F. W. Chesson File: SCONN.HTM
144 Fiske Street,
Waterbury, CT 06710 Rev: 7-30-2000
SECRET WIRES
*
SOUTHERN CONNECTIONS
(Military Telegraphy in the Deep South)
Shiloh Connections
General Halleck arrived at Pittsburgh Landing on April 11th,
three days after the action had wound down, but with the death toll
still rising. With him came L. C. Weir, Chief Cipher Operator from
St. Louis and Construction Chief Duncan Bacon with a team of builders.
A cable was soon laid across the Tennessee, giving access to Nashville
via Savannah (Tenn.). Unfortunately, the wire was only long enough to
reach a tree trunk projecting out over the muddy waters.
Despite the discomfort and dangers involved, Leander Parker opened
his "office" at the cable's extremity, instrument on the trunk, message
board clipped to a broken branch. Thus astride his precarious perch,
Parker endured hordes of gnats and mosquitos, while waiting couriers
whiled away their time by engaging the large and guttural Southern
bullfrogs with well-aimed stones.
Weir served with, and apparently found favor with, the suspicious
and often irritable Halleck, until the general was called north in
July to become General-in-Chief. At Cincinnati, Halleck offered Weir
a staff appointment, with the rank of Major of Volunteers, but the
operator preferred his present lifestyle in the ranks of the Military
Telegraph.
Vicksburg Connections
The Siege of Vicksburg was in many regards a forerunner to the
Richmond-Petersburg Siege one year down the road for Ulysses S. Grant.
For the many telegraphers of both sides it would mean networks of wires
linking outposts and headquarters units, plus daily dosages of dirt,
disease and danger.
Finally, with any hope of relief by Johnston shattered, Pemberton
proposed an armistice for arranging capitulation terms. Grant's operator
Beckwith nervously signalled the precedence and All Offices "22" and
"OS" calls, and alerted the operators with Washburne, McPherson, Ord,
Osterhouse and Parke, for the momentous announcement to come.
Vicksburg formally capitulated on July 4th, 1863 and on the next
day, telegraphers Baxter, Beckwith, Johnson, Parsons and Robinson moved
into the captured city. Beckwith went with Grant to one headquarters,
the others setting up shop in a bank building. The sealed vault held
some attraction for them and they engaged openly in "forcible entry,"
no doubt in the interest of discovering "Rebel Contraband." Their
quasi-burglary yielded only an old clock and some non-martial duelling
pistols.
Beckwith, on the other hand, had learned of a buried hoard of
silver plate and coin, reported at over $80,000, interred just over
the Black River. With a member of General Matthias' staff, he set out
to recover it. But in their eagerness, they were nearly captured by
four mounted rebels, and later returning for the treasure found that
parties unknown had spirited it away.
Among the host of captured troops, were telegraphers Grimes and
Marchant, who, after taking the Oath of Allegiance, were subsequently
given Government employment.
Numbered among the thousands of Union dead in the military cemetery
was nineteen-year-old Marsden K. Booth of Dundee, New York. He was yet
another victim of malaria, contracted while operating an outpost on the
turgid, fever-brewing Yazoo River.
Down river at Port Hudson, a similar siege was in progress.
An operator by the name of John D. Austen recorded the day-by-day events
in a diary which has come down through the years. The first twenty pages
contain notations for telegrams sent and paid by the garrison's officers,
including its commander, Brig. Gen. William Beall. Then follow thirty-two
pages headed by "Siege of Port Hudson, 1863, and dated May 21st and the
cutting of one line at about 3 PM. The last wire out was cut at about the
same time on the 22nd., at which point "business was suspended."
Interesting details of the siege are given, though much of the time
was given over to "sharpshooting and occasional cannonading" by both
sides. By June 30th, the attackers were so close at some points that
Austen noted: "Hand grenades are constantly used." Sickness and
intermittent fevers took a greater toll on both sides as actual combat
injuries.
