| 'I have all the plans of the rebels...' -- General George McClellan '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 |
Spurred on by your thread, I headed out to surf the net.
I see that also mentioned as a suspect is a Henry Kyd Douglas along with Chilton.
What caught my eye this morning though was one of the supposed "founders" of the lost dispatch. He went on after the war to become president of Oregon State University.
So kind of like Valin's "Cliff Clavin, little known facts" I thought I'd share this tidbit with you for some Oregon history
An original copy was lost and then later found by soldiers of the 27th Indiana. One of the soldiers was First Sergeant John M. Bloss Link to story
Exerpt;
With little dissent, history has anointed Corporal (not Private as some have written) Mitchell as the finder of the Lost Order, and Bloss as a bystander. Vance and Hostetter are not mentioned. But because Bloss, Mitchell and Vance each played a role in seeing, retrieving, and forwarding the Lost Order, each must be credited as a finder. Who first saw the package is forever arguable and of little consequence to either the outcome, Lee's defeat at Antietam, or one of the most intriguing mysteries of the war, who lost it. To slight any of them would levy an historic disservice, but if one is allowed to be the most important finder, it would have to be Bloss.....
......Bloss was the best educated, most credible, and most apt to recognize their fortuitous coup. Seeing the envelope, the initial action, was pure chance. Picking it up and examining it, the next step, was logical, but really the inquisitiveness of bored soldiers. Reporting it up the chain of command, however, was the product of intelligence and initiative. Bloss was the regiment's only college graduate (Hanover) and eventually its most successful survivor. He rose from sergeant to captain and commanded Company F in 1864. Wounded at Winchester, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Resaca, he completed his term and was mustered out in October 1864. A career educator, he was a teacher, principal, Evansville superintendent of schools, Indiana State superintendent, and president of Oregon State University.