How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph Throughout the Civil War
The Telegraph, an amazing device that could send a message across the country in the blink of an eye. This was astonishing to the citizens, to the government, the presidents, to everybody at the time, it was something that was thought to be impossible, but of course the people of our ever changing world made the impossible possible. Abraham Lincoln was elected into office as president in 1860, and one year later early morning on April 12, 1861 the Civil War had begun. Lincoln was rushed into the situation of the country being a "house divided" (as Lincoln had said). States had started to disagree with the Union and began to secede from Union, creating the Confederate states, it started with South Carolina seceding, and then went Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. When Lincoln became president and went right away to fighting in the Civil War, he opened his eyes and saw a major advantage which he took the opportunity of. That was the Telegraph. If he would be able to communicate with the his army at the battles, and know of whats going on including losses, victories, sneak attack, he could also use it to know where other people are, and where the both sides were. Lincoln quickly learned how to use the Telegraph and became familiar with Morse Code. This was a skill that was well worth learning. There were two very similar battles that happened in the Civil War they were the Battle of the First Manassas and the Battle of the Second Manassas(Bull Run). Even though these two battle were alike, they were different in a few ways. One of those ways was that in the Battle of the First Manassas, Lincoln waited patiently for news about what happened on the battlefield, but in the Battle of the Second Manassas Lincoln was able to use the Telegraph to stay informed on every move that was being made on the battlefield. He was constantly being updated, and these was a great advantage for Abraham Lincoln to know what was going on, what he needed to do to help, and to make sure that they fought the best they possible could. It was amazing what had changed, in the plan for the battle, Lincoln had planned horse mounted messengers and troop marches to battles. But now the reality was that they could use Telegraphs to send messages, and Trains to transport the soldiers to the battlefields. There were many times throughout the war like this that Lincoln used the Telegraph to communicate information, frustrations, demands, questions, answers, words of encouragement, etc. Another example was when Lincoln discovered the defeat at Balls Bluff, the death of colonel Edward Baker, and General McClellan's plan to withhold information from him. He was frustrated with McClellan and quickly sent him a Telegraph to get his play on the battle, and from that Telegraph it was confirmed to him that he was unable to trust McClellan from now on. The Telegraph showed great progression in the Civil War and helped with the communications of the war tremendously.
Here are some Telegraphs that were sent throughout the civil war, between Lincoln and many people including his family, friends, and war generals.