Three Cigars

Just within the past few weeks, the Civil War has started to be commemorated throughout various locations in the United States, due to it's 150 year anniversary.  Growing up in the North and moving to the South has given me a great appreciation for the history of this time in American history.  Franklin, Tennessee (close to where I live) played a prominent role in the Civil War, but so did three cigars.  Let me explain.

In Septemeber of 1862, Robert E. Lee made a decisive and strong move and invaded the North.  It was a very critical time in the war.  If Lee could win, European nations most likely would recognize the Confederacy and the war would, for all intents and purposes, be over.  The South would be triumphant as an independent nation.

George McClellan, the Union general, was known to be overcautious and moved slowly and hesitantly.  Lee's bold moves seemed to always be a step ahead and he appeared to have the momentum.  However, fate intervened when an Indiana regiment stopped to rest in a field that the Confederates had vacated only a few days before.  Three soldiers were taking a rest in the field when one of them noticed an envelope lying in the grass.  Inside the envelope were three cigars wrapped in a piece of paper.  The soldiers split the cigars - and then one of them decided to look at the paper.

His curiosity changed history.

The Union soldier had found the marching orders for Lee's army.  It told It told where the Confederates were headed and what they had planned.  Finally, McClellan went on the attack.

The results were that the Confederates were turned back at the Battle of Antietam, on the bloodiest single day in American history.

All because of three cigars.