Austen was surprised that the Yankees did not press an attack on
July Fourth, not knowing that Vicksburg had now capitulated. He had his
first mule steak for dinner and pronounced it superior to the scrawny
remnants of the local beef herd.
Heavy shelling resumed on the sixth. On the seventh, Austen
recorded the death by shellfire of Lt. Bledsoe and then noted that at
noon, the U.S. fleet and land batteries fired a salute, adding to the
rumors that Vicksburg had fallen.
"Some regard it as a ruse of the enemy," Austen wrote. "We shall
see...." he observed to his diary.
Port Hudson formally surrendered on July 9, with Confederate losses
reported at over 7,200, including 5,500 prisoners and their arms, 60 guns
and 22 tons of powder.
A young brass-pounder in Tennessee may well have saved General Sherman
from ignominious capture on October 11, 1863. Traveling by special train,
Sherman's party had just passed Colliersville, twenty-six miles south-east
of Memphis, when Confederate forces under Chalmers forced it to halt. One
of Chalmers' staff demanded the surrender of Colliersville and the train,
probably not knowing what a potential prize captive was at hand.
Temporizing, Sherman ordered Colonel McCoy to run the half-mile to
the station and telegraph for Corse's division, then about eighteen miles
back. He then ordered the train back to the depot and rallied his meager
forces, consisting of a battalion of regulars and elements of the 69th
Indiana.
Edwin F. Butler, station operator, contacted Corse at Germantown and
Hurlbut at Memphis, just as the enemy closed in, cavalry tearing up the
track and cutting the wires. He then made a dash for a log fort nearby,
where exchanged key for a musket and joined in the defence.
Chalmers opened up with artillery and three or four hours of hard
fighting ensued around two small earth redoubts and the brick-walled
depot, which was captured, along with the train. But then the enemy
disengaged, due, as Sherman remarked in his Memoirs, "...to Corse's
rapid approach...on the double-quick...."
That evening the line was repaired and Butler was able to contact
Captain Fuller in Memphis, apparently using an improvised key, with an
account of the action and a request for some new equipment as indicated
below....
"Please send a relay and key. When the line was cut and the rebels
were charging us. I took up the instruments (just) when a shell came
through the office and as I pulled the key loose, I broke it. The relay
got stepped on at the fort. I got hit in my left arm while shooting from
the fort, but do not think I will be laid up. Butler." (Plum: V-2, P-81)
About a week later, Sherman requested more operators for his
impending advance, specifically requesting Wayne W. Parsons.
Interestingly, Parsons had also backed up the defenders of a threatened
fort at Grand Junction, the preceding February.
Many incidents are recorded of operators accompanying raiding
parties of both sides and tapping lines, sometimes with valuable results.
There were mainly true accounts of operators with Forrest and
Morgan, who created great confusion by sending false information and
orders. Sometimes, however, even the cleverest, such as the Canadian
George "Lightning" Ellsworth of Morgan's raiders, were exposed, when
the imposter's operation of the key did not match the legitimate user's
definitive "fist."
Atwater's Adventure
In July, 1863, young Edward W. Atwater was stationed at Lebanon
Junction, Kentucky, just when John Hunt Morgan was rampaging through
on what would become his most audacious and final raid across the Ohio.
Defeated at Green River Bridge, Morgan pushed on towards Lebanon. His
operator, Ellsworth also had an infrequent repulse, failing to deceive
the telegraphers on the Stanford line. He then took a small force over
to the Lebanon branch, and near St. Mary's, cut off Lebanon and tricked
Atwater at the Junction station.
Fate conspired against Atwater, as he had been invited by operator
Bennett at Lebanon to visit him on the July Fourth holiday. Having just
received a showy, if unofficial, U.S.M.T. uniform, he was determined to
go. At 10 P.M. on the night of the third, Morgan cut the line. Then,
about 6 A.M., Ellsworth cut in, taking over Bennett's B Lebanon call,
while engaging Atwater on his Z call for Lebanon Junction, as follows....
