F. W. Chesson File: CSA.HTM
144 Fiske Street,
Waterbury, CT 06710 Rev: 7-31-2000
SECRET WIRES
*
Confederate Open and Secret Wires
By early 1861, with North-South hostilities looming, the
communications resources of both sides stood in sharp contrast,
as did the disparity in men, arms and industrial facilities.
Most wire mills and insulator kilns were in the North, and only
the Southern Porcelain Company of Kaolin, South Carolina was
available for the manufacture of ceramic insulators on any scale.
It produced a curious "teapot" insulator, having an offset, spout-
like appendage, useful for the rapid re-stringing of downed wires.
All telegraph instruments had to be hand-crafted or brought in by
blockade-runners, as did battery materials and business forms.
With the fall of Fort Sumter on April 14, 1861, war began in
earnest, and with it came demands for both expanded and secure
communications. Wiring to the new Confederate Secretary of War,
Mobile telegraph manager Zantzinger requested authority for censorship
of news dispatches...
MOBILE, April 17, 1861. Hon. L. P. WALKER:
In view of certain contingencies, shall I stop here any news
other than official dispatches coming from Pensacola? It is reported
Slemmer has made demand for navy-yard and forts. You will soon hear
definitely. No one knows this. Confederate bonds are being sold
enthusiastically.
L. F. ZANTZINGER,
Mgr Telegraph Office, Mobile
Virginia troops temporarily pulled out of threatened Alexandria
on May 5, but reorganization of the telegraph system continued apace.
Five days later, Manager Duncan reported the new arrangement to the
Secretary of War.
RICHMOND, May 10, 1861. L. P. WALKER:
Organization of Southern telegraph line has been completed to-day
by the selection of Dr. W. S. Morris, of Lynchburg, as president, and
J. R. Dowell, general superintendent. The line from Alexandria south
is now entirely distinct and disconnected from line at Washington and
north. The new officers are Virginians and sound to the core. The most
perfect confidence may be placed in them and in their zeal and devotion
to the Southern cause. The wires between Alexandria and Washington have
been taken down.
D. G. DUNCAN.
Two weeks later, however, the withdrawal was made permanent, as
Federal troops occupied the city, crossing the Long Bridge and landing
from steamers.
The predominant Southwest Telegraph Company was fractionated by
the same forces which had split the Union. Spanning North and South,
its disconnections were a mirror of the national tragedy.
Within the traumatized Border States, the line was subject to
military seizures and raids by rival armies, partisan bands and
outright bandits. The strategic Border State of Kentucky called for
delicate handling by the Lincoln Cabinet.
WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, August 28, 1861.
NORVIN GREEN, Esq., President Southwestern Telegraph Company,
Louisville, Ky.:
SIR: Under the late proclamation of the President, all commercial inter-
course between the Northern and Southern States must be suspended,
which, of course, includes the telegraphic line under your charge.
(But) It is not the wish of the President or of this Department
that the citizens of Kentucky shall be in any manner deprived of all
proper facilities, and to that end we now desire to effect some
arrangement with your company which will protect your interests under
the circumstances, and at the same time give to the Government such
assurance as to loyal working of the lines as in the opinion of the
Administration is now necessary. We therefore propose that no inter-
ference with regular business in Kentucky shall be made, your company
agreeing to place the line through Kentucky in actual charge of Anson
Stager, recently appointed by General McClellan as superintendent of
all telegraphic operations in the Departments of the West.
An early and definite reply is respectfully desired.
SIMON CAMERON,
Secretary of War.
Six weeks later, General Magruder reported on problems of basic
supplies which underlined a lack of centralized control in the
Confederacy's telegraph system....
BETHEL, VA., November 17, 1861. General S. COOPER, Adjutant-General:
SIR: I beg leave to state that Dr. William S. Morris, president
of telegraph company, has failed to send forward the materials and
chemicals necessary to keep the telegraph lines in operation which I
have constructed with so much labor, and that I have sent Mr. Conner,
one of the telegraph operators, to Richmond for the purpose of getting
the necessary chemicals, and not having returned, so far as I have
learned, I presume Dr. Morris has kept him also. For the want of these
articles the line is seldom in operation between Yorktown and Richmond.
The enemy have advanced 5 miles from Old Point to-day, and have
occupied an important position, which he may desire to fortify, but
which I do not wish him to do. It is nearly half way between his two
positions at Old Point and Newport News, he having probably at each
of these places troops superior in numbers to my own.
In front of this advanced position there is a narrow but deep
and unfordable river; nevertheless, if I can find the means to cross
it and driving away this force by attacking it in flank and rear, I
will endeavor to do it, if he attempts to fortify it. I have refused
to send the men from this department which Dr. Morris, president of
the Southern Telegraph Company, requires, as their services are
necessary to me, and I hope the War Department will sustain me in it,
and cause Dr. Morris to send Mr. Conner back, with the necessary
chemicals and wire, forthwith.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. BANKHEAD MAGRUDER,
Major-General, Commanding.
