Lost

who would take them. Rose went to live with family in Washington, d c. Naturally, she was upset to have lost her own family. Over time, though, she found city life and a full social circle to her liking. As a young woman, she caught the eye of Dr Robert Greenhouse,

a federal librarian with degrees in medicine and law. The two wed and headed west for a few years, but California life didn't suit the couple or their three children, and they made plans to return, but Robert stayed behind too tidy up some loose ends, promising Rose, now pregnant with their fourth child, that he'd rejoin her soon. Unfortunately, they never saw each other again. Robert had a fall

and died from his injuries. The death of a spouse spelled financial disaster for most women in the eighteen hundreds, but not Rose. With her husband's pension, she remained comfortable enough to stay in her beloved city and busied herself with her high society lifestyle. That lifestyle came under threat

when the Civil War erupted. So when Rose heard about the Union army's plans to march on Manassas, Virginia, Rose used to cipher to encrypt this information in a letter and handed it to a Confederate spy, Bettie all And, disguising herself as a farm woman, Duval hid Rose's letter in her hair, snuck out of Washington, d c. And delivered the letter to Confederate commanders. The South went on

to win the first battle at Manassas. Rose herself became a spy after that, establishing a network of forty eight women and two men. Though brilliant in her ability to code and transport letters, she was careless about destroying evidence. You see, Rose kept copies of the letters, along with maps and other documents in her home, and that would

be her downfall. After searching her home in August of eighteen sixty one, and finding the incriminating evidence, authorities arrested Rose, but her sentence was short, and on May thirty one, eighteen sixty two, she was released on the condition that she leave Washington. She settled in Richmond and accepted a diplomatic mission to gain Confederate support from France and the United Kingdom. After one triple overseas, Rose returned home on

a British blockade ship named the Condor. Just before reaching the coast, the captain spotted Union ships. Fearing a capture, Rose and the other agents acquired a rowboat, ill equipped to handle the number of passengers and their cargo two thousand dollars worth of gold. Under the added weight, the rowboat capsized and Rose drowned. Confederate troops found her body days later. For her service as a spy, the Confederacy gave Rose O'Neill greenhow a military burial with full honors.

I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. It's often said that soldiers don't enter battle because they hate the person in front of them. They fight because of what's behind them, their beliefs and values and fears, and those tasked with strategy know the importance of turning the opponent's weaknesses into their strengths and misfortunes into gain. During the Civil War,

brother fought against brother. Families were as divided as the nation itself, and while generals on both sides were highly regarded for strategy, some of the more critical events leading up to the end weren't determined on a battlefield. The outcome of the war wasn't entirely decided that day in Gettysburg, though that's the Civil War history we know best. No, the event that almost changed the United States forever happened in a field of clover with a corporal and an envelope.

Intentions in the States had reached a fever pitch by April of eighteen sixty one. Southern states decided that if Abraham Lincoln became president did succeed. Of course, the hostility between the North and South had been simmering for decades. Both sides disagreed on matters of slavery, westward expansion, and states rights. With exponential growth in the US had come a shift in economics between northern and Southern states. The North had become a hub for manufacturing industry and finance.

The South's economy relied on large scale farming, primarily of tobacco and potton. After abolitionist John Brown raided Harper's Ferry, Maryland in eighteen fifty nine, the South felt certain the North wanted to destroy their way of life. Of course, we know that Lincoln did become president, and we know that many states hadn't been bluffing on the threat to succede. During his first three months in office, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,

and Texas seceded from the Union. Not long afterward, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, and North Carolina joined them, and while Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri didn't follow suit, they strongly sympathized with the South. With Lincoln in office, the South feared that being enslaved people would affect the labor force, and many businesses worried that'd lose income or simply ceased to exist Without slave labor,

the South believed their entire economy would collapse. Taxation and the issue of federal rights versus states rights had also come under fire. None of Lincoln's propositions sat well with the Southern states, especially wealthy plantation owners who lived there. It didn't take long before an uprising loom to cross the US. If it came down to war, the North and South each believed they had the power to end

the conflict within months. The Union had twenty three states and a well formed military, though not tightly united to the cause, and while the South didn't have as many states or the same number of soldiers, they were fiercely united to protect their way of life. The South was also home to some of the best military officers, including Robert E. Lee. Regarded as highly intelligent and possessing an uncanny knack for strategy, Lee was also a brilliant commander,

easily able to rally and organize troops. He had been born into the military. His father had been a Revolutionary war hero. Lee himself graduated second in his class from West Point. After graduation, he wed Mary Anna Randolph Custis, Ever ready to defend his country. He went on to win three Brevets for gallantry in the War with Mexico in eighty six, and was promoted to colonel for his skills and bravery. Other formidable Confederate military leaders included Thomas

