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{
    "localId": "295701063",
    "label": "1865: Sh THRU She",
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    "id": "295701063",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "1865: Sh THRU She",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/295701063",
    "collections": [
        "Records of the Office of the Secretary of War",
        "Telegrams Sent by the Field Office of the Military Telegraph and Collected by the Office of the Secretary of War."
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{
    "seq": 4,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
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    "ocrText": "VIA\nARCHIVES\nMICROFILM\nINTRODUCTION\nOn the 462 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced a\ncollection of unbound telegrams sent mainly from one field command\nor installation to another or between the field and the War Department\noffices in Washington from 1860 to 1870. They are a part of Record\nGroup 107, Records of the Office of the Secretary of War.\nAt the outbreak of the Civil War the three large private telegraph\ncorporations were the American Telegraph Co., the Western Union\nTelegraph Co., and the Southwestern Telegraph Co. Collectively the\nlines of these three companies connected all of the major cities and\nmany of the towns of the Union except in the Far West. The Ameri-\ncan company's lines occupied the region lying east of the Hudson\nRiver and the entire Atlantic and Gulf seaboard area from Newfound-\nland to New Orleans, with branches extending into the interior to Al-\nbany, N.Y., Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pa., and Cincinnati, Ohio.\nAt each of these interior points the lines met those of the Western\nUnion company, which generally occupied the remaining northern ter-\nritory and had its eastern terminal in New York City. In the South\nand Southwest the American met the Southwestern lines at Chatta-\nnooga, Tenn., Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans, La. Louisville, Ky.,\nwas the headquarters of the Southwestern company.\nIt was immediately apparent that the President and the Secretary\nof War must be able to control these communication systems and to\nhave direct access to their lines. Accordingly, in April 1861, Sec-\"\nretary of War Simon Cameron requested from the Pennsylvania Rail-\nroad the services of its vice president, Thomas A. Scott, to bring\nrailroad and telegraph service under proper control. The Pennsyl-\nvania Railroad cooperated completely, making not only Scott but also\na number of telegraph operators available. On April 27, 1861, the\nSecretary of War announced that Scott had been appointed to take\ncharge of the railways and telegraph lines between Washington and\nAnnapolis; on May 23, he was given charge of all Government rail-\nways and telegraph systems or those appropriated for Government\nuse; and on August 1 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of War.\nWhile Scott was the general manager of the military telegraph,\nhis railroad duties apparently took most of his time. At least until\nAugust 1861 E. S. Sanford, the president of the American Telegraph\nCo., acted unofficially for him and provided the organization and\nii\nMICROFILL"
}