.................. ........ 1 ----------------~~~~~~~~ 

REF ID:A99658 

'-. ,: .. ~ 

I 

eclassified and approved for release by NSA on 

7-30-2014 ursuant to E. 0. 13526 

.lr1p41er Ge:ner&l •· CDmrchlll, 11. s • .A. , 

Dlrector of' K111taZ7 Intelligence, 

waahlngtcm.9 De Ce 

Dear Ge:neral Chvch1111 

' . .J ~'f/31--6~1;. 

¥'1 ,(• '/ 

s ••t 38th Street, 

•n York9 Sept. 16, 1919. 

-

~ 

I llaTe J'OV letter of September 9th 1'1 th enoloavea requesting 

that I atate flt&D11:17 abd. tal~.,. idea of ColOJltll PabJ&u'a sa.spicimaa conoerA1:ag COloml Ka:a.borsne'• :motift•• 

I daa.'bt Colonel ft.b71m'• •inoeltJ' 1n Wa matter, 'ba.t in order 

to point out how the uciparer la Tel"'I often sinoerel7 aipiciou ot the encipherer of problems, I willh to atate br1efl.J' the chal"p that was OJICe -.de 

aga.S.nat • b:r a Lieute:aant 1ZL the :1av. 'llho at tbat tiM wu the ••v oiplutr 

e2jpe!'t. 1Dln I u,plained. to him how ••AS8• in a l"lDlni:ag lm1' could. be aolTed., 

he &almd that I 1112bmi t him aevel"&l. mea.apa in a l'P!1712:ag DJ'• I turn.ed. the 

wom oTer to a clerlt aucl sent the cipller to Lt. 8m1 a w1 th.out •Tell lmolriJIB 

the content. lie 4ec1phe:red. the me•ll&P &u4. in. hi• letter •f 'h'azlml1saia, "llh1.oh 

I • 1m&ble to find., obarpd. • with a d.elibente effort to -.a the lbe•AP 

1ndec1pbera'ble. Bia sharp waa that in the cipher of no h1m4re4 letter• there ,... three place• ·where the rmmi:ag D1' 8Zld the tezt atopptcl at the ame point. 

In a, :repl7 I told him th& t I ha4 ha4 nothing to 4o w1 th th• pre;pan.iion of 

tile cipher, but that inammoh u the &Yenge le:agtb. of llngllllh wa:r4a wu 81P-

»:rozimatel:r f'iTe letten, according to the 1• of &Te:rapa whell two linea of 

agl.1111l wre vi tten. Yi thout mpaoe om aboTe the oiller the words of each line 

llhouJ.d. en.4 at the aama place 8'98!7 ttren.'tJ'-five lettera, or at eight point• in 

wo h1mdre4 letter•; that inammch u there were ai,. three auch J»lacea in.,. 

teat mes..P the problem. was three t1-a u eaa7 u it shou.14 ll&ft bea acoorcling to the l• ot &Ter&S9•• I make thia point to 8hcnr how pre~'lldioed. the d8• 

oipherer .,.?7 often 'btloamea. 

~ OJ»i:n1on. of Oolonel Kauborpe om beat be Ujplaiud. bJ" :reel ti11g 

llriefly aome of .,. u;per4._. with him. hr a perio4 of no or three J9R• 

'Mtore the war Oolomla Kauborgae and. Hitt ::bacl &d.Tert1aed thNaSb. the' Signal 

ler,pe a 1n'fUln.en.ble method of ming the u. a. '1Zf9 o1:p'ber 4111lc, mmel.J' '&i1le 

:nntng Jm7. !9le l'Dn'"''DC ke7 1• a D1' that 1• not ooap>ae4 of a 81'0ViP of 

letter• or a worcl 'llut of a pansraph or a ;pace of •cm1 'HoJc tb&t la u lGll&' u 

tb.e ••AP. te 'be emiphezre4. !bi• &f'fo:rta a ke7 that new:r re;peata and. waa 

1Mt1left4 'b7 :vau'llorpe mtl JU. tt to 'H 1ndeo1pbuU1•• 

I tlllDtd. to Sau.'borp.e &'bollt W• in. Oeto'ber. ltlY. I tol4 JWa 

I 11el1eftcl. ~ oe'lll.4 4e~lpher mes.._• acl:p'beret. in a rmmtng D7• Ke lape .. 

at me aooa.-:aateed.~, 11Qi211 that he aa4 Kitt llacl vte4 1t1 tb&t I 1IOU14 tb4 

11ben I bepa to attao.'lc the meapge• tll&t I wo-al4 set &11 aorta ot tb.1!188• 91.e 

o1Jlb,e:r 'bul'em 1naedi&t•17 'began wol'k en a •the4 of 10111.ticm and it n• :aot 

11D.til Deo_.r 1 1 19179 $bat Jlauborpe ftD≪r 1111bmltte4 teat meaaapa. Oii. 