Only four weeks later, Thomas L. Carter alerted Judah P.
Benjamin to the prospect of severe disruptions from impending Federal
operations in the coming year, especially in the critical New Orleans
area. Carter also decried the "misrepresentations" of rivals to
construct parallel lines on the company's rights of way, again pointing
out the lack of centralized control of communications in the Confederacy.
OFFICE OF THE SOUTHWESTERN TELEGRAPH COMPANY, LATE NEW ORLEANS
AND OHIO TELEGRAPH, LESSEES, Nashville, Tenn., December 11, 1861.
Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of War, Richmond, Va.:
SIR: The Southwestern Telegraph Company, which I represent, owns
telegraph lines from Louisville, Ky., through Tennessee, Northern
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to New Orleans, with branch lines
reaching all important points in those States.
Merchants and business men of New Orleans will bear testimony to
the efficiency of our lines, which for construction and reliability
are not excelled by any on the continent.
Apprehending interruption between New Orleans and Mobile, we
promptly constructed a first-class line from Jackson, Miss., to Meridian,
on the Southern Railroad, where it connects with the Mobile and Ohio
Railroad, having already two first-class lines from Jackson to New
Orleans, one by railroad and the other by Vicksburg, Natchez, and
Baton Rouge. We also have a first-class line from Chattanooga to New
Orleans, and are prepared to transmit without delay all public and
private messages to any points in the States named.
The acting president of our company, finding that no line had yet
been constructed from Mobile to Meridian to meet our line, contracted
last week with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company to build a line on
their entire road, the section from Mobile to Meridian to be put up at
once, and we are rapidly pushing it to completion.
We understand that application has been or will be made by other
parties for orders from your Department to construct other lines
alongside our lines from Meridian by Jackson to New Orleans under
pretense that they are required for public service. If such application
should be made, we hope you will not order without advising us, as such
applications must be based on misrepresentation, for the purpose of
building up rival lines when they are not wanted for public or private
business. We are sure you will not lend the sanction of your high name
and office to such purpose.
We are just putting into operation in this city a wire factory,
and will lend all our energies, as good and loyal citizens, to the
prompt construction of any telegraph lines you may require for public
service.
We have heretofore communicated with the Hon. J. H. Reagan,
Postmaster-General, on this subject and other matters relating to
telegraphing.
With great respect, I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
THOS. L. CARTER,
Secretary Southwestern Telegraph Company.
P.S. I have the pleasure of inclosing a note from Governor Harris.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Nashville, Tenn., December 11, 1861.
Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN:
SIR: I state with, pleasure that an extensive business
intercourse with the Southwestern Telegraph Company has fully
satisfied me that the company is efficient and reliable.
Very respectfully,
ISHAM G. HARRIS.
In mid-1862, Postmaster General John H. Reagan felt compelled
to put his communication woes to Secretary of War, George W. Randolph.
The postal system was in enough trouble, trying to cope inadequate
supplies, the Blockade, Yankee invaders, and depreciating currency.
However, the sprawling telegraph networks in the Southern States were
also his responsibility, just as they were in Europe and the British
Empire. The demands of the military, through President Davis, were
especially trying....
Post Office Department. Richmond, June 9, 1862.
Sir: I find myself so much embarrassed in the management of the
telegraph lines and the persons connected with them by orders directly
to the president and superintendent of the lines, from the War
Department and the generals in the field, as to render it necessary for
me to call your attention to the subject, and to request such orders
from your Department as will enable me to discharge my duties in
relation to telegraphic matters without improper interference from others.
By reference to "An Act relative to the telegraph lines of the
Confederate States," approved May 11, 1861, you will see that "during
the existing war, the President is authorized and empowered to take
such control of the lines of telegraph in the Confederate States, and
of such offices connected therewith, as will enable him to effectually
supervise the communications passing through the same." And the
President is authorized to appoint agents in certain cases to build
lines, to issue instructions to agents and operators, to employ
operators and pay them, etc.
I have been charged by the President with the performance of
these duties. Requisitions from the War Department and from army
officers for the building of lines, the establishment and
discontinuance of offices, the appointment of operators and agents,
and the disposition of materials, etc., should be made on this
Department, and the orders for doing these things should go from it.
No other department or person has legal authority to do these things,
yet, in most instances, the first I know of such orders is a
notification from the president and superintendent of the lines,
that the War Department or some officer of the Army has made an
order to build a line, establish an office, appoint an operator or
agent, or take down a line, close an office, or some order for the
transfer and use of the telegraph material, all without any pre-
existing legal order.
So far, I have recognized these acts in most instances by
subsequent orders. But this course is so irregular and produces so
much confusion and difficulty, by rendering it impossible for me to
know, from the books of the Department, the condition of the lines,
the number of operators or agents, where they are, and where and in
what condition the materials belonging to the Government are, as to
render it necessary for me to call your attention to it.
Without the observances of the law in these respects, I can
neither control nor understand the expenses of this service, or
settle the accounts growing out of it. The generals in the
Southwest have gone even beyond what they do here, and have
usurped the entire control of the telegraph lines, and have
appointed agents and operators, etc, without any notice whatever
to this Department.