Z: "Good morning, Bennett. Where have you been all night?
Anything wrong?"
B: "Been on duty all night. Line OK S.E. of here. Noticed
it was open between us, but seems OK now."
Z: "Any news about guerrillas?"
B: "There was a report of some in the county yesterday, but
everything is quiet here."
Z: "I will be there about noon."
B: "That's right; will have something set up for you."
The 8:30 train from Louisville arrived on time, with about thirty
passengers. The conductor queried Atwater about reports from Danville
and Lexington concerning guerrilla activities, including bridge burning
near Lebanon. Recalling his apparent conversation with Bennett, he
assured the trainman that all was well.
At New Hope, the situation turned tense, with a report that a
culvert and track had been destroyed near St. Mary's, only five miles
from Lebanon. Thirteen soldiers were put aboard, but in a cut just
beyond St. Mary's the train was derailed and some thirty of Morgan's
men fired from the right side, killing a trooper and wounding a
passenger. The other troops exited from the left side and fired back,
temporarily driving off the raiders.
Sent off for aid, Atwater had only gone a short distance when he
was overtaken by three mounted men who fired at him until he waved a
copy of the Louisville Journal as a white flag. One of the riders was
Ellsworth, who, on learning of his identity, explained the deception.
Abashed, Atwater pleaded for the same leniency accorded to the
civilian passengers, but Ellsworth, pointing out the telegrapher's new
uniform, insisted that he was a fit guest for Libby Prison.
Just at this point, Union cavalry approached and Ellsworth and
party galloped off, soon to figure in new wire mischief.
Learning from three prisoners that Morgan was moving on Lebanon,
Atwater did some line tapping of his own and alerted General Boyle at
Louisville with the news.
Morgan took Lebanon after a hard-fought seven-hour fight, operators
Purdon and Bennett making their escape. After capturing Bardstown,
Morgan struck the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, capturing Jamie
Forker, operator at Bardstown Junction. Here, Ellsworth used his
persuasive powers to good effect, as recorded by Plum....
"Hello, sonny," said Ellsworth, pointing a cocked revolver. "Move
one inch the wrong way and you are a dead man!"
While this exchange was occurring, Morgan captured a bridge fort
and held up a train, the passengers being relieved of their money,
watches, jewelry and baggage. When Louisville called to learn whether
the plundered train had passed north yet, Ellsworth forced Forker to
signal that it had.
His usefulness at an end, Forker was mounted on a mule and sent
to camp. The following evening he showed up at Lebanon Junction, minus
hat, coat and boots.
Increasingly dogged by stiffening resistance, Morgan carried his
raid ever northwards, even slipping past the suburbs of Cincinnati at
night on July 13th. Barred from recrossing the Ohio into the relative
safety of Kentucky, he was finally brought to bay at Salineville, Ohio,
not far from the Pennsylvania line, on the 26th. He and many of his
officers were confined in the Ohio State Penitentiary at Columbus.
Morgan, Duke, Hines and some others tunneled out exactly four months
later, but the great riding and raiding days were over.
Morgan was killed at Greenville, Tennessee on September 4, 1864,
just about the time his close confidant, Captain Hines, was plotting a
Copperhead uprising from his base in Canada.
Van Duzer was saddled with great communications responsibilities,
as the armies faced off at Chattanooga, in following report to Eckert:
CHATTANOOGA, TENN., September 17, 1863--3 p.m. (Received
5.30 p.m.) Maj. THOMAS T. ECKERT, Washington, D.C.:
General Rosecrans' headquarters at Crawfish Spring, 15 miles from
here. Army left, near him; right, 12 or 15 miles farther southwest, at
the east foot of Missionary Ridge; Chickamauga Creek in front. Enemy on
the other bank, and at the west foot of Pigeon Mountain. Line shorter
than ours. Slight skirmishing every day. Line will be opened to him
to-morrow. No immediate action expected.