JMcem'ber a, I returnel to JlaUltorpe t'b.e d.eoip'be:rment of tile meaAgea he ha4 
'---------------~~------- ------------ - -

n'bm1tte4. !he1 letwr of traullDlisaion is quoted nrbats.1111 

li.M&Jor J. L. Jrauborg.ae, 

Sigaal Of:l'ioe, Land Di vision, 

:aoom 722, Jlilla Amlez. 

Dea.r :lf.&JOJ!' lfauborg.ae : 

• December 6, 1917 

"I am el'l.Closing herewith deciphermn.t• ot the aiz meaaagea 

in the an:e rmming k87 el'l.Cipherecl with the o. s. Artq cipher disk, 

that :vou aubmi tted to the Cipher :Bureau. 

•I:n. three of the message• 7011 &tart with proper Dames; in 

the entire aiz measagea aud lce1' 7011 use onl.7 om conJ1:motio:n., two iD.-

f1n1 ti ve•, tour p:repoaitiou, ancl wo adverbs. 

•of course I don't wish to say that this ia a.u unfair problem 

at I 40 wish to call J'O'l1r attention to what I mentioned in our con- "1'8~aatio:a; nameq, that being an a;pert crntograpb.er, 7011 do, maoo:a.-

acioua17, eelect ve'r7 ditficul. t a.ud "llD1UIU&l. paaaagea of "BDglillh"I 

•cordiallJ', 

lat Lt., Signal Corps, o.s • .a." 

Please note that in pa.ragrapha two a.ud three of rq letter I oomplaiJl of the sort ot la.ugaage llau.borgne ued. I han since learned bJ' e~rienoe that the problem wa• a fair problem, for in the field one ca.u na"Nr be 

oertain that meaNgea are in the same ke7 or in the same cipher, aa f'a.r as tbat 

is ooDOerned, and the intercepting stations uau&lq garble the mesaages about 

ten p&r cent. So far as the 11mga&g9 is concemed, it was oDl.J' SaturdaJ' that 

we decoded a message about the Bhipnent of bnnu& 

In 3uaging Colonel lf&u.borgne 1 11 aotion 'llhen he received this letter, it should 'be remembered that he aud Hitt wre reaponsible for the use of 

the rmming Jm7 ln the J:l!al8• lie did not wait to wr1 ta me but called immediate]¥ 

'bJ' telephou, was profuse ·in hi• ooDgr&tul&tiou aud begged that I 1mmec11atel.J' 

n'bmi t a memora:ndDln to the Chief Signal. Officer of the J.:l!lq statil2g that the 

razming b7 was 1221safe and llhould 'be cll.sccmtizmed at ome. !b.ia I did and 

tlle Chief •:r-•tian oable4 PerDizlg to 41acont1m:ut 1 t• uae 1Dlles• the cipher waa 

modlf'ied w1 th a t!'llZlSposi tia. OD.fortmaatel7 I ha.Te no CoW of the mamorNl.dmll 

1n m.y tile a. You oa :pro'b&bl7 f'incl it in the L 1. D. tiles. 

Ooloml Jlauborgae 11.Jce uq other cipher ell;Pert 1• ve17 f'lm in 

hi• opinions, 'b"11t when uown that he 1• in the 1'1'0118 is oDly too glad to adm1 t 

:lt &Del &Bk tor lJli'roftJD9nta for ~,benefit ·,"flft ~- aenice. Both C.~n JlaDl7 

t . :·, .. ~ ..... ~ .. ~.: ~ ~ .. '"\-l 

• . [m:JFIDEr(fflAO 
REF ID:A99658 

-zad I JJan a very deep affection for Colonel »auborgne, because of his b"&nk-

'!181!11!1 and willingneaa to accept suggestiona 'for ch&ngea in Sigaa]. Corps methoda. 

