A Pictorial History Of The Civil War Telegraph
by Mike Tucker
Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", July 1990, page 17
While doing some research on telegraph lines in some books, I ran into
sketches of the telegraph during the Civil War. We can imagine the clatter of
rifle shots being exchanged; shrapnel from cannonballs flying about and the haze
of gunpowder smoke and dust occluding the battlefield like a thick mist. At the
same time, the telegraph field crews were hurriedly stringing wire on poles
equipped with "teapots" and "slashtops". This short era of
history involves some very unique and rare insulators.
I am submitting the
following sketches as a pictorial glimpse of the Civil War telegraph.
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR ARTICLE PREPARATION
Alvin F. Harlow, Old Wires and New Waves, (New York, 1936)
John E. O'Brien, Telegraphing in Battle, (Scranton, PA, 1910)
R.L. Thompson, Wiring a Continent, (New York, 1947)
From Leslie's Weekly, New York Public Library
ONE OF THE FIRST ARMY TELEGRAPH STATIONS IN THE FIELD, 1861
SETTING UP A LINE ON THE BATTLE-FIELD, CIVIL WAR
Grant, Sheridan, Meade, Rawlins and an Operator
Field Telegraph -- Battery Wagon
Telegraph Operator Tapping Rebel Telegraph Line Near
Egypt, on the Mississippi Central Railroad
Courtesy of The Century Magazine
A Field Expedient
Courtesy of The Century Magazine
Light Field Service
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