OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Ohio in the Civil War Pt 13a *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 November 27, 1999 *********************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Diaries of S. J. Kelly Plains Dealer Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley *********************************************************************** Ohio in the Civil War -- Pt 13-A The Military Telegraph Service-- The exisitance and experiences of the civil war demonstrated the vast utility and indispensable importance of the electric telegraph both as an administrative agent and as tactical factor in military operations. In addition to the utilization of existing commrcial systems, there were built ad operated more than fifteen thousand miles of lines for military purposes only. Serving under anonymous status of quartermaster's employees, often under conditions of personal danger, and with no definate official standing, the operators of the military telegraph service performed work of most vital importantence to the Army in particular and to the country in general. They fully merited the gratitude of the nation for their efficiency. fidelity, and patriotism, yet their sevices were never been practically recognized by the Government or appreciated by the people. For instance, during the war there occurred in the line of duty more than three hundred casualties among the operators, from disease, death in battle, wounds, or capture. Scores of these unfortunate victims left families dependant upon charity, as the United States neither extended aid to their families nor admitted needy survuvors to a pensionable status. The telegraph service had neither definate personnel nor corps organization. It was simply a civilian bureau attached to the Quartermasters Department, in which a few of its favored members received commissions, The men who performed the dangerous work in the field were mere employees- mostly underpaid, and often treated with scant consideration. The inherent effects of such a nondescript organization made it impossible for it to adjust itself to the varying demands and imparitive needs of great and independant armies such as were employed in the Civil War. Moreover, the chief, Colonel Anson Stager, was stationed in Cleveland, Ohio, while an active subordinate, Major Thomas T. Eckert was associated with the war secretary, who held the service in his iron grasp. Not only were its commissioned officers free from authority than that of the Secretary of War, but operators, engaged in active campaigning thousand of miles from Washington, were independent of the generals under whom they were serving. As will appear later, operators suffered from the natural impatience of military commanders, who resented the abnormal relations which inevitably led to distrust and contention. While such irritations and distrusts were rarely justified, none the less they proved detrimental to the best interests of the United States. On the one hand, the operators were ordered to report to, and obey only, the corporation representatives who dominated the War Department, while on the other lot was cast with military associates, who frequenty regarded them with a certain contempt or hostility. Thus, the life of a field operator was hard, indeed, and it is to the lasting credit of the men, as a class, that their intelligence and patriotism were equal to the situation and won final confidence. Emergency conditions in 1861 caused the seizure of the commercial systems around Washington, and the Assistant Secretary of War, Thomas A Scott was made general manager of all such lines. He secured the cooperation of E. S. Sanford. of the American Telegraph Company, who imposed much needed restrictions as to cipher messages, information, and so forth on all operators. The scope of work was much increased by the Act of Congress, in 1862, authorizing the seizure of any or all lines, in connection with which Sanford was appointed censor. Through Andrew Carnegie was obtained the force which opened the War Department Telegraph Office; which speedily attained national importance by its remarkable work, and with which the memory of Abraham Lincoln must be inseparably associated. It was fortunate for the success of the telegraphic policy of the Government that it was entrusted to men of such administrative ability as Colonel Anson Stager, E.S. Sanford, and Major Thomas T. Eckert. The seletion of operators for the War Office was surprisingly fortunate, including, s it did, three ciper-operators; D.H. Bates, A.B. Chandler, and C.A. Tinker; all of high character, rare skill, and unusual discretion. The military exigencies brought Sanford as censor and Eckert as assistant general manager, who otherwise performed their difficult duties with great efficiency; it must be addd that at all times they were enclined to display a striking disregard of proprieties and most unwarrentedly to enlarge their scope of their already extended authority. An interesting instance of the conflict of telegraphic and military authority was shown when Sanford mutilated McClellan's passionate dispatch to Stanton, dated Savage's Station, June 29, 1862, in the midst of the Seven Days Battles. Eckert also withheld from President Lincoln the dispatch announcing the Federal defeat at Ball's Bluff. The suppression by Eckert of Grant's order for the removal of Thomas-- [ By cutting out of the message the last two sentences, reading: " If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you or to any other person in Washington, You have done your best to sacrifice this army." ] finds support only in the splendid victory of that great soldier at Nashville, and that only under the maxim that the end justifies the means. Eckert's narrow escape from summary dismissal by Stanton shows that, equally with the President and the commanding general, the war secretary was sometimes treated disrespectfully by his own subordinates. One phase of life in the telegraph room of the War Department-- it is surprising that the White House had no telegraph office during the war-- was Lincoln's daily visit thereto, and the long hours spent by him in the cipher room, whose quiet seclusion made it a favorite retreat both for rest and also for important work requiring undisturbed thought and undivided attention. There Lincoln turned over with methodical exactness and anxious expectation the office file of recent messages. There be awaited patiently the translation of ciphers which forecasted promising plans for coming campaigns, told tales of unexpected defeat, recited the story of victorious battles, conveyed impossible demands, or suggested inexpedient policies. Masking anxiety by quaint phrases, impassively accepting criticism, harmonizing conflicting conditions, he patiently pondered over situations, both political and military, swayed in his solutions only by considerations of public good. For in this room were held conferences of vital national interest, which required many days, during which was written the original draft of the memorable Proclamation of Emancipation. *********************************************** To be continued in 13 B.