friday morning possess himself of the Maryland Heights and endeavor to capture the enemy at Harper's Ferry and vicinity.

General Walker, with his division after accomplishing the object in which he is now engaged, will cross the Potomac at Check's ford, ascend its right bank to Lovettsville, take possession of Loudoun Heights, if practicable, by Friday morning, Keyes's ford on his left, and the road between the end of the mountain and the Potomac on his right. He will, as far as practicable, cooperate with General McLaws and General Jackson in intercepting the retreat of the enemy.

General D.H. Hill's division will form the rearguard of the army, pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve artillery, ordnance, and supply trains, etc., will precede General Hill.

General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany the commands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson , and McLaws, and, with the main body of the cavalry, will cover the route of the army and bring up all stragglers that may have been left behind.

The commands of Generals Jackson, McLaws, and Walker, after accomplishing the objects for which they have been detached, will join the main body of the army at Boonsboro' or Hagerstown.

Each regiment of the march will habitually carry its axes in the regimental ordinance-wagons, for use of the men at their encampments, to procure wood, etc.

By command of General R.E. Lee.

R. H. Chilton, Assistant Adjutant-General.
Major-General D.H. Hill, Command Division

[SAMWolf]

Robert Hall Chilton was a rather faceless actor amidst the luminaries that surrounded him. Yet it was he who signed Robert E. Lee's Special Orders 191 that became known as the "Lost Dispatch".

A Virginian and West Point graduate, Chilton served as Robert E. Lee's Adjutant General during the Maryland campaign. To the uninitiated, an adjutant general is the secretary to the commander he serves. Among his many tasks are receiving the orders of the commander, seeing that they are written out correctly (duplicated, if necessary), conveyed to their destination and receipted.


Robert Hall Chilton

By necessity, the word and signature of the Adjutant General was also understood to be the word and signature of the commander. His voice became the de facto the voice of the commander. Beneath him served a staff of secretaries and messengers. Together they formed the "Internet" of their commander. Obviously, his role was crucial and his loyalty essential to the success of the army.

The lack of examination by Civil War historians of Chilton as possible suspect in this mystery became, well, a mystery to me. Out of curiosity, I undertook an examination of Chilton's record and background. The results were startling.

Upon examining every reference to him in Freeman's Lee's Lieutenants, I a record of incredible, to say the least, incompetence. In every extended reference to Chilton, a result counter productive to the Confederate cause occurred. In no case was there a positive result. Most prominent was, of course, his signature on Lee's Special Orders 191.

Just as crucial in the finding of the Lost Order was the necessity of identifying it as a bone fide order.

The remarkable coincidence that the "Lost Dispatch" happened to end up in the hands of people, Williams and Pittman, who could positively verify Chilton's signature thickened my suspicions. [Chilton served in the regular Army as a paymaster including a few years stint in Detroit in the 1850's, home to Gen. Alpheus Williams and his adjutant Lt. Samuel Pittman, who verified the signature.] How interesting it was that Pittman could recognize Chilton's signature after such a time, but Chilton, only a few years after the war, could not remember if the "Lost Order" was receipted.

[SAMWolf]

'I have all the plans of the rebels...'

-- General George McClellan
in a telegram to Lincoln, September 13, 1862

'That omission to deliver in his [the courier's] case so important an order [would] have been recollected as entailing the duty to advise its loss, to guard against consequences, and to act as required... But I could not of course say positively that I had sent any particular courier to him [D.H. Hill] after such a lapse of time.'

-- Robert Hall Chilton
December 8, 1874
(Lee's Adjutant General who signed the lost copy of Special Orders 191)

[SAMWolf]

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Sunday Morning Everyone!


If you would like added or removed from our ping list let me know.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snippy. Seems like I just said Good Night to you . LOL!

[snippy_about_it]

Well, now we can sleep in!

[SAMWolf]

Not me, I'm still running on Darksheare's coffee.

[snippy_about_it]

Ok, then I'll sleep in and you can stand guard at the Foxhole. ;)

[SAMWolf]

Sounds like a plan.

[stand watie]

read HOW FEW REMAIN by Professor Harry Turtledove for an alternate look at the lost orders.

free dixie,sw

[SAMWolf]

Good book. The whole series is good.