J.C. VAN DUZER, Asst. Superintendent.
Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana undertook many roving
field trips to check on military matters such as morale and command
efficiency. He telegraphed this event to Stanton from Chattanooga....
CHATTANOOGA, October 10, 1863--5 p.m.
Rebels are holding reviews to-day, and troops hitherto posted
near Lookout Mountain have been moved east to Missionary Ridge for
this purpose. Possibly Jefferson Davis is with them.
C. A. DANA.
The following day he reported on a more serious matter, involving
communications security....
CHATTANOOGA, October 11, 1863--9 a.m. Major Eckert:
The dispatch disclosed was the first one of September 20. General
Granger explains that, being very anxious for news, he went with Gillem
to the telegraph office as my dispatch was passing through, some
portions of which were guessed at by the operator. The person who guessed
out the dispatch was Mr. Smith, who informed us at the time "It was mere
surmise, I had no key to the cipher."
It is rather curious, however, that an agent of the Associated Press
at Louisville, in a private printed circular, quoted me as authority for
reporting the battle as a total defeat, while Horace Maynard repeated in
Cincinnati the entire second sentence of the dispatch. If practicable,
send me a cipher whose meaning no operator can guess out.
C. A. DANA.
Observation and signal towers were built in large numbers, often
reaching considerable heights, and seeming even higher to the occupants
when under enemy fire. In the following engineering report, dealing
with operations at Hilton Head, South Carolina, the St. Helena Island
tower reached to almost 140 feet, and was connected by a six-mile line.
HQ, DEPT OF THE SOUTH, Field Eng. Office, Folly Island, S.C.,
January 6, 1864.
CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report, for the information of the
major general commanding, that the line of signal towers from these
headquarters to Hilton Head is now completed and in operation.
Beginning at Hilton Head, the line commences at the old head-
quarters building, from which it was proposed to telegraph to the
signal tower erected at the junction of the roads between Beaufort
and Saint Helena Village, and that leading to the Episcopal Church
on Saint Helena Island, but the distance was found to be too great,
and an intermediate station has been established at Jenkins' plantation,
8 miles from Hilton Head. This is merely a reading-room and platform.
From Jenkins' to the tower, 6 - miles, communication is made by
military magnetic electric telegraph.
The tower upon Saint Helena Island is formed upon three very
large hard pine trees, and over them, framing in successive sections
up to a total height of 138 feet above the ground.
The next tower is at Otter Island, 8 - miles farther up the coast.
The framework is two towers, one within the other, counterbraced. The
total height is 142 feet above the ground. This tower is stockaded, and
could, with a good garrison, hold out against an attack of the enemy
for some considerable time. The stockade is flanked by tambours at two
angles. The next station is at Bay Point, Edisto Island, distant 5
miles from Otter Island. This is merely a temporary work 43 feet high,
16 feet square, and stands on a sand-hill about 18 feet above the high-
water mark. It is surrounded by abatis, but is not otherwise fortified.
The next point is at Botany Bay Island, where there is a tower
138 feet high above the ground and 30 feet square at the base. This
tower, being at a very exposed point, has been well fortified by a
stockade, flanked on the angles by tambours and abatis outside. The
entrance is by ladders over the abatis and stockade. These ladders
are movable, and are to be drawn in at night, or in case of an attack.
In the tower, 18 feet above the ground, there is a platform of timber,
surrounded by a loop-holed wall of timber 4 feet high and 7 inches
thick. This tower should be able to resist a strong attack.
RECAPITULATION.