In view of these facts, I beg you will issue an order to the
officers of the Army, that when they wish lines built or removed,
offices established or discontinued, or agents and operators appointed
or removed, etc, they shall apply to this Department to have it done,
or such other order as will, in your judgement, relieve me of the
embarrassments above referred to.
Very respectfully, etc.
John H. Reagan,
Postmaster-General.
[OR: IV, Vol 1, pp 1146-47]
Note: G. Coldwell was Superintendent of the C.S.A. Military
Telegraph, according to a telegram of 1862.
Despite the accumulating burdens of multiple communications
media, Reagan stayed in the Davis Cabinet to the end of the war,
even serving briefly as Secretary of the Treasury during the
Confederacy's last days. Perhaps he may have wished an earlier
retirement, for, having been captured with Davis, he was imprisoned
at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor until October, 1865. After
Reconstruction, he returned to Congress and sat in both House and
Senate for many years, living until 1905.
As to the inclusion of magnetic telegraph and visual signals
under a single command, a proposal was put forth by Signal Officer
Manigalt to Chief of Staff Jordan...who was probably less biased on
that issue than Secretary of War Stanton. Due to the difficulties
of training, most Confederate Army brass pounders seem to have
remained civilian employees....
SIGNAL OFFICE, Charleston, November 6, 1862.
Brig. Gen. THOMAS JORDAN, Assistant Adj-General and Chief of Staff:
GENERAL: I have the honor respectfully to submit for the
consideration of the general commanding the following suggestions:
The material of the Signal Corps, formed as it is of educated
and reliable men, affords the opportunity of employing them to
advantage as magnetic telegraph operators, the duties of which
position are strictly germane to their present occupation as signal
men, and could be acquired with comparative ease and celerity.
With a corps of men thus thoroughly instructed in all the
scientific methods for the early transmission of information the
general commanding would have at hand the means of taking possession
of any telegraphic line already constructed, of attaching a portable
apparatus to any points of such line near which his troops may be
operating, and of constructing new lines or ramifications of lines
to points either of strategic value or value as lookouts.
An operator under these circumstances would be always within
reach, and, under military supervision, could be more relied upon
at keeping his post when required.
In point of economy it will also recommend itself to the general,
as the operator will receive but his pay as signal-man, which is less
than half that of the civil operator.
The use of the galvanic battery would also tend to fit some of
the corps for the responsible duty of igniting such torpedoes or
other marine explosives to be fired by the electric spark as may be
in contemplation; also the management of the electric (arc) light.
If this suggestion should meet with the approval of the general
two portable apparatus and a teacher for the manual operation would
be required.
JOS. MANIGAULT,
Asst Adj-Genl and Signal Officer.
Signal Flag Codes, based upon Myer's system, were basically
binary types, involving 1-2 combinations. They were used and broken
by both sides. Various encryption slides, and especially disks, for
rapid character changes appeared during the war.
Confederate Secret Wires
Besides the "official" Vigenere or Court Cipher, the South relied,
often unrealistically, on a variety of substitution ciphers, mostly
constructed around exotic symbols, and hence fit only for written
communications.
Users of these basic methods included Rose Greenhow and Mrs.
Morris in Washington, plus Generals Beauregard, Buckner, Sam Jones and
Price. In contrast, Elizabeth van Lew, resident Union spy in Richmond,
had been furnished with a simple numeric cipher, having the advantage
of being disguised as a column of ordinary commercial tabulations.
A few more advanced types were homophonic, in that they contained
several symbols for common letters like E, T, A, I, etc., and often
for common words like the, and, -ing and -tion. But, while one or two
short messages might prove initially difficult to break, accumulated
traffic could be quickly deciphered and the system laid bare for
subsequent decipherments.
Bates describes such a system used for communications between
"the highest Confederate officials" and agents in Canada and New York
City, and the consequences of its inherent weakness.
In operation, each letter of the alphabet was given six
equivalents, these being arranged in similarly shaped "alphabets."
Line No. 3, for example, was a roughly-mixed A-Z letter alphabet.
Line No. 1 was based upon the ancient "Masonic Cipher," with its
tic-tac-toe grid, while Line No. 2 was composed mainly of dot-dash
Morse Code symbols. Line No. 6 was the most exotic, containing a
human face in profile for the letter I among its symbols. Numbers 1
through 9 had one substitute, but with 0 given 6 substitutes to
handle large figures.
Greater security could have been accomplished by giving such
common groups as THE, AND, TION, ING, etc. three or four substitutes,
along with symbols for such commonly-used titles and phrases such as
PRESIDENT, SECRETARY OF STATE, ARMY, PRESIDENT, RICHMOND, etc. Yet,
while a single intercepted message might have held out against initial
cryptanalysis, a study of similarly encoded texts would have soon laid
the method bare.