[stand watie]

true.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

OU nad OSU won their games yesterday. Not much else happening. How are things where you are?:-D

[snippy_about_it]

read HOW FEW REMAIN...

Thanks for the suggested reading. I've heard SAM talk about these books, too.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC.

Lots of controversy about the OSU game, but then there is always controversy here about OSU.

[E.G.C.]

(LOL)Well, you can't always please all the people all the time:-D

BTW everyone on the East Coast needs to watch for Isabell.Looks like she could hit the Carolina coast later this week.

[manna]

Present!

[The Mayor]

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the
service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman."

--Thomas Paine

I'm off to Church..

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 14:
1769 Baron Freidrich von Humbolt, German naturalist and explorer who made the first isothermic and isobaric maps.
1849 Ivan Pavlov Russia, physiologist/pioneer in psychology
1864 Lord Cecil of Chelwood UK, help form League of Nations (Nobel 1937)
1867 Charles Dana Gibson illustrator, drew "Gibson Girl"
1879 Margaret Sanger feminist/nurse/birth control proponent
1886 Jan Garrique Masaryk Czech, statesman/minister to London (1918-35)
1887 Karl Taylor Compton physicist/atomic bomb scientist
1887 Stanley "Midnight Assassin" Ketchel HW boxing champ (1908-10)
1899 Hal Wallis movie producer (Maltese Falcon, Barefoot in the Park)
1904 Richard Mohaupt Breslau Germany, composer (Bucolica)
1907 A Cecil Snyder Chief Justice of Puerto Rico
1907 Cecil Brown news correspondent (CBS)
1908 Bernie Green NYC, orch leader (Arthur Godfrey Show, Garry Moore Show)
1908 Clayton Moore Chicago Ill, actor (Lone Ranger)
1910 Lehman Engel Jackson Miss, conductor/comp (Streetcar Named Desire)
1910 Rolf Liebermann Zrich Switzerland, composer (Leonore)
1913 Jacobo Arbenz president of Guatemala (1951-54); overthrown by CIA
1914 Kay Medford NYC, actress (Dean Martin Show, To Rome With Love)
1916 Eric Bentley England, critic/writer (In Search of Theater)
1918 Jack Somack Chic Ill, actor (Ball Four, Stockard Channing Show)
1920 Bud Palmer Hollywood Calif, NBAer (NY Knicks)/sportscaster
1921 Hughes Rudd TV newscaster (CBS)
1924 Jerry Coleman 2nd baseman/sportscaster (NY Yankees)
1925 Robert Webber Santa Ana Calif, actor ($, Nuts, Pvt Benjamin)
1928 Albert Shanker American labor leader (Amer Fed of Teachers)
1929 John Gutfreund
1933 Harve Presnell Modesto Calif, actor (Unsinkable Molly Brown)
1933 Zoe Caldwell Australia, actress (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)
1934 Kate Millett St Paul Minn, feminist/author (Sexual Politics)
1938 Leonard Frey US, comedian/actor (Fiddler on the Roof)
1938 Nicol Williamson Scotland, actor (Excalibur, Robin & Marian)
1938 Walter Koenig Chicago Ill, actor (Checkov-Star Trek)
1944 Joey Heatherton Rockville Center NY, dancer/actress (Bluebeard)
1947 Jon "Bowser" Bauman Queens NY, singer (Sha Na Na)
1947 Wolfgang Schwartz Austria, figure skater (Olympic-gold-1968)
1952 Margit Schumann German DR, luge (Olympic-gold-1976)
1956 Joe Penny London, actor (Gangster Wars, Riptide, Jake & the Fatman)
1959 Mary Crosby LA Calif, actress (Kristin-Dallas, Ice Pirates)
1959 Morten Harket rocker (Aha-Take on Me)
1960 Anthony Addabbo actor (Jason-Generations)
1963 Antonia Real Spain, 400m freestyle (Olympic-1976)
1964 Faith Ford Louisiana, actress (Another World, Corky-Murphy Brown)