Stonewall Jackson, and Samuel Cooper. Meanwhile, one of the Union's most accomplished leaders was Ulysses S. Grant. Serving under Grant was William Sherman, who received criticism for his scorched earth policy in burning anything and everything he perceived useful to

the Confederates. The Union also had George McClellan. Intelligent and studious, he also fated second in his class from West Point, though in eighteen fifty three, while under the command of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, McClellan showed a propensity for in subordination and overcautious military decisions. Both Davis and McClellan

moved on in their careers. Davis served as President of the Confederate States, and McClellan also dabbled in politics, but with the Civil War looming, McClellan returned to the military in eighteen sixty one. On April twelfth of eighteen sixty two, Confederate forces fired on the United States naval ships at Fort Sumter, officially starting the Civil War. Union forces in

the harbor surrendered within thirty four hours. Not long after the First Battle of bull Run showed just how ill prepared and poorly trained Union soldiers were the Confederate army continued to best the Union despite having far fewer soldiers. Lee and his men won Second Battle at bull Run as well. With a string of victories behind him, the Confederate star general turned his sights on Maryland. The timing

couldn't have been better. The North's morale had hit an all time low that sustained heavy casualties, and families wanted their sons, brothers, and husband's home. Of course, that would necessitate a swift end to the war, and Lee had a plan to do just that. Lee's strategy was to push north of Virginia and force Washington, d C. The capital of the Union, to surrender. He and his men set out across the Potomac on September four of eighteen

sixty two. On September nine, he issued a Special Order one which detailed his plans to overtake the Union garrison stationed at Harper's Ferry. Taking Harper's Ferry would effectively shut down supplies to the Union Army. It would also put the weapons from the by US Arsenal and Armory into Confederate hands. The plan was a bold move, since the Union had eighty five thousand men in the area, plus another seventy two thousand in Washington, compared to Lee's forty.

Of course, Lee wanted Washington, but the army surrounding the capital was too formidable to take on directly. However, if Lee put off the Union supplies and Lord McClellan and his men to a battlefield of his choosing, hid ensure a path northward. To gain a foothold, he needed to get his men across the Shenandoah Valley and marched toward Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley, and to do that, Harper's Ferry came into play once more. He needed to eliminate the twelve

thousand soldier Union garrison stationed there. He planned to divide his men into two parts. Two thirds would go with Stonewall Jackson to capture Harper's ferry. Lee and the remainder of the men would take Hagerstown, Maryland, near the Pennsylvania border. Their numbers wouldn't be enough, and neither would stealth. But Lee had studied McClellan well and knew his opponents cautious, slow to react method of command would give him the

edge he needed. Lee detailed everything roots time, and Direction Adjutant Robert H. Chilton penned the orders and endorsed them in Lee's name, then sent them to Stonewall Jackson and D. H. Hill, who had recently been tasked with commanding the rear Guard. Stonewall Jackson then made a copy and sent it to D. H. Hill. Yes, that's right, Hill had been sent two copies of order. The plans called for Jackson to sweep Harper's Ferry with

divisions from the west. Two more divisions would seize Maryland Heights. If all went according to plan, it would take three days to carry out. If successful, the war would swiftly come to an end. For the was living in the South, winning key battles on Confederate territory wasn't enough. They wanted lead to push even further into Union territory to drive home that the South was nothing to mess with. Seizing

the city of Washington would be the end game. Of course, Bully hoped that capturing the Union capital would persuade other nations to recognize the Confederate States of America. The United Kingdom, along with France and other European nations, were dependent on the cotton and tobacco that the Confederate States provided. After all, leaders abroad were already deciding whether they should become involved and whether their best interests economically speaking, were better off

siding with the South. While the Union considered the odds that Lee might advance on Washington to be slight, they still took precautionary measures. A steamboat waited off shore to whisk President Lincoln and members of the cabinet away should the Confederate army actually managed to breach the city. Harper's Weekly, the most read journal of the day, didn't want to lose Southern readers and took a moderate approach to reporting

the war. Without knowing about Lee's plans, the Confederacy felt confident that he had succeed in overtaking the Union capital. Southern newspapers reported on the cunning and brilliance of their military leaders and speculated a celebration would soon be at hand. At the White House, President Lincoln made it clear he was counting on mc clellan to give him the victory needed to announce a preliminary emancipation proclamation. No pressure there.