The system was fatally compromised when one John H. Cammack, an
agent in New York, used it in a message concerning the printing of
Confederate securities, plus a plot to seize steamers for conversion
into raiders. Cammack committed various encoding errors, several quite
fatal, as it were:
First, he set off each word with a comma; he then enciphered
every word from one code line exclusively, instead of mixing his
substitutes.
Even worse, he enciphered whole phases from the same line! For
example, there was: "other two steamers as per..." in Line No. 1
symbols, then followed by "...programme. Trowbridge has followed
the Presidents orders..." in Line No. 2 characters, and with the
next following eight words again from Line No. 3. Cammack inserted
the clear-text "reaches you," virtually ensuring that the preceding
six and four-letter words would be read as "before this" and thus
yielding nine characters from Line No. 1.
Finally, he enciphered the date in such an obvious manner as to
give up additional letter and number symbols for future translations.
Such glaring lapses soon laid open the entire system to the War
Department cipher team of Chandler, Tinker and Bates. Their accuracy
was confirmed on April 6, 1865, when Assistant Secretary of War Dana
discovered the complete cipher among the archives of the vacated CSA
State Department in occupied Richmond.
A Washington widow, Rose Greenhow, was a gracious and popular
hostess, well known to President Buchanan and his associates. Her
hospitality towards the new Republican administration continued in
the early days of the war, though her Southern sympathies were hardly
concealed. Also well concealed, for a while, were her more covert
espionage activities.
Her "handler" was one Thomas Jordan, Assistant Adjutant General,
C.S.A., who, in a letter to Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin, dated
Centerville, October 29, 1861, commented about the cipher he had
furnished to Mrs. Greenhow as follows....
"Her cipher I arranged last April, and being my first attempt, it
was but hastily devised. It may be deciphered by any expert, as I
found from use of it for some time. I would have discarded it long
since, had Mrs. Greenhow escaped detection.
Indeed, I had arranged to send her a new one, just as she was
arrested. The Washington authorities came into possession of one of
her letters in the cipher and should have worked out the key. That
does not matter, as I used it only with the lady, and it has served
its purpose in saving General Bonham from disaster on the 17th of July.
I hear from another source that a reward is offered for the key.
I am inclined to furnish it to them, through a person in Washington,
for the consideration, since, I repeat, the key can do them no
possible good now, nor can it prejudice anyone. My suspicion has been
excited by the way the value of the key is dwelt upon and the desire to
get at in, on part of the enemy, for I cannot doubt that an expert can
unravel it...."
Though under house arrest from August 23rd, Mrs. Greenhow managed
to continue her activities, playing a cat-and-mouse game with the
Pinkerton men, including "E. J. Allen" the Spy-Catcher, himself. Finally,
she and daughter Rose were packed off to grim Old Capitol Prison in
January of 1862.
Deported to the South in April, she went to France and England to
promote Confederate recognition by the European powers. On her return
to Wilmington via the blockade-runner Condor, the ship grounded off
Fort Fisher. Fearing capture by the perusing Niphon, she demanded to
be put ashore, and entered a small boat with two other agents. The
craft overturned in the surf, and Rose Greenhow was dragged down by
the $2,000 in gold she had tied about her body, the only fatality.
She was buried with Full Honors of War. Little Rose went on to become
an accomplished actress, thereby carrying on her mother's role-playing
tradition.
Note: In studying typical Greenhow cipher messages, the "clear-
text" is almost itself indecipherable, and thus perhaps responsible for
the difficulties encountered by Federal "code-breakers" at the time....
Less than two weeks before his death at Shilo, General Albert
Sidney Johnston was the subject of the following message from
President Davis:
RICHMOND, VA., March 26, 1862. General A. S. JOHNSTON, Corinth, Miss.
MY DEAR GENERAL: Yours of the 18th instant was this day delivered
to me by your aide, Mr. Jack. I have read it with much satisfaction.
So far as the past is concerned, it but confirms the conclusions at
which I had already arrived. My confidence in you has never wavered,
and I hope the public will soon give me credit for judgment rather
than continue to arraign me for obstinacy. You have done wonderfully
well, and now I breathe easier in the assurance that you will be
able to make a junction of your two armies.
If you can meet the division of the enemy moving from the
Tennessee before it can make a junction with that advancing from
Nashville the future will be brighter. If this cannot be done, our
only hope is that the people of the Southwest will rally en masse
with their private arms, and thus enable you to oppose the vast army
which will threaten the destruction of our country.
I have hoped to be able to leave here for a short time, and
would be much gratified to confer with you and share your
responsibilities. I might aid you in obtaining troops; no one could
hope to do more unless he underrated your military capacity. I write
in great haste, and feel that it would be worse than useless to point
out to you how much depends upon you. May God bless you, is the
sincere prayer of your friend,
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
P.S. I send you a dictionary, of which I have the duplicate, so that
you may communicate with me by cipher, telegraphic or written, as
follows:
"First, give the page by its number; second, the column by the
letter L, M, or R, as it may be, in the left-hand, middle, or right-
hand column; third, the number of the word in the column, counting
from the top. Thus the word "junction" would be designated by 146,
L, 20."