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Deaths which occurred on September 14:
0258 Thascius C Cyprian, Saint/Bishop of Carthage, dies at 58
0407 Johannes Chrysostomus, patriarch, dies
1321 Dante Alighieri dies of malaria just hours after finishing writing Paradiso.
1646 Robert Devereux, 3rd earl of Essex, dies under Queen Elizabeth's headsman
1750 Carl T Pachelbel, US organist/composer
1759 Louis Montcalm French general (Plains of Abraham), dies at 47
1836 Aaron Burr 3rd VP, dies
1852 Arthur Wellesley General/Duke of Wellington, dies at 83
1901 Pres William McKinley dies in Buffalo, of gunshot wounds inflicted
by an assassin. VP Theodore Roosevelt became president
1911 Piotr Stolypin Russia's PM assassinated by Mordka Bogrov
1927 Isadora Duncan dies as her scarf became entangled in her car's wheel
1966 Gertrude Berg actress (Molly Goldberg-The Goldbergs), dies at 66
1974 Vera Vague [Barbara Jo Allen], actr (Follow the Leader), dies at 70
1974 Warren Hull actor (Strike it Rich, Who in the World), dies at 71
1982 Bashir Gemayel Lebanon's president-elect, killed by a bomb
1982 Grace Kelly princess of Monaco, dies at 52 in a car crash
1984 Janet Gaynor actress, dies at 77 from a traffic accident
1988 Louis Quinn actor, dies at 73 of cancer
1991 Julie Bovasso actress (Saturday Night Fever), dies at 61 of cancer
1996 Juliet Prowse, actress/dancer (Mona McCluskey), dies at 59

