The president had succumbed to the endless haranguing of the Abolitionist and had formulated a policy that would make it illegal to have slaves in the in the southern states. This policy was a document called the Emancipation Proclamation. President Lincoln however, did not want to present this document without a victory to back it up. The President did not want it to seem as if he had only done this because he was losing the war and had no other way of getting at the south. Because of all of this, it was imperative that the northern army ton win a major victory.
On 13, September 1862 Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana found three cigars wrapped in a piece of paper in a meadow near Fredrick Maryland. Lost due to the carelessness of a southern courier or staff officer, the paper proved to be of extreme importance. On the heading of the paper was written SPECIAL ORDER NO. 191. It was dated 9, September 1862 and was the detailed plan for General Robert E. Lee's army. According to Special Order 191, General Lee was planning on capturing the northern fortress at Harper's Ferry. General Lee wanted Harper's Ferry because it was full of provisions and ammunition, which he badly needed. General Lee also wanted to capture Harper's Ferry to use as a base of operation to attack McClellan's supply line if he could be drawn away from Washington and in to the Cumberland Valley.
Even though General McClellan, affectionately known as "Little Napoleon" to his troops, had everything handed to him to finish off the rebel army with the discovery of Special Order #191, he procrastinated in following up on the order. In the typical fashion that he displayed in every other campaign he was involved in. General McClellan wasted a full eighteen hours prior to dispatching any troops toward Harper's Ferry. Had he started out after the rebel army at that time, General McClellan in all likelihood, would have totally surprised General Lee and his army and ended the Civil War with one swift blow.