Johnston may not have received the letter before dying of wounds
on the first day of Bloody Shiloh, and unlikely made any use of the
improvised encryption system.
Book and dictionary ciphers had been in military use since the
Revolution, and were fairly secure, if slow to prepare and translate.
Being linear, dictionary code books are more susceptible to analysis,
even when super-encipherment has been added.
On the same day, Lee replied to a telegram from General John
Magruder, about to face the Army of the Potomac, finally moving north
from Fortress Monroe. Apparently "Prince John" as he was known for
his courtly manner and former lavish entertainments, did not have
access to a cipher system....
HEADQUARTERS, Richmond, Va., March 26, 1862.
Maj. Gen. J. B. MAGRUDER, Commanding, &c., Yorktown, Va.
GENERAL: Your telegram of to-day to the honorable Secretary of
War has been referred to me for a reply. I would remark, that no
secrecy, either as to your movements or views, can be maintained if
you make them the subject of telegraphic dispatches. Experience shows
that information transmitted by telegraph becomes known, and is even
reported in the public journals. I would advice, therefore, that all
matters important to be concealed should be made the subject of a
letter. In the present instance I fear both your plans and condition
will become public. My letter of this morning will explain to you the
views taken as regards the position and designs of the enemy, and the
measures contemplated to meet the emergency should it be discovered
that his intention is to advance by way of the Peninsula.
As far as I am able to judge, your strongest line of defense is
that between Yorktown and Mulberry Point, which I believe had been
adopted by you and I think can best be held as long as your flanks
are not turned by the passage of the enemy up either river. If you
abandon that line I know no better position you could assume on the
Peninsula.
I would advise that in assembling a council of war it should
consist of only a few of the principal officers of your command.
The disadvantages of a large council will be apparent to you.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE,
General, Commanding.
P. S. Your telegram relative to the detailed men at "Glass Island"
has been received, but is not understood, no one here knowing anything
of a "Glass Island."
A Serious Breach of COM-SEC.
A month later there arose a definite communications security risk:
The Confederacy was facing serious problems on Friday, April 25th,
1862. Johnston was dead at Shiloh, Corinth was targeted by Halleck's
glacial advance and New Orleans was about to fall. And much too close
to home, McClellan's huge Army of the Potomac was surging around vital
Williamsburg. Then came Inspector General Samuel Cooper's message and
troubling enclosures to Robert E. Lee....
APRIL 25, 1862. General R. E. LEE, &c.
GENERAL: In to-day's (Richmond) Examiner is published an article
from the New York Herald, giving verbatim the telegraphic dispatch of
General Beauregard of the 9th instant to me, which was in cipher.
This information appears to have been communicated from Nashville
under date of April 15. The only copy that was made from the original
dispatch was sent to you, together with the telegraph, in cipher; the
rough, from which the copy sent you was made, has never been out of my
possession, and I am therefore led to the conclusion that the telegraph
communicated from Nashville must have been obtained somewhere in that
quarter.
Under the circumstances, would it not be well to advise General
Beauregard of the fact, and suggest a change in his cipher or the
adoption of an entirely new one?
Very respectfully,
B. COOPER,
Adj & Inspector Genl.
P.S. I inclose the article referred to.
[Subinclosure.]
We take the following from the New York Herald of the 21st:
HIGHLY IMPORTANT.--INTERCEPTION OF A VALUABLE DISPATCH FROM
GENERAL BEAUREGARD. NASHVILLE, TENN., April 15, 1862.
The latest information from the South is of the utmost
importance. Beauregard's army has been terribly demoralized, and,
according to his own confession, he has now only 35,000 men. The
following telegram has been intercepted by General Mitchel, and is a
full confession of the hopelessness of the rebel cause in the West.
I append it verbatim, leaving you to comment on its importance:
Corinth, April 9, 1862. General S. Cooper Richmond, Va.
All present probabilities are that whenever the enemy move on
this position he will do so with an overwhelming force of not less
than 85,000 men. We can now muster only about 35,000 effectives.
Van Dorn may possibly join us in a few days with about 15,000 more.
Can we not be re-enforced from Pemberton's army? If defeated here,
we lose the Mississippi valley and probably our cause; whereas we
could even afford to lose for a while Charleston and Savannah for
the purpose of defeating Buell's army, which would not only insure
us the valley of the Mississippi but our independence.
G. T. BEAUREGARD.
The results of a search for the source of the leak follows...
CORINTH, April 29, 1862.
GENERAL: I have made diligent inquiries relative to the paper
you handed me yesterday. I return it, and inclose therewith the
statement of Lieutenant Webb, a Government telegraph operator, who
was there at the time.
The regular operator, Martin Pride, had received permission
some time before to go to Fayetteville on personal affairs, but by
Mr. Hopper's order he left Huntsville about Wednesday noon, the 9th
of April, together with one J. G. Heap, a tinner by trade, who was
employed as a spy or scout to get information of the enemy's movements.
