I was reading a mention of the Battle of Antietam and how Lincoln used that victory as justification for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.
Nowadays, it’s often considered that the battle was nowhere near as much of a Union victory as it should have been. McClellan had a copy of Lee’s battle plan, which should have allowed him to annihilate the Confederates. But instead, he only managed to drive them out of Maryland and Lee was able to keep his army intact.
My question then is whether most people at the time realized what an opportunity McClellan had. Was it known that Lee had lost a copy of his plans? Or did that information stay secret until later? Obviously there were top officers and politicians on both sides who knew, but I’m talking about the general public.