By John Gray
May 6,2003
Mr. Fiddler 6th period
Civil War Cell phones
"Remember back in the days?" This is a famous quote by many of the older generations, which came before us. However, really if you think about it they are a bit spoiled; they had it much better than earlier generations. They had telephones, etc. not like the much older generations. With war looming in Iraq just think how much more difficult it was to communicate during the Civil War as compared to our modern generals. The U.S. Army officers in particular can really appreciate our modern forms of communication. Just think of how difficult it was for generals, such as Lee, Grant, Longfellow, Meade, Jackson, and the beloved General Sherman. During their time it was much more difficult to communicate. How did communication affect the battlefield then and now?
During the Civil War days, the most advanced form of communication was the telegraph.
iraq
Iraq
English: Confederate General Robert E. Lee poses i...Imagine how much work that would cut off for the delivery boy who would have had to ride a horse to get the message to someone. The down side to this was that the telegraph required long wires. Often times when the enemy found a wire, they would cut it and so on the battlefield the telegraph was not very useful. They could also be tapped into in order to find out information on the enemy. The most useful part of the telegraph during this time was that Commanding Generals could relay information and battle plans over great distances. The telegraph was most useful for the Union Army since the majority of fighting took place in the south and the northern troops were able to upset the telegraphs of the southern army.
Now if they couldn't communicate with telegrams the next best thing was...