The two were taken into Fayetteville by the Federal pickets and
detained some four or five hours. After being released, to avoid
detention, they went northeast about 3 miles and turned back, reaching
Brownsborough, some 10 miles east of Huntsville.
Pride took passage on a gravel train and proceeded to Stevenson.
From there he came to Corinth, to report himself to Mr. Ross, super-
intendent of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Notwithstanding he
warned the engine-driver, he believes the train returned back to
Huntsville, taking Mr. Heap along. Pride does appear to be suspicious
of these preliminary movements, but he now sees the apparent rascality
at Huntsville.
The Federals were at Shelbyville on the 8th; they reached
Fayetteville on the 10th, and marched into Huntsville on the 11th.
Mr. A. J. Hopper is assistant superintendent of the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad. The person who took Pride's place at the depot
station is Charles E. [J. Howard] Larcombe. He was employed as clerk
in the machine-shop, and is represented to be an excellent operator.
There is an office uptown connecting with the through circuit. The
operator is Mrs. Larcombe. Unless her office is cut off at the depot
she can read any dispatches passing east. Indeed, intelligence was
known by the citizens in town of the fight at Shiloh before Pride
thought of mentioning it.
Mr. Webb made inquiries in Huntsville regarding L. and wife, and
he believes they are both Lincolnites and Yankees, as well as many
other parasites there. He believes, from the fact of Hopper ordering
him away and the latter failing to obey Ross' order, that H. is not sound.
I heard last night of persons lately from Huntsville that Larcombe
had been appointed railroad superintendent by General Mitchel.
Very respectfully and truly,
L. F. ZANTZINGER.
[Inclosure]
CORINTH, April 28, 1862.
I was sent to Huntsville, Ala., by Mr. M. J. Waldren about the
31st March or 1st April, and ordered to report to Mr. A. J. Hopper,
superintendent of the Eastern Division of the Memphis and Charleston
Railroad. I remained in the office as assistant telegraph operator
for purpose of attending to running of trains for the Government,
remaining there until the 11th or 12th April.
Mr. Pride, the regular operator, was sent by Mr. Hopper, so I
was informed by Pride, to Shelbyville, partly to see his parents and
partly to find out the position of the Federals. The day after Pride
left Mr. Hopper informed me he thought I had better go to Corinth, as
I could be of more service there than at Huntsville. I immediately
left the office and removed my baggage to the hotel, intending to
take the cars for Corinth the next day.
A Mr. Larkurn, or Larkin, took my place in the office as
operator. Mr. L.'s wife had charge of the office uptown; I believe
both are Northern born, and several citizens informed me they were
not sound on the Southern question.
Some four or five days previous to my quitting the office I
delivered a message to Mr. Hopper from Mr. Ross, general superintendent
of the road, to send all the rolling stock at Huntsville to Corinth
immediately.
The night of the 14th (or the night before the Federals entered
the town) several couriers arrived, stating the Federals, some 4,000
or 5,000 strong, were at Meridianville, some 8 miles from Huntsville,
and advancing.
About 11 o' clock at night I telegraphed to General Beauregard
the facts, stating that I considered it reliable. I gave the dispatch
to the lady who has charge of the office uptown, and requested her to
send it immediately. The following morning the Federal cavalry,
numbering about 150, entered the town at 6 a.m. and took possession of
the two telegraph offices immediately; a short time after, a force of
infantry entered and captured sixteen engines. In the afternoon three
more regiments arrived, making the force something between 5,000 and
6,000 strong.
They posted pickets on all the roads leading from town immediately
on their arrival in the morning. Being in citizen's dress, myself and
four others made our escape the next day.
This is a statement to the best of my knowledge, as I remember
the facts.
JNO. M. WEBB, Telegraph Operator.
Dumb, and Smarter....
The following two messages display both cryptographic naivety
and counter-intelligence shrewdness:
HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF THE CAPE FEAR, Wilmington, N.C., April
25, 1863. Maj. Gen. D. H. HILL, Commanding, &c., Goldsborough:
GENERAL: Yours of the 23rd received. General Cooke and his
troops are arriving, but General Beauregard has received General
Evans in his stead, so I have only made an exchange, but am a gainer
by the swap. Beauregard says the enemy are still in force in his
front, but that the moment I am menaced he will aid me. I do not
think a land attack can be made upon me here with you in position at
Kinston. I should of course require more troops than I have now, but
should expect them from Beauregard. In the mean time we are daily
growing stronger as against a sea attack.
The Merrimac, Charleston, Margaret, and Jessie all came in day
before yesterday. We had quite a spirited engagement over the two
former. As you expected, my 30-pounder Parrott burst in the engagement.
The Merrimac brings me three splendid Blakely guns, 8-inch rifled 130
pounders. Two of them are for this place, one gone to Mississippi. I
shall place one at Caswell and one at Fisher. I have three 10-inch
columbiads at Caswell.
I wrote you about torpedoes. I have only a few here, hardly
enough for the obstructions. You had better apply to Rains, chief
of Conscript Bureau. I think there are any number of them in Richmond.
Inclosed please find a letter from my scout, which may give you
some intelligence.