Hilton Head to Jenkins' 8- Miles
Jenkins' to Saint Helena 6- "
Saint Helena to Otter Island 8- "
Otter Island to Bay Point Island 5- "
Bay Point to Botany Bay 9- "
Botany Bay to Folly Island 14- "
To department HQ, Folly Island 3- "
Total 55- Miles
EDWARD W. SERRELL,
Colonel; Vol. Engineers, and Asst. Eng., Dept. of the South.
Line-tapping was an art in its own right. High-impedance
sounders, connected with thin wires, were difficult to detect,
visually or electrically. But line-opening or grounding actions,
such as attempts to transmit bogus messages could bring quick
retaliation from cavalry patrols, as reported by one Captain
Fielden, CSA, below....
HQS. DEPT. OF S. CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA, Charleston, SC.
February 9, 1864.
Mr. DAVID O'KEEFE, Manager of Telegraph Office, Charleston:
SIR: The commanding general fears that your line to Savannah
may have been lately tapped by the enemy at some point, and wants
the closest scrutiny of every part of it made to discover whether
any such thing has been done. Please give this matter your earliest
and most serious attention.
Respectfully, your obedient servant, H. W. FEILDEN,
Capt & Asst Adj-General.
Getting a line built was one matter; getting staff, and
especially operators, was another matter, as witness the following
exchange, deep in the most-southern area of occupied territory....
HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF FLORIDA, June 8, 1864.
Capt. W. L. M. BURGER, Assistant Adjutant-General:
CAPTAIN: It is important that there should be prompt and constant
telegraph communication between this point and Saint Augustine and
Picolata. It will require about 60 miles of wire. I respectfully request
that Captain Sheldon, or, in his absence, some one acquainted with the
business, be ordered to report to me with the necessary materials for
building the same. About 10 miles extra wire and some tap batteries
should be added. This telegraph line I consider essential to the prompt
concentration of the troops in Florida.
Very truly, your obedient servant, WM. BIRNEY, Brig-Genl,
OFFICE OF U.S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH, Hilton Head, June 14, 1864.
It is impossible to supply operators for the within proposed
telegraph without closing offices now in operation in this department.
The cost of material would be about $2,200 for 65 miles. The material
could be forwarded from this post, and the line erected at once.
No dependence can be placed upon the line unless it should be
protected along its whole length from injury by guerrillas. It is
certain that if the enemy meditated movements which would require the
concentration of our forces, his first attempt would be to cripple the
telegraph if possible, and thus defeat the main object for which the
line is required.
Respectfully submitted. L. F. SHELDON,
Capt., Asst. QM and Inspector of Telegraph.
JUNE 16, 1864.
Respectfully referred back to Brigadier-General Birney, for
information as to the protection he can give the line if built.
If General Birney is satisfied upon this point, the material,
&c., will be furnished by Captain Sheldon from these headquarters.
The line, however, cannot be erected until operators can be obtained
to work it.
J. G. FOSTER.
HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF FLORIDA, June 20, 1864.
Respectfully returned.
Operators can be supplied from the enlisted men now in this
district. The line runs through a part of the country entirely ours.
I traverse it without a guard; single men and officers pass between
this and Saint Augustine without apprehension. A loyal population
is rapidly settling on the east side of the Saint John's. These men
would promptly arrest any one from the rebel army. Our picket-boats
and the gun-boats on the river make it a difficult matter for any
one to pass from the west to the east side of the Saint John's. On
the whole, I consider the line as safe certainly as between New York
and Philadelphia.
The aid of such a communication would be immense to the general
commanding district in the ordinary administration. If the line cost
$20,000 it should be made.
WM. BIRNEY,
Brig-Genl, Commanding.
By the time Sherman had evacuated Atlanta in mid-November, 1864,
Southern Wires were approaching "terminal" condition. Even in vital
Petersburg, horses were unavailable for the linesmen, except by loan
from the quartermaster, or by rental from opportunistic private owners.
At Mobile, Superintendent Merriwether had to order Pascagoula to
scavnge insulators and brackets from the Halls Mills branch, in order
to salvage the main line from Montgomery to the Tensas River. Much of
the wire, being iron, was badly corroded and subject to breakage from
the slightest strain.
