‘Telegraph warfare’ contributed to outcome of Civil War

Civil War historians are thoroughly convinced that the Union’s ability to master the use of telegraph network technology effectively turned the tide, enabling Union forces to ultimately win the war convincingly.

 

Dr. David Hochfelder, a history professor at the University of Albany (N.Y.), said that the Civil War (1861-65) was the first time in the history of warfare that “the telegraph helped field commanders to direct real-time battlefield operations, permitting senior military officials to coordinate strategy across large distances. These capabilities were key factors in the North’s victory.”

 

“The telegraph was an important part of Civil War military and political history for two major reasons,” Dr. Hochfelder said. 

“Most visibly, the telegraph proved its value as a tactical, operational and strategic communication medium, and President Abraham Lincoln spent countless hours in the Department of War’s telegraph office” where he was actively engaged, overseeing the entire game plan for the Union troop movements.

“By contrast, the Confederacy failed to make effective use of the South’s much smaller and vastly inferior telegraph network,” Dr. Hochfelder said.

Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman (shown above) said the telegraph allowed for a “perfect concert of action” between his forces and the command of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (shown below).

 

Gen. Grant was also connected with Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton in Washington, D.C. The two men “held frequent conversations over the wires about strategy some lasting two hours.”

 

One example about how the system worked effectively occurred in May 1864 during the Battle of Spotsylvania near Fredericksburg, Va. 

Dr. Hochfelder wrote: “Union Gen. George Gordon Meade (shown below) used the telegraph to reinforce Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock’s unit after it had come under heavy Confederate counterattack.

 

“Luther Rose, a telegrapher attached to Hancock’s headquarters, telegraphed Meade” to ask for help.

“Rose used a field telegraph that could be deployed within a few minutes from the backs of mules and could be strung almost anywhere. Such flexibility meant that Rose accompanied Hancock (shown below) closely, taking down and resetting his instruments if Hancock moved his headquarters more than half a mile.”

 

Dr. Hochfelder said: “Rose and a companion operator were so close to the front at Spotsylvania that heavy shelling frequently broke their wire. The two took turns splicing the breaks, with Rose remarking: ‘If I stop a shell, send my things home.’”

There were many unsung heroes among the civilian employees who labored as telegraph operators within the United States Military Telegraph Service (USMT), which was formed to support the Union’s war effort.

 The field generals relied on these men to tap the keys, cipher the messages and repair down lines in the face of enemy fire. Clearly, serving as a field telegraph operator was a hard and thankless job…and dangerous. 

 

Dr. Holchfelder said: “They encountered the constant threat of being captured, shot or killed by Confederate troops. Telegraph operators faced a casualty rate of 10%, a rate similar to the infantry men they served with.”

President Lincoln formed close bonds with the telegraph office operators who served at war headquarters in Washington, treating them as confidants. Stanton called a foursome of operators his “sacred four” out of respect for their vital, confidential work.

 These men were: David Homer Bates of Steubenville, Ohio; Albert Brown Chandler of Randolph, Vt.; Thomas Thompson Eckert of St. Clairsville, Ohio; and Charles Almerin Tinker of Chelsea, Vt. 

(They are shown in descending alphabetical order.)

  

 

Most likely, they were on duty when news of Gen. Grant’s capture of Vicksburg, Miss., arrived by wire in 1863.

Author Christopher Klein wrote: “Lincoln flouted regulations and bought beer for the operators, drinking a sudsy toast with the general’s telegram in his hand.”

  

This is a photo of the “nucleus” of the War Department Telegraph Office was taken in 1890 -- long after the end of the Civil War and after their active service days. 

Pictured, from left, are: Eckert, Tinker, Bates and Chandler.