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Some of History’s Most Unexpected Plot Twists

Khalid Elhassan February 22, 2021 35 min

Basset Hound - American Foxhound — George Washington riding after his hounds during a hunt. Journal of the American Revolution

A copy of Special Orders No. 191, displayed at Crampton’s Gap, Maryland. Wikimedia

26. Sloppy Confederate Security Saved the Union

Special Orders No. 191 were rocketed up the Army of the Potomac’s chain of command until they reached its chief, General George B. McClellan. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that Robert E. Lee’s army was spread out, and that fate had gifted him an unexpected golden opportunity to defeat his enemy’s scattered units one by one before they could unite. Unfortunately, McClellan was not good at seizing golden opportunities, and Lee managed to concentrate his army in the nick of time.

The result was a major battle at Antietam Creek on September 17, 1862. It was the bloodiest day in American history, with a combined tally of over 22,000 dead, wounded, and missing. McClellan had a chance to finish off Lee’s army but failed to do so. Nonetheless, the horrific casualties ended Lee’s Maryland Campaign and forced him to withdraw to Virginia. The Confederates never came as close again to winning the war as they did that September of 1862.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.