Supplies were in desperate shortage, and expensive where available,
with sulfuric battery acid going at twenty dollars a pound. Poor quality
zinc was two and one-half dollars a pound, and office lamps were being
fueled with sputtering peanut oil.
With Confederate currency rapidly depreciating, merchants were
increasingly demanding payment in "hard currency," even the once-despised
Federal "greenbacks." To add to the crisis, the Southern Porcelain
Company had been destroyed by fire, ending the production of ceramic
insulators for line repairs.
By mid-March of 1865, Sherman's advances into the heart of North
Carolina evoked the following telegraph items....
RALEIGH, March 11, 1865---10.15 a.m. General BRAGG, Goldsborough:
Better remain at Goldsborough till we see Sherman's course
from Fayetteville.
J. E. JOHNSTON
GOLDSBOROUGH, March 11, 1865--12.20 p.m.
General JOHNSTON, Raleigh, N. C.:
Your three telegrams to-day received. Will remain here as directed.
Will send trains loaded with supplies to Raleigh. While there you can
dispose of the trains as you find necessary. I am informed troops are
en route this way from Raleigh. Should not all such be ordered to stop
at Smithfield? I will stop there those now till your wish is known.
BRAXTON BRAGG, General
GOLDSBOROUGH, March 11, 1865--1.05 a.m. General BRAGG, Kinston:
Are there any orders to telegraph to Lipscomb's command at Rocky
Point? Shall I break up post and telegraph offices south of this. I do
not comprehend the full import of your telegram of 11.45 p.m. to Major
Cameron. I only conjecture the danger alluded to.
Please reply immediately.
JOHN B. SALE,
Col. & Asst. Adj-General.
GOLDSBOROUGH, March 11, 1865. OPERATOR AT SMITHFIELD:
Colonel Burr's command of home guards, Ellis' battery, and
Lipscomb's cavalry regiment, ordered to Raleigh, will be stopped at
Smithfield. Show this to the commanding officers and telegraph here
their arrival at Smithfield.
JOHN B. SALE,
Asst Adj-General.
MARCH 11, 1865--12 m. Colonel FREMONT, Magnolia:
Your road is no longer safe south of the Neuse.
BRAXTON BRAGG
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, Kinston, March 11, 1865.
Major-General HOKE:
GENERAL: See particularly to the telegraph operators, that they
do not remain in Kinston. All of the papers in the telegraph office
must be destroyed. As soon as all of the supplies and wounded are off
General Bragg desires you use the balance of transportation for the
removal of troops, commencing with Brig General Baker's command, which
will go directly through to Smithfield.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
FRANCIS S. PARKER,
Acting Asst Adj-General.
OLDSBOROUGH, March 11, 1865--5 p.m. General HOKE:
You have misconstrued my orders. Your main force was to move on,
but the rear guard to hold the enemy in check at Kinston as long as
consistent with safety. If not too late, this must now be done. It is
all important.
BRAXTON BRAGG
RALEIGH, March 12, 1865. General R. E. LEE: (Via Richmond.)
Is it so important to prevent the interruption of the road by
Raleigh by which you are supplied as to make it proper to give battle
with the chance of winning against us? I would not fight Sherman's
united army unless your situation makes it necessary.
J. E. JOHNSTON
GOLDSBOROUGH, March 12, 1865. OPERATOR AT MOSELEY HALL:
Inform me when the rear guard, consisting of all infantry at
Kinston, passes on the march this way, and promptly send forward all
orders by courier. Keep office open till ordered from here to close.
JOHN B. SALE,
Asst Adj-General.
HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF GEORGIA, Augusta, March 12, 1865.
Lieut. Col. J. M. OTEY, Assistant Adjutant-General:
COLONEL: For the information of the commanding general I
respectfully report as follows...