As to telegraph, use the cipher for important words. I have both
the War Department cipher and Beauregard's.
Very respectfully,
W. H. C. WHITING,
Brigadier-General.
In his closing instructions, Whiting breaks a Major Commandment of
cryptography: Cipher well, or not at all!
When words before and after an enciphered word or phrase provide
clues to the cipher text, not only is the message revealed, but the
enciphering key, in the particular case of the Confederate Vigenere
system is revealed as well. And thus, all preceding and subsequent
messages in that key are laid bare.
Major General Daniel H. Hill had taught mathematics at Washington
College before the war and had an incisive grasp of the secret world
of espionage, especially the management of "Deserters and Defectors."
Here, he discusses plans with Major Whitford to give his agents better
"Deserter Colors" in a dis-information game with Union General Robert
S. Foster....
KINSTON, N.C., April 26, 1863.
Maj. J. N. WHITFORD, Swift Creek Village:
DEAR SIR: I learn that my scout Kinsly has lost the confidence of
the Yankees and that George Smith is suspected. It seems, then, a
difficult task to put Foster on a wrong scent again. B. and C. tell
me that our deserters are also suspected, and that the last two sent
down are in irons.
I wish, therefore, to arrange a plan with you for chasing the
deserters and firing upon them until you run them into their lines.
This would relieve all suspicions and enable me to stuff Foster to my
heart's content. Come up to-morrow or next day and we will arrange
the plan.
I was at Core Creek, on the Dover road, on Friday. The mills are
not destroyed as reported. Have the scouts arrest who gave the false
report. We must have true information, and the careless and sensational
scout deserves punishment. General Ransom is unwell and may be detained
here four or five days, but I would prefer you to come to-morrow. I
think that you can break up the negro nest on Goose Creek Island. I will
draw Foster off towards Plymouth while you are operating there.
The Big Pine tories must be cut off, but I fear a fight lest you
kill some of my spies among them. Could you not manage through Smith to
give them notice in a quiet way to get off somewhere. You can't be too
cautious in this matter. Suspicion might be excited and the whole thing
prove a failure.
Send F. Riggs down to-morrow, and let me have a full report from
that section by the 1st of May at furthest.
I cannot too emphatically caution you that your men must not
trust the reports of others, but must see with their own eyes everything
they report.
The accounts of the Yankee treatment of Spinola amuse me very much.
He made his escape in good time, however, and deserves credit for his
footrace if not for his fight.
If you cannot come up to-morrow send up Lieutenant Barrington or
Lieutenant Whitford, now I believe a captain.
My note found at Hill's Point was not important, at least I
think not....
Respectfully,
D. H. HILL,
Major-General.
Hill might well have scoffed at the following very basic
substitution ciphers, the first marked: "Buckner to Sam Jones,
June 26, 1863." (National Archives)
Plain: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Cipher: J - - - G K F L E M N O D P - R C S T U V - B - Z A
Notice that there are no substitutes for B, C, D, N, U, W, and X.
Presumably, the letters could have stood for themselves, except that
B, C, D, N, and U, are already used as cipher letters. How, then, was
the user to encode these letters, especially the common D. N and U...?
And as for Seddon's "system" below, perhaps the less said, the
better!
WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A., Richmond, Va., June 22, 1863.
Maj. Gen. D. H. HILL, Commanding, &c.:
GENERAL: The delay is so great in transmitting and deciphering
dispatches in the cipher used by the signal corps, that I shall
hereafter, when necessary to employ cipher, communicate with you in
the following, viz: Reverse the alphabet, taking Z for A, Y for B,
X for C, &c.
I request you to use the same cipher in your dispatches to the
Department. Your obedient servant,
J. A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.
Soon after returning to duty, after receiving serious wounds
on the Peninsula, General Joseph E. Johnston found his new command
in a serious state of communications health; an obsolete cipher and
no Signal Officer, and reported accordingly back to Richmond....
CHATTANOOGA, TENN., December 4, 1862.
General S. COOPER, Richmond:
I have only the cipher the President established with me last
spring. I also have no signal officer; shall know to-morrow if General
Bragg has. I telegraphed General Pemberton this morning via Jackson,
but have no reply. The march of Bragg's troops to Pemberton's present
position would require several weeks.
J. E. JOHNSTON,
General.
Supplied with a new cipher, perhaps the COMPLETE VICTORY Key,
Johnston now encountered difficulties in its use. The following
instruction to Pemberton probably related to written correspondence,
though American Morse had provision for indicating capitalization of
text letters.
JACKSON, MISS., December 29, 1862.
Lieutenant-General PEMBERTON, Vicksburg:
Do you want any troops in addition to those ordered? Say (it) in
cipher. Write cipher in capital letters.
J. E. JOHNSTON,
General.
The following exchange illustrates an even greater security
problem for Robert E. Lee; his own Secretary of War...!
HEADQUARTERS, Fredericksburg, Va., February 4, 1863.
Hon. JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War, Richmond, Va.