On September tenth of eighteen sixty two, Lee's army moved west out of Frederick, dividing themselves into four widely set columns. This time, they wouldn't be outnumbered. Lee knew that mc clellan had only a fraction of his troops near Harper's Ferry. Coupled with mc clellan's unwillingness to be more proactive, the attack wouldn't take too long. Every Thing was going just as planned, and the Union didn't suspect a thing. The

reports of sparse Confederate soldier sightings confused McClellan. They weren't showing up in any one area, or even in the locations he had expected, and certainly not in any numbers. It's signaled an attack. On September twelve, he wrote to his wife that Lee's men were so scattered that Pete couldn't catch them. He evidently don't want to fight me, he added. Over confident, McClellan and his men slowly advanced

into Maryland arrogance aside. He knew some regiments would undoubtedly come into contact with the Confederates rambling Path, and urged his superiors to order and evacuation. The officials reminded him that the Union had far superior numbers and promptly denied the request with orders to keep moving. Indiana's twenty seven regiment made camp in a clover field on the outskirts of Frederick, Maryland. The men stacked their arms and were settling in when Corporal Barton W. Mitchell came across a

bulky envelope near the road. He noticed the envelope had been opened. Curious, he emptied the contents. Inside. There were three cigars wrapped in a sheet of paper. The paper had been marked as confidential, so naturally the inquisitive corporal opened it. He read the contents, then read them again. Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, September two, Special Order. Numb. He

couldn't believe what had found in his hand. He held Confederate battle plans signed by General Robert E. Lee's command, and they held an important revelation. They were walking into a trap. Mitchell brought the envelope and its contents to his commanding officer, who immediately sent it up the chain of command. It didn't take long before McClellan himself had read the letter. The tensions between him and Lincoln had and high, but now he knew just how to defeat Lee.

He telegraphed Lincoln. I think Lee has made a gross mistake, and that he will be severely punished for it. I have all the plans of the rebels and will catch them in their own trap. Will send you trophies. How the letter came to be in that clover field that day is still speculated. A courier may have carelessly dropped one of Lee's orders while delivering them. The Confederate General D. H. Hill, of course, He'll insisted he had received his letter from Jackson.

One thing is clear. Though ad Mitchell not discovered the envelope, or if McClellan had evacuated his troops, the Civil War might have ended very differently. The United States might today be divided into two separate sovereign nations. The discovery of lost order should have sealed Lee's fate and ended the war. Yet, even with Lee's plans right in front of him, McClellan perceive did with what Lincoln referred to as a case of the slows, had been handed the enemy's battle plans

on a platter, and decided to wait things out. With his troops in position to take out nine of the Confederate's infantry divisions, McClellan delayed sending his men across South Mountain. Instead, he chose to stay at camp an additional eighteen hours, giving the rebels an advantage. The move cost McClellan dearly, all that sitting around drew attention. Confederate scouts reported back to Lee the Union troops unusual behavior. They also noted

McClellan's obvious excitement, making Lee suspicious. Unlike his opponent, the Confederate general wasted no time in ordering his divided troops to regroup into a single unit, then they join another division at South Mountain. Lee's troops reached the mountain pass late in the day on September four. Union soldiers were waged for them, but the order to reorganize and meet with the second division saved the Confederates from complete defeat. Had McClellan moved more quickly, he would have stood a

chance of capturing Lee and overtaking his army. At first, Lee had thought retreating might be his better option, but then word came in from Jackson informing Lee that the attack on Harper's Ferry had been successful. Lee decided to take three divisions through Sharpsburg and sticking to the remainder of his plans laid out in order. Once in Sharpsburg had reunite with Jackson. McClellan still had the advantage of more men and of course, the element of surprise since