I have been urging forward the work on the line of telegraph
from Augusta to Columbia and hope to have it ready for use by the
20th instant. The heavy rains have retarded the work of repairing
the Georgia Railroad. The engineer in charge expects to have it
open to Atlanta by the 25th of April....
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, B. D. FRY,
Brig-General.
RICHMOND, VA., March 13, 1865. General ROBERT E. LEE, Petersburg, Va.
The Secretary of War has just informed me that General Johnston
has directed the removal of supplies from Raleigh as necessary for
their safety. If this indicates a purpose to retire behind the rail
line from Goldsborough to Raleigh, and thence to Greensborough, the
region of supplies will be lost, and we cannot maintain our position
in Virginia and North Carolina. I hope you will be able, by specific
instructions, to avert so great a calamity.
JEFF'N DAVIS
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, March 13, 1865 6.15 pm
Maj. Gen. D. H. HILL, Commanding Lee's Corps:
The general commanding directs that you will continue your march,
without unnecessary delay, to-morrow morning, to Smithfield. Upon
reaching there report your arrival to General J. E. Johnston, at
Raleigh, by telegraph.
Very respectfully, etc, JOHN B. SALE
Asst Adjutant-General
HEADQUARTERS, March 13, 1865--5.45 p.m. General WHEELER:
GENERAL: Your dispatch of 2.25 p.m. just received. It is
desirable to check the enemy as much as possible, so as to allow our
infantry to get off. If only cavalry presses you can easily stop them
or keep Generals Johnston and Hardee informed of all movements by
telegraph. It will be necessary to hold the point where this road and
the one you are on come together, so that Law can get by. He is ten
miles from Raleigh, with pickets well to his front.
Yours, respectfully, WADE HAMPTON,
Lieutenant-General.
RALEIGH, March 13, 1865---3.30 p.m.
General BRAXTON BRAGG, Goldsborough:
How long will it take you to reach Smithfield, and how much
can the railroad help you in time?
J. E. JOHNSTON
GOLDSBOROUGH, March 13, 1865--4.30 p.m.
General J. E. JOHNSTON, Raleigh:
My main force can be there on the 15th; all on the 16th, if
we move immediately, which I suggest. No railroad transportation
is available, nor could it advance me.
BRAXTON BRAGG
GOLDSBOROUGH, March 13, 1865--6.15 p.m.
General J. E. JOHNSTON, Raleigh, N. C.:
Your two telegrams of this afternoon are received.
BRAXTON BRAGG
GOLDSBOROUGH, March 13, 1865. OPERATOR AT MOSELEY HALL:
Remain until the cavalry at Kinston are ordered to fall back.
Then accompany them with your instruments and materials. While
remaining, communicate information to Colonel Pool, Goldsborough,
and General Bragg, Smithfield. If Chesnut's squadron is near tell
them to come on.
JOHN B. SALE
GOLDSBOROUGH, March 13, 1865. Colonel ZACHRY, Kinston: (Care of
Captain Cooper, assistant adjutant-general.)
March immediately as directed, leaving the cavalry until further
orders. Telegraph office at Moseley Hall to be kept open till
ordered closed from me. Courier to be kept there to communicate with
Kinston. Burn all bridges as you pass this way. No train can be sent.
Time is important.
BRAXTON BRAGG
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Raleigh, March
14, 1865. General J. E. JOHNSTON:
GENERAL: Great disorders are already coming from the selling of
spirits to the soldiers in the city, and the evil may be expected to
increase as the number of soldiers increases. It is embarrassing for
civil officers to assume authority to remove or destroy private
property, and I therefore have to request you, in the name of the
loyal and orderly citizens of this city, to issue orders for the
immediate removal or destruction of all liquors in this place, except
such small quantities as necessary for family and medical purposes.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Z. B. VANCE.
GREENSBOROUGH, N. C., March 14, 1865---4 a.m.