'lhile mentioning the runni:ag key I wish to add auother paragraph 

that ha.a nothing to do with Colonel lfauborgrie but which will give 70u briefl.J' 

all the facts regardiq this particular aub~ect. I thinlt it was in October 

a. or Bovem'ber, 191 '7, that Captain Powell left Biverb&1lk aud stopped in 1lash1:ngton 

W" for a fw cla1'8 before sailing for Barope. He was asked at this time what 

Riverba:nk knew about the solution of measages in the rm:ming ke7, and he replied 

that lU:verba.nk k:r181r nothing, that .Riverbazlk .bad never worked on messages in the 

~ntng ks,- and c11d not even know that Jlauborgne and Hitt had recommended i ta 

use to tbe AzmJ·· In the latter part of October General Pershing asked for 

f'our code aud cipher ez,perta for intelligence dutin and the cipher bureau 

1Dlne41ately be@an to select out of same twelve students four 11121 table men. 

_:Daring the period of training these men were instructed in the math.ode of 

solution of the ramu:rig ke7 and when they went to Bi verbaZlk:, at Colonel l'abJ&U' s 

·n. .r.. I auffeation for farther inatl"UCtion, the7 ~laine4 to Biverba.nk ~methods o'f o.xr~ aolution. I uve it from o:ae of the men that when they arrived at Ge:a.eva, · Riverb&Dk: lmn nothing about the rmming key. 

~· 

~ I am enclosiDg herewith a Biverb&l!k publication entitled 

llJ(ethods for the Solution ot inm1•:ng-Xey Ciphers•, on the ~le~ o'l which 

10'D- will f'ind a note to Oolonel Vau Dema.u dated ll&rOh l '7, 1918, a;nd signed 

George :r&'bJ&Zl• You will find al•o a reprint of a letter to !'a'bya.n dated 

Jam&.!7 18, 191.e, signed 'b1' Kr. lh:'iedman, who at that time waa a civilian. 

I qaote the le1;ter herewith: 

._. dear Ctolonel Pab~1 Jan'U&l"J' 18, 1918" 

"l bave the honor to tra:nsmit to you Pllblication :zmmber 

16, of tho Department of Oipbers, "Jlethoda f'or the Solution of Blmning-Xe7 <Ji::pb.ara.• 

11Co:110er:a.1:ng the poas1bil1 ty of the decipherment o'l a meaA&9 or a ••r1ea of maggea enciphered by a rmmi:ag-DJ', it waa 

aaid until au reoentl.7 aa three month• ago, •1t can't be done• or 

•It ia TeJe7 qa.eatiom.ble. • It 1• probabq lmcnm to JOU that the 

u. s. ., D111k: in connection w1 th & rm:ming-DJ' has been uaed aa 

a cipher :l:n field service for ID8Zl1' ,.a.rs, aucl is, to the beat of 

oar 1mO'lrl•9dge, in uae toda,'. I sap,poae that it• lo:as-contiDu.ed 

uae, and the conf1clence plaoea. in it• safe't7 aa a field cipher ha• 

been l!D.e ·ve17 probab~ to the tact til&t no om ha.a enr taken the 

trouble to •••whether •It ooul.4 'be d.cm.• It ia altogether :probable 

that the •!lm7• who hu been p:repRi:ag for war tor & long time, ha.a 

not necJ,ecte4. to look into our ~ielcl olphera, azul we a.:£6a~~,"d] (/ 
t • j J 

csn41 t him w'i. th a J.mowlec!p eqaal to or 1R1P9rior to our cnm. We have 

been able ta· prove that not OJ1l7 i• a ai:agle 8hort message enciphered 

'b;v the u. s. J:trq :Dillk, or &'111' aimilU' device, eu117 and quickl.7 clec1pbered, bi:Lt tJ:l&t a aerl•a .of me•ugea aent oa:t; in the amne lm7 Diil' 

be cleciphere14 more na>i~ tb&'D. the7 have been enciphered& 

"Btmce, since mt cle•Va.otive 'but ccmatra.ctive oritioiam ia 

the purpoae of the Department, we h&Te ear:aeatlJ" endeavored, by pointb!g out the dsf'ects of the old &J"Stem, to show how the ume 111¥ be 

l"ema~el., and how the &J'Stem 111&1' be made more tra.atwo:r'tbJ'. Th.a fizial 

paragraph8 of thi• book at&te oar concluiona, ga1:n.ed from the results 

o'f our inve11tigationa. 