SIR: I have received your dispatch of yesterday in reference to
the propriety of sending re-enforcements from this army to North
Carolina to replace those recalled to Charleston. I will do so if
you deem the exigency requires it, and should like to be informed as
to the number of troops withdrawn to Charleston....
I also beg leave to suggest that your directions by telegraph
for the movement of troops which you desire to conceal be sent in
cipher, as I have found that otherwise they invariably become known.
There are persons who frequent the telegraph office with no evil
purpose but from curiosity to learn the news; others are near to
catch what transpires, and thus information is spread and reaches
the wrong ears.
I have the honor to be, with great esteem, &c.,
R. E. LEE,
General.
WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A., Richmond, Va., February 4, 1863.
General B. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.
SIR: Yours of this date is just received. My dispatch of
yesterday was intended to keep you advised of the apprehended
movements of the enemy, and to submit to your judgment the propriety
of either moving or making preparations for moving some portion of
your forces either here or toward North Carolina...
It adds to the embarrassment of General Beauregard's position
that eight reserve South Carolina regiments go out of service, by
expiration of their time, in a day or two. I telegraphed the
Governor of South Carolina to urge their retention for thirty days...
I note and will observe your suggestion as to the use of a cipher.
A simple one, with which I am familiar, is to use the letter before
the one meant; thus z for a, a for b, and so on. You will readily
make it out, and I shall use that.
With high esteem, most respectfully, yours, &c.,
J. A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.
It seems strange, if not astonishing, that Seddon was not aware
of the fairly-secure Vigenere-type cipher then in general use. It is
even more amazing that he would have suggested the use of such a very
simple substitution cipher for correspondence with General Lee. At the
most, it might have discouraged casual eaves-droppers at a telegraph
office, but would also have had the effect of attracting attention to
the transmission of a confidential message.
It would have been interesting to overhear Lee's thoughts on the
matter...!
On August 1st, V(Victor?) Sheliah, Chief of Staff at Knoxville,
sent Brigadier General William Preston at Abington, Virginia, a hasty
and rather routine administrative message, whose last item referred
to instructions for the "signal corps cipher."
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF EAST TENNESSEE, Knoxville, August 1, 1863.
Brig. Gen. W. PRESTON, Commanding:
GENERAL: Pressure of business compels me to be brief.
1st. ...
2d. ...
3d. ...
4th. Horseshoes will be sent at the earliest possible moment.
5th. Please find inclosed directions for using the signal corps cipher.
V. SHELIHA,
Chief of Staff.
On the same day, Preston thanked Major-General Samuel Jones for
the loan of some cannon, discussed impending action with General
Buckner, and closed with some "cryptic comments," which included the
naming of a little-known Vigenere cipher key....
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. ABINGDON, Va., August 1, 1863.
Major-General SAMUEL JONES, C. S. Army, Dublin, Va.
GENERAL: I have just received your letter, by Lieutenant Adams,
and thank you very sincerely for your courtesy and promptitude in
lending me the Napoleon guns... Buckner...will come up to this place.
The move will be against the enemy on the Sandy, I think....
I send the Government cipher which you desire, with the key
sentence used by General Buckner.
Believe me, very truly, yours.
W. PRESTON.
Brig. Gen.
P. S.--On looking again at your letter, it seems you (already) have
the Government cipher, or "Signal Corps Cipher," as it is called, so
that I do not (need to) send it as stated. We will correspond by it.
The key sentence shall be "My Old Kentucky Home."
Buckner uses the same.
Some ten months after the Seddon Matter, Lee instructed (or
perhaps gently reprimanded) a local commander, concerning the use
of enciphered telegrams....
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, Oct 31, 1863.
Maj. Gen. ARNOLD ELZEY, Commanding, &c., Richmond, Va..
GENERAL: Your telegram is received... I wish to put you on your
guard against the mischief that may result from sending dispatches
containing information as to the number and position of our troops,
unless they be put in cipher. Whenever such matters cannot be made
the subject of a letter, which is always preferable when possible,
they should always be sent by telegraph in cipher, as facts have
found their way to the public, and of course to the enemy. Such
circumstances have induced me to abstain from sending open telegrams
about things that ought not to be known. I advise you to pursue this
course....
I am, very respectfully, &c.,
R. E. LEE,
General.
Indecipherable orthography, was also a serious communications
problem. Unfamiliar and hastily scrawled handwriting is as trying as
any garbled cipher message, if not more so, under combat conditions.
Administrative paperwork was also a burden for field officers on both
sides, as General Jones succinctly observes at the close of his message:
Maj. Gen. R. RANSOM, Jr., Commanding, &c.:
GENERAL: Your note this morning is very satisfactory.
(Although) You wrote apparently in haste, and I could not decipher
all of it, but enough to show that the enemy is falling back. If I
could get a few thousand additional infantry now, I think we could
press General Burnside out of East Tennessee. Let me know where you
will encamp to-morrow night. If I can get through with a mass of
paper business here, I will try to go to your headquarters.
Very respectfully and truly,
SAM. JONES,
Major-general
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