Captured The Flag

Union Captain Thomas J Box was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions May 14^th 1864 at the Battle of Resaca, Georgia.

Thomas J Box was born November 7^th 1833 in Indiana.

Box was a Captain in Company D of the 27^th Indiana on May 14^th 1864, when during the Battle of Resaca he captured the flag of the 38th Alabama.  The Battle of Resaca was fought from May 13^th through 16^th 1864.  Box was one of eight men who earned the Medal of Honor during the action.

Box died December 18^th1914 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is buried in the Green Hill Cemetery in Bedford, Lawrence, Indiana.

If I Cannot Whip Bobby Lee

Robert E Lee’s lost Special Order 191 was found by the Union Army on September 13^th 1862, leading to the Battle of Antietam.

Robert E Lee’s Special Order 191 was written in early September during the Maryland Campaign.  In it were the detailed movements of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.  Lee listed the routes and road that would be used, and the timing for taking Harpers Ferry.  Lee’s Adjutant Brigadier General Robert Hall Chilton wrote the copies of the Order and distributed copies to the Confederate generals.

In the morning of September 13^th 1862 Union Corporal Barton W Mitchell of the 27^th Indiana Infantry found an envelope wrapped around cigars in the grass at a vacated Confederate camp on the Best Farm.  Realizing he had found something important, Mitchell gave the paper to Sergeant John M Bloss, and it continued up to chain of command until it reached the hands of the Union commander Major General George B McClellan.  McClellan was said to have exclaimed, "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home."

To read more about this, check out General Robert E. Lee’s “Lost Order” No. 191, Hdqrs. Army of Northern Virginia, September 9, 1862

The Lost Orders

Special Order Number 191, written by Confederate General Robert E Lee on September 9th 1862, outlined plans for the Maryland Campaign. The Order detailed the dividing of his army, with Major General Thomas J Stonewall Jackson going to Harpers Ferry, Major General James Longstreet north to Boonsboro and the rest of the army to Hagerstown. Confederate Adjutant Robert H Chilton made copies of #191 for each commander and their subordinate commanders. One of the copies which was made for Major General Daniel Hill, was in some way left at the Best Farm in Frederick County Maryland.


Union Private Barton W Mitchell of the 27th Indiana found the Orders on September 13th 1862, in an envelope wrapped around a bunch of cigars. Giving the find to his superiors Orders #191 made its way into the hands of Union Major General George B McClellan. McClellan having the Confederate troop movements was reported to have said, "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home." The two armies would meet at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, the bloodiest day of the war.

For further information about this subject check out this web site Special Order No 191