No Cigar Left Behind

While I was reading "The Red Badge of Courage" I noticed something peculiar in the second chapter of the novel. There is a part in the chapter where Crane mentions a horseman that has a "short, sharp-worded conversation" with the colonel of Henry's regiment. Afterwards the horseman rides off and turns to shout back at the colonel, "Don't forget that box of cigars!" after which, the colonel mumbles something . Henry wonders what cigars had to do with anything in the war. After reading this, it reminded me of a story my high school history teacher told my class. During the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee had written down very detailed strategies for troop movements for several months to come, and made copies that he gave to his officers. At some point in the war a Union officer came across a cigar box that had a copy of General Lee's plans inside. A careless Rebel officer had used the copy to wrap his cigars with and then left them in the box and forgot about them. Seeing that they looked important he sent them off to his superior officers for further analysis. Finding the cigar box with the plans inside of it gave the north a huge advantage and helped to turn the war in their favor. When I first thought of it I wasn't sure if it was a cigar box that had the plans, but after double checking with Google I confirmed that it was. I can't say for sure if that was what Stephen Crane was referring to. He might have added that in to show that the officers were confident that they would win the battle and smoke cigars to celebrate. Though most of the fights Henry's regiment is involved in end in them retreating, they do win a few battles. It also mentions at one point that his officers say they have the rebs right where they want them. This could mean that they had found Lee's plans or it could have just been luck. The soldiers often complain about how badly they were getting "licked". Still, it's very interesting that Crane mentioned the box of cigars in the story.