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 TAYLOR NEIL BROOKS RANGELEY ME.
1966 STODDARD CLARENCE W. JR CORPUS CHRISTI TX.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
891 Stephen V ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1628 Salem, Mass., was founded.
1666 St Paul's in London destroyed by fire
1716 1st lighthouse in US lit (Boston Harbor)
1752 England & colonies adopt Gregorian calendar, 11 days disappear
1807 Aaron Burr acquitted of a misdemeanor charge
1812 Napoleon occupies Moscow
1814 Francis Scott Key inspired to write "The Star-Spangled Banner"
1847 US troops under General Scott enter Mexico City
1848 Alexander Stewart opens the 1st US dept store
1856 Battle of San Jacinto, Nicaragua defeats invaders
1862 Federal troops escape from beleaguered Harper's Ferry
1862 Skirmish at Mountain MD (Boonesboro, Crampton's Gap, Fox's Gap)
1872 Britain pays the US $15« M for damages during Civil War
1886 George K Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee patents typewriter ribbon
1891 "Empire State Express" train goes from NYC to East Buffalo, a distance of 436 miles, in a record 7H6M
1892 AP Giannini marries Clorinda Cuneo
1899 Henry Bliss becomes 1st automobile fatality (NY)
1901 Vice President Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the 26th President of the United States upon the death of William McKinley, who was shot eight days earlier
1903 NY Giant Red Ames no-hits St Louis, 5-0 in a 5 inning game
1905 RAC Tourist Trophy, 1st run, on the Isle of Man
1916 Christy Mathewson pitches & wins his final game
1917 Provisional government of Russia established, Republic proclaimed
1923 Miguel Primo de Rivera becomes dictator of Spain
1930 Detroit Lions (as Portsmouth Spartans) play 1st NFL game, win 13-6
1930 Nazis gain 107 seats in German election
1933 2 billion board feet of lumber destroyed in Tillamook Oregon fire
1938 Graf Zeppelin II, world's largest airship, makes maiden flight
1940 Congress passes 1st peace-time conscription bill (draft law)
1942 Yanks clinch pennant #13
1943 Yanks clinch pennant #14
1948 Gerald Ford upsets Rep Bartel J Jonkman in Mich 5th Dist Rep primary
1948 Groundbreaking ceremony for the UN world headquarters
1948 Milton Berle starts his TV career on Texaco Star Theater
1951 Giant's Bob Niemans homers on his 1st 2 at bats
1954 Hurricane Edna (2nd of 1954) hits NYC, $50 million damage
1956 1st prefrontal lobotomy performed, Washington DC
1957 UN resolution deplores & condemns USSR invasion of Hungary
1960 Coup under Col Joseph-Desire Mobutu in Congo
1960 Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia & Venezuela form OPEC
1963 Mary Ann Fischer, Aberdeen, SD, gave birth to America's 1st surviving quintuplets, 4 girls & a boy
1964 Walt Disney awarded the Medal of Freedom at the White House
1965 "F-Troop" premiers
1966 Operation Attleboro, designed as a training exercise for American troops, becomes a month-long struggle against the Viet Cong.
1967 Melville Abrams Ball Field in the Bronx named
1967 Thomas Pell Wildlife Refuge & Sanctuary opens in the Bronx
1968 Detroit Tigers' Denny McLain's 30th victory of the season
1968 USSR's Zond 5 is launched on 1st circumlunar flight
1971 Cleve Indians & Wash Senators, play 20 innings
1972 "Waltons" TV program premiers
1973 Indianapolis is awarded a WHA franchise
1973 Israel shoots down 13 Syrian MIG-21s
1973 Pres Nixon signed into law a measure lifting pro football's blackout
1974 Charles Kowal discovers Leda, 13th satellite of Jupiter
1975 Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton canonized as 1st US-born saint
1979 Theodore Coombs completes 5,193 mile roller skate from LA to NYC & back to Yates Center, Ks
1981 Entertainment Tonight premiers on TV
1982 The grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan's Invisible Empire of Florida announced that he was moving the group's headquarters from Orlando to Gainesville. Why? Because, he said, it's "a progressive community, and we think we can fit in."
1982 36" snow (Red Lodge, MT)
1982 Cindy Nicholas of Canada makes her 19th swim of the English Channel
1982 Trevor Baxter sets skateboard high jump record of 5' 5.7"
1983 US House of Representatives votes, 416 to 0, in favor of a resolution condemning Russia for shooting down a Korean jetliner
1984 1st MTV awards-Bette Midler & Dan Aykroyd host
1986 Saskatchewan & Hamilton play 1st CFL regular-season overtime game
1987 Oriole Cal Ripken Jr sets record of playing 8,243 inn in 910 games
1987 Toronto Blue Jays hit a record 10 HRs vs Baltimore Orioles
1989 Calgary Flames become 1st NHL team to play in USSR, win 4-2
1990 Ken Griffey, Sr & Jr, hit back-to-back HRs in 1st inning
1991 Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (Hawaii) crowned Miss America 1992
1991 Magic Johnson weds Erieatha "Cookie" Kelly
2000 President Clinton said he was "quite troubled" by the way the Energy and Justice departments had handled the Wen Ho Lee case, and he expressed his regrets.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Nicaragua : Battle of San Jacinto (1856)
Pakistan : Jamat Ul-Wida
US : National Anthem Day (1814)
US : National Boss/Employee Exchange Day
Hispanics : National Hispanic Heritage Week(Sunday)
Afghanistan : National Assembly Foundation Day (1964) (Wednesday)
Scotland : Fisherman's Walk Day (Friday)
National Housekeepers Week Begins
National Papaya Month

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Religious Observances
Ang, RC, Luth : Memoria of the Exaltation + Holy Cross Day +
Orth : Beginning of the Orthodox church year (9/1 OS)

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Religious History
1741 German composer George Frederick Handel, 56, finished composing his oratorio, "The Messiah." He wrote the score, start-to-finish, in only 24 days, subsisting primarily on coffee.
1765 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'How unspeakable are our obligations to the grace of God.'
1918 The Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Wisconsin, Ohio and Other States was formed from the merger of several smaller synods. In 1930 this denomination merged with two other synods to form the American Lutheran Church (ALC).
1927 Bob Jones University opened in Greenville, South Carolina, and eighty-eight students registered for the first fall term.
1975 (Mother) Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1774-1821) was canonized by Pope Paul VI, making her the first native-born American citizen to become a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Show affection, it will probably meet with pleasant response."

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You might be a math geek if...
whenever you hear something happened at a certain date, you automatically subtract in your head to figure out how many years ago it was.

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Murphys Law of the day...(Sevareid's Law)
The chief cause of problems is solutions.

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Cliff Clavin Says, it's a little known fact that...
Every hour, nearly 12,500 puppies are born in the United States.