he knew Lee's plans. Yet he hesitated once again, mistaking the size of the gathering Confederate cohort. In reality, Lee had been bluffing for days while awaiting an additional twelve thousand, five hundred Confederate soldiers. Lee hadn't planned on going to battle so early, but after having repeatedly and soundly defeated McClellan so far, he positioned forces four miles behind Antietam Creek. McClellan pursued, and when the fog rolled in on September,

the two sides collided. McClellan hadn't made a battle plan, nor did he issue any orders. He never rearranged the attack despite having Lee's plans. The carnage was swift and brutal. He watched the battle from his post, only issuing commands after a few of his divisions were decimated. The men on both sides fired at point blank range. By noon, the fighting shifted to the center of the Confederate line,

which became known as Bloody Lane. The front line of Confederate soldiers misunderstood in order to realign and pulled back. Union troops quickly overpowered them by early afternoon. One soldier said that he could have walked on top of the bodies as far as the eye could see from his post. McClellan said the Bloody field was as glorious and beautiful as any had ever seen. Yet instead of pressing forward,

he ordered his men the whole the line. This left them in the open and direct line of fire from Confederate forces flanking the sides, costing McClellan five hundred men. By the following morning, Lee pulled back. Despite prodding from Washington, d C. McClellan didn't pursue Lee again. The death poll was staggering. A combined total of eighty six thousand men had gone into battle. Over twelve thousand, four hundred Union

soldiers were dead, wounded, or missing. The Confederates, who had brought far fewer troops, suffered a proportionately greater loss of over ten thousand, three hundred. Had the Confederates had equal men and weapons, the battle might have turned out differently. McClellan's case of the slows, as Lincoln put it, cost him his post. Amid the eighteen sixty two mid term elections, McClellan was removed from command. Lee didn't find out about

the missing orders until after Antietam. The copy of Order one that had been delivered directly from Jackson to D. H. Hill and Richmond now rests in the National Archives. You might ask why Hill had been sent two copies of that order, and we know that Jackson was unsure of who Hill was receiving orders from when Lee split the troops. Jackson made the copy because he wanted to be sure Hill was aware of the plan. And what we don't know is how the letter found its way into that

field of Clover that day. Hill and his men had camped in the field just days before, and he insisted he hadn't dropped any letter. He kept the copy Jackson sent him until the day he died. Hill believed that the courier dropped the orders Chilton Penn Trelly. Back then, envelopes acted as receipts after a recipient opened a better they signed the envelope and handed it back to the courier. The envelope founded the field had been opened but not signed,

indicating the orders never reached their destination. We'll never know how lost order came to be in the field that day, but we do know that its discovery changed the Civil War and perhaps our nation as well. The Civil War saw more casualties than any other US conflict. Nearly five hundred thousand men died, which is considerable since the population of the United States was only about twenty four million

during the war. Her perspective, out of the nearly nine million US men and women who served in the Vietnam War, there were just over nine casualties. In fact, more people died in the Civil War than World War Two, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined. One in thirteen men returned home disabled, one in four enlisted died, and since the recruitment was often localized, some families and communities lost entire generations. No one had expected such casualties, and

they weren't prepared for all the burials. Before the war, most people were buried in their hometowns. Of course, most of them died in their hometowns, so preserving and transporting the dead wasn't as much of a problem. Before the war, the deceased were laid out in the family home for viewings before the burial. During the Civil War, most soldiers were buried where they died. Others were interred at nearby cemeteries. Those were soon overwhelmed, but that was about to change.

In eighteen sixty two, authorities levied attacks on Robert E. L's one thousand one acre Virginia estate. It had an empty since Lee went away to lead the Confederate Army, and his wife, Mary, who had inherited the estate from her parents, had fled south to Richmond when the Union overtook the area. Mary hated leaving the estate. It had been her childhood home. She and Robert had raised three

children there. Her parents were buried on the grounds. When her father, George Washington Park Custus, had died, he left Mary the entire estate. If that name sounds familiar, you're on to something. His father had been George Washington's adopted son and the product of Martha Washington's first marriage. That made Mary Anna Custis Lee the great granddaughter of President

George Washington by marriage. When Mary heard about the tax, she immediately sent a relative with funds to secure the estate. Officials refused the money, claiming that Mary herself had to pay the tax in person. This was impossible because Union forces and the fighting prevented her from returning. Now in default, her estate was auctioned off. There was only one bid, the federal government. They planned to use the estate just as Mary feared, for the Union military, including as a cemetery.

