er's Ferry, and he had moved with even
more than his usual caution. But at noon on the 13th he was suddenly
put into possession of the most ample information. A copy of Lee's
order for the investment of Harper's Ferry, in which the exact
position of each separate division of the Confederate army was laid
down, was picked up in the streets of Frederick, and chance had
presented McClellan with an opportunity unique in history.* (*
General Longstreet, in his From Manassas to Appomattox, declares that
the lost order was sent by General Jackson to General D.H. Hill, "but
was not delivered. The order," he adds, "that was sent to General
Hill from general headquarters was carefully preserved." General
Hill, however, in Battles and Leaders volume 2 page 570 (note), says:
"It was proper that I should receive that order through Jackson, and
not through me. I have now before me (1888) the order received from
Jackson. My adjutant-general swore affidavit, twenty years ago, that
no order was received at our office from General Lee." Jackson was so
careful that no one should learn the contents of the order that the
copy he furnished to Hill was written by his own hand. The copy found
by the Federals was wrapped round three cigars, and was signed by
Lee's adjutant-general.) He was within twenty miles of Harper's
Ferry. The Confederates were more than that distance apart. The
intrenched camp still held out, for the sound of McLaws' battle on
the Maryland Heights was distinctly heard during the afternoon, and a
resolute advance would have either compelled the Confederates to
raise the siege, or have placed the Federal army between their widely
separated wings.

But, happily for the South, McClellan was not the man for the
opportunity. He still hesitated, and during the afternoon of the 13th
only one division was pushed forward. In front of him was the South
Mountain, the name given to the continuation of the Blue Ridge north
of the Potomac, and the two passes, Turner's and Crampton's Gaps,
were held by Stuart. No Confederate infantry, as Lee's order
indicated, with the exception, perhaps, of a rear-guard, were nearer
the passes than the Maryland Heights and Boonsboro'.* (* For the lost
order, see Note at end of chapter.) The roads were good and the
weather fine, and a night march of twelve miles would have placed the
Federal advanced guards at the foot of the mountains, ready to force
the Gaps at earliest dawn. McClellan, however, altho