•1·t 111 our hope tllat this booklet will be a aouroe ziot onJ.7 

o'f i;n.terast to 7011, but of aot1 ve be:zieti t in theae times wmn the fate 

of nationa 1a inore thm:I. eTer dependent "DpOn etfecti ve :mea:na of' secret 

~~X~~~.~~ -r, ... -UD117. ~ ~ """ ~~~·>\ .. ~)v' Y ~ t..: ~;.,_._tl_~- G"'V Tl. ~. DIBIIWT, 

~ 

..,_,N ~l..°"' ~ < ~'i ~- Director. 

~. -~ ~~.._ .\"' ~ 1-" Depa.rtment ot Oipb.era, • 

~ _,. ~ ~ J. ~all not 41acua ttlis deliberate steal for it 1• ~a.q a 

~-~Jliverba!t ~~ (the next steal, aa I have alrea.~ pointed out to J'OUi will ~ 'be o"•thode lterreloped by the aervio• in the .&.. ll· P.), 'but I do wiu to 

point! out the manner 1D which the7 aubmi ttecl. their illf'o:rmation to the we 

Department. :rr~.edmml. •tatea in paragraph two of the above let-ter tbat u f&!' 

u he lcllOw• the methocl 1• being uaed in the &l"JIW' a.ud notea 1:n. the last pan.graph 

tb&t •1i ia oq; hOpe that thia booklet will be & aovoa not onl.7 ot intere•t 

to pa. L"&b.v&UJ but of aoti Te bene:ti t in these tim• Pp tb• f&H of ;patiw 

11 mn ibM t'l'tr doptp.dant BPOJl ef(eqt1Te •e• et 1eoz:et qgmpp•gaticml·• 

.la a •tte:r of' :tact the Signal Cor,pa a.ud the A· •• ... had been informed tll&t ••U&9• anc1pb.ltre4 in the :rmmi:ag key wn una&:te. but b'iedJmn. ucl J'a'Q'U 

cU~ DOt or prett1D4'tcl they- 414 not imow that 1 ts uae ha4 'bean d.1aoont1DH4• 

luteacl. of into:rmbg u 12l aeont &'boa.t the •fate of :aatiou•. Colonel :r&'bJ'a 

pg'bl1ahea, oowrigtit1. &1lcl dedioatea a con to Oolael Va Dmmnl 

But I h&Te got off of J117 au'b~ect, but f'eal the :foregoing Jll&1' 

help J01l to tom an opinion. 

llben I -. in Wuhlzagton. the week befol'I Labor Day Ooloul 

Jl&u.borga.a took• to the Sipal OOZ"P• ettio• and Bhond • the ..&.. !I!. & ~. 

[OPJFIDE~JTli\IJ \~ .... 
REF ID:A99658 

' .. 

-5-

oipher maobine in opwatiOJL 'Which had. been put up eapeciall7 to encipher 

messages tor Colonel :r&'bJ'&u. I heard h1m give 1Datruct1ons to the Lieutenant 

in eb&rge how mHsapa for Colonel lfabyan should be en4ipb.ered.. Be :merel.J' 

told. the' Lieute:aant to go to the Sipal office, take :trom the :tiles a d&1''s 

1rua1J1eas and br:Lng the massages back and emipher them Just as if he were 

aendi:ng them ot:ricialJ.7 to lloboan. He did hcnreTer tell him to change the 

dates of the me11aapa :tor he :teared ._ effort on Colonel :r&byau'• pa.rt to 

obtain the orig:lnal text :tram the files of the Sigaal Corps. 

It la a psychological faot that the decipherer is &1W&1'8 auaiticious Of the oncipherer but Colonel hbJ'SD'• charge against Oolo:ael Jl&uborpe 

is in IQ' opinion enti:rel:r mi.1uatified. It i• merel:r azaother ez.uq>le o'f 

BiTer'bazlk'a metlL04se 

JI.a you asked. that I d.isouaa thia nb.1ect fra:Dkl.7, I have felt 

~· in the forE1going to call tl:lings b7 their right names. 

Ve:ey aincereq, 

B.Fn* ll&Jor, ~a 

l encl.