The first soldier laid to rest in the northeastern corner was Private William Christman. Other soldiers joined the private, and soon afterward Union Quartermaster Montgomery Megg's moved to make the plantation a Federal cemetery. He could think of no better way to make the estate uninhabitable should the Lee family ever return. He encircled Mary Lee's garden with tombstones of

fallian Union officers. Megs sent scouts to look for Union soldiers buried in other cemeteries and had them reinterred at the estate. The Lees spent considerable time and effort trying to reclaim their former home. When Robert E. Lee died in eighteen seventy two, Mary continued the fight to regain her inheritance. Meanwhile, the estate had become the eternal resting

place for hundreds of men. Robert and Mary's son Curtis, took up the fight after his mother's passing, and eventually one but the cost of removing the two thousand plus graves proved more expensive than buying the estate itself. In the end, the government purchased the estate in three for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars over four million in modern American dollars. It was Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln,

who accepted the title on the federal government's behalf. Today, the estate serves as the resting place for over four hundred thousand men and women Arlington National Cemetery. There's more to the story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. The matter of politics has always divided families. During the Civil War, it's no surprise then, that families found themselves torn between opposing sides. Those in favor of the Union fled north, those favoring the Confederacy

fled south. While we might think those living along the border between North and South would have been most likely to switch sides, that wasn't necessarily the case. During the war, One more state tried to secede from the Union New York. New York was embroiled in a decade's long dispute with the federal government over federal corruption and the removal of

states rights in favor of federal rights. In eighteen sixty two, New York's mayor Fernando Wood addressed to the city, seeing that the war currently favored the Confederacy, and thinking that dissolution was inevitable, he thought the time to join the South had come in New York, already having established itself as the nation's financial center, had long been reaping the rewards for supplying goods and services to the Southern States.

Aside from favoring states rights, many New York officials saw slavery as an economic necessity. One New York Post editor wrote, New York belongs almost as much to the South as to the North. But Wood's cry of federal corruption was ironic. Wood had a long history of bribery, selling public offices, and offering citizenship to immigrants in exchange for votes, and much of his political success came from a New York gang boss with strong ties to the trade of enslaved people.

To say, Wood's viewpoint was financially skewed would be an understatement. Still, New Yorkers believed him when he said their economic welfare depended on the South. Not to mention, New York was home to an illegal slave trade. Skilled attorneys employed by the state anonymously, of course, defended captains and crews. Many of these lawyers were former federal attorneys, from police to judges. New York's legal system was about as corrupt as it got.

Wood's younger brother, who owned the New York Daily News, printed article after article telling citizens that if Lincoln was elected, but have to compete for jobs with four million formerly enslaved people. After the election, woods fearmongering intensified. An equally corrupt group of politicians approved the mayor's proposal to secede.

They reversed their decision after the attack at Fort Sumter kicked off the Civil War, and sticking to the proposal would have made every member of the council traders and traders were sent to the gallows. Lincoln's administration replaced two corrupt New York officials with more honest ones. These new officials set to work making New York the primary supplier

of men and goods to the Union. Effort that didn't stop most citizens animosity toward Lincoln, though they'd become firmly entrenched in their belief that no good could come from the South. Losing the war, angry mobs to the streets, burning buildings and leaving dozens of people dead. But as New York continued to flourish by providing supplies to the Union, and the tide began turning in the North's favor, Union pride sword In eighteen sixty one, thousands of New Yorkers

took to Union Square in support of the North. When wood sphere tactics and forecasts of financial ruin didn't come to pass, many households found themselves reunited, and in eighteen sixty two, Wood found himself out of a job when George Opdyke won the election for mayor with Lincoln support. The gang boss slave trader who had supported Wood was arrested, tried,

and hanged. The message was clear to others who still supported slavery, and some New Yorkers, however, remained loyal to their original political views, forever dividing friendships, families, and communities, and proving that the Civil Wars battles were far from confined to the Confederate Union Line. American Shadows is hosted

by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed, and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit grim and mild dot com. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts