THE TELEGRAPH AND CIVIL WAR:
After decades of simmering tensions between northern and southern states over slavery, state rights, and westward expansion, the Civil War of 1861 began. The War between the states ended in a Confederate surrender in 1865 and was a paramount turning point for the United States.
The Telegraph facilitated communication during imperative wars such as the Civil War. It caused an exponential increment in communication through the drastic improvement when compared to the prolonged methods of the past. From messengers on horses, to messages being delivered almost instantly, allowed for a fundamental understanding in war tactics and strategies. Through the messages sent in Morse code the country was able to allocate soldiers and resources to specific areas throughout the war.
Abraham Lincoln, manifested the importance of this innovation:
Abraham Lincoln, manifested the importance of this innovation:
"He visited the War Department telegraph office morning, afternoon, and evening, to receive the latest news from the armies at the front."- David Homer. Lincoln in the telegraph office; recollections of the United States Military Telegraph Corps during the Civil War, 1917.
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“In the many telegrams he indicted or dictated, and in the con-versations he had with Secretary of State Seward, who almost invariably accompanied him to the war telegraph office, he displayed a wonderful knowledge of the country, its resources and requirements, as well as an intuition of the needs and wants of the people.”- Wilson, William Bender. A glimpse of the United States military telegraph corps, and of Abraham Lincoln, 1889.
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Abraham Lincoln was in daily personal touch for four years with the military telegraph, during the Civil War the President dedicated the majority of his time in the War Department telegraph office in order to ensure that Union would win.
The telegraph was a fundamental tool of communication that contributed to the changes and impact of the Civil War of the United States as a logistical, organizational, and political contact tool which was an important contribution to the victory of the Union. However, the Confederation struggled due to the narrower telegraph network in the South and for a variety of reasons that attenuated Southern states' force during the war.