General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Raleigh:
Sherman is moving doubtless to form junction with Schofield's
forces about Goldsborough. As you cannot yet check him, it would be
well to concentrate all your forces against Schofield and crush him
before that junction can be made.
G. T. BEAUREGARD
RALEIGH, March 14, 1865. Colonel PARKER:
General Johnston directs that you make immediate arrangements
for the transportation of the Federal prisoners here to the point on
the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad nearest to the Danville railroad.
Colonel Cunningham will have command of the guard (State troops),
and will be directed to confer with you. Capt. John Robinson,
engineer, will give you information about railroad trains, and you
should see him....
ARCHER ANDERSON,
Asst Adj-General.
BRAXTON BRAGG
SMITHFIELD, March 15, 1865 8.30 am. General J. E. JOHNSTON, Raleigh:
Enemy reported last night as having crossed at Kinston in
small force. Your dispatch received placing me in command here.
BRAXTON BRAGG
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, March 15, 1865.
Co]. T. J. LIPSCOMB, Commanding Second South Carolina Cavalry:
COLONEL: The general commanding directs that you move your
command at once via Goldsborough, and take position in front of
and near to the enemy, who is moving from about Kinston in this
direction. Dispose your men so as to observe all the avenues of
approach, and to this end you had better place a detachment on
the south side of the river. If he advance impede his progress
and learn his movements. Report daily from the nearest telegraph
office, and oftener when necessary. Report by courier should the
telegraph become impracticable....
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN B. SALE,
Assistant Adj-Gen.
By mid-March, communications for the Confederate armies in the
field were becoming more and more stressed....
RALEIGH, N. C., March 16, 1865 7 am. Col. G. W. BRENT, Charlotte, N.C.
Go to Chester to expedite movement of troops and trains to
Smithfield. Colonel Waddy must report here. Procure telegrams of
yesterday to Colonel Otey, and carry out instructions therein contained.
Enemy still at Fayetteville.
G. T. BEAUREGARD
RALEIGH, N.C., March 17, 1865. Col. GEORGE WILLIAM BRENT,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Charlotte, N.C.
Important telegrams now at Winnsborough to go through to Augusta.
Make arrangements to send them on immediately. Capt. R. Ward has been
put in charge of an independent line of couriers from Columbia to
Winnsborough, and General Fry has been ordered to extend his line to
Winnsborough. Call on these officers for explanation of non-execution
of orders. By command of General Beauregard: JNO. M. OTEY,
Asst Adj-General.
One bold Yankee's exploits quite late in the war were related by
the "Selma Rebel," who recounted:
"The operator was called by someone on the Tennessee and Alabama
Railroad, requesting the number of troops and supplies at Coosa Bridge.
After obtaining this information, he calmly informed them that he was
attached to General J. H. Wilson's cavalry division, and currently
stationed in a tree near Montevallo, `working in the hardest rain I
ever saw...!'
The audacious Yank then asked for and received permission to send
a personal message to a certain young lady in Mobile, and also to
another Southern operator, telling him he esteemed him as much now as
before the war. After some additional conversation, the wire-tapper
clambered down from his rain-soaked perch, mounted his horse and road
away with Wilson's raiders."
(At the time of Wilson's Selma Raid, March 22 to April 20, 1865,
the war was rapidly winding down, with Southern resistance collapsing
on all fronts. This might explain the rather casual handling of an
otherwise very serious breach in communications security.
Wilson was later at Montevallo on March 31st, where he routed
Crossland's Brigade, driving it back towards Selma, helping to date
the wire-tapper's escapade. Wilson captured took Selma on April 2,
and Montgomery on the 12th. Continuing inexorably eastward, he took
Columbus, Georgia on the 16th (the day after Lincoln died). He then
entered Macon on the 20th, learning that the war was essentially over,
as Johnston surrendered on April 26th and Taylor on May 2nd.
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