From Bartholomew County, Indiana to Antietam: The Story of Civil War Soldier Barton Mitchell
East of Columbus, Indiana, down a hidden country road near Hartsville, is a small cemetery few would even notice. Here, among many weathered headstones, is the gravesite of Barton Mitchell, a common foot soldier from Indiana who played a most uncommon role in one of the deadliest battles of the U.S. Civil War.
Some of the earliest photographs in U.S. history were taken of the most significant leaders of the Civil War. Others were taken of anonymous, everyday front line soldiers who risked their lives throughout this bloody conflict that helped end slavery and preserve the Union. Barton Mitchell, a corporal in the 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, was one of those individuals. To date, no definitive photo of Mitchell has surfaced, yet his unlikely discovery helped turn the tide of the war.
“Barton Mitchell was born in Ohio in 1816. In 1850, he was listed in the U.S. census records as living in Warren, Indiana, in Putnam County, and he was also named postmaster of Warren, Indiana in that year,” states Stone Iorio.
Southern forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April 1861, launching the bloodiest war in American history. When President Lincoln sent out a call to arms, more than 210,000 Hoosiers volunteered to fight for the Union. Barton Mitchell, a staunch abolitionist, was one of those volunteers.
The Discovery of Special Order 191: The Lost Orders
“The 27th was involved in some of the most terrible and deadliest, bloodiest of the Civil War,” Stone Iorio explains. “In September of 1862, the 27th Indiana was camping in a location outside of Frederick, Maryland, where General Robert E. Lee's Confederate troops had recently been located. On the morning of September 13th, Barton Mitchell saw something unfamiliar lying in the grass, which ended up being a piece of paper wrapped around two cigars. Reading the piece of paper, they quickly realized that these were orders from Robert E. Lee detailing his plans for the Maryland Campaign for the Confederate Army.”
The two-page document Mitchell and another soldier discovered was listed as Special Order Number 191. In it were instructions to each of Lee's field generals for the Confederate Army's push into Maryland and the northern states.
“He promptly made sure that this piece of paper made its way to General George McClellan's encampment,” Stone Iorio adds.
With Lee's orders in hand, General McClellan was able to maneuver his Union soldiers into position to thwart the attack. The fight that ensued four days later—what became known as the Battle of Antietam—was the single deadliest day of the entire war.
How Antietam Changed the Course of the War
Stone Iorio explains, “Although the Union suffered devastating casualties on this day, in many ways it was considered a strategic victory because it thwarted Lee's attempt to move further northward at that time.”
In the weeks just prior to the Battle of Antietam, Confederate President Jefferson Davis had been attempting to gain financial and military support from European countries to help his cause.
After the horror of Antietam, foreign leaders abandoned their support and the Confederacy lost a potential source of money and weapons. The battle also had other repercussions for Lincoln and the Union.
“The strategic victory was sufficient to give President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in the Confederate states and then eventually led to the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution,” says Stone Iorio.
Corporal Barton Mitchell suffered a severe calf wound during the Battle of Antietam. He convalesced in a Philadelphia hospital for months. Upon his release from the hospital, Mitchell refused to leave the Union Army despite his injuries. He served alongside his fellow soldiers during the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, he retired and returned to Indiana, settling with his family in Bartholomew County, where he died just four short years later.
Concludes Stone Iorio, “Barton Mitchell is a reminder that the small contributions of everyday Hoosiers, just like other soldiers with whom he served, made a big difference in the tide of the Civil War.”
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The above video is a clip from Journey Indiana from WTIU. You can watch more segments and full episodes at pbs.org/show/journey-indiana/
