raliroad / telegraph / engineering info

[davelotter]

I am currently seeking information on telegraphs. I have noticed that there was civilian financed support in my home town of College Park, MD for telegraphs and that there was a telegraph that pre-dates the famous Balt. to Wash "What hath God wraught!" coded signal by about 45 days. The earlier signal appears to have been a successful test of the device.

I wonder about how effective the implementation of these new signal devices helped in the war effort. . .

[ElizabethClark]

A truly excellent book on the telegraph is "Lightning Man: the Accursed Life of Samuel F. B. Morse" by Kenneth Silverman (it's listed on Amazon). You'll learn more about painting than you ever wanted, but the relevant bits on the development of the electric telegraph start about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through. VERY thorough discussion of the origins, players, controversies, etc of the American telegraph. It does discuss the earlier test, in a good amount of detail.

The telegraph was not terribly new by the war, however--it had been in place for several years, and was constantly expanding/branching. I've not come to the war years in the book at this point... but if the author is as thorough there as elsewhere, you'll have a ream of information, as well as his source notes, to follow up on.

[TeamsterPhil]

I'm not an expert on the Military Telegraph/Signal Corps, but without even reading any of the websites my google search turned up, I'd venture to say it had a huge impact on the war effort. The Generals & politicians in the rear could get same-day, close-to-instantaneous reports from the front, etc. etc.

http://www.civilwarhome.com/telegraph.htm

Phil Campbell

[Charles Heath]

I am currently seeking information on telegraphs.

The Signal Corps Association has a Reenactor Division, and within that organization is a telegraphy special interest group of sorts. (See the button on the left side menu.) They are interested in history and operations, and may be of some assistance. Members do attend some reenactments, and have provided actual functional telegraph services from time to time. It's nice to see old equipment in use rather than just a static display.

http://69.3.157.98/scard/

Charles Heath

[Dignann]

David,

You might consider tracking these books down through inter-library loan:


John Emmet O'Brien, Telegraphing in Battle, Reminiscences of the Civil War, by John Emmet O'Brien, Operator and Cipher Operator U.S. Military Telegraph, 1862-1866 (Wilkes-Barre, Penn.: Rader Press, 1910)

William Rattle Plum, The Military Telegraph During the Civil War in the United States... 2 vols. (Chicago: Jansen, McClurg & Co., 1882) Reprint: Arno Press, New York, 1974.

Gerry Rader Watts, The Legacy of William R. Plum, Civil War Telegrapher, Lawyer, and Horticulturist (Lombard, Ill.: Lombard Historical Society, 1999)


Plum was a telegraph operator under George H. Thomas and served from 1862-1865.

Eric