Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-12-28
Telegrnphs in War-By Land and by

laea.
The telegraph system now in common
use for civil purposes, seems admirably
adapted TO war purposes, whether on land or
At sea, with such notifications as may be ne
cessary to suit the exigencies of the different
kinds OF service. 4 field telegraph train,
with a telegraphic corps, is now a past Of
every army. 1t was first used under the fire
Of the enemies batteries at Fredericksburg,
and is said to have contributed greatly to the
success OF the perilous retreat from that field.
There are thirty-hve trains in the service OF
the corps, distributed among the armies in
various parts of the country.
Of the trains, some have been equipped
with five, and others with ten miles Of insu-
lated wire. There are carried in the train
lances for setting up the wire, when that is
necessary; reels, portable by hand, carry
wire made purposely flexible for this particu
lar use, and various minor appliances which
experience has proven useful. A military
organization is directed for each train. In
duty Of this kind, the style Of construction
OF the trains, the equipment they are to
carry, and the military organization to be
provided for their use to enable them to be
most rapidly and anywhere brought into
action, are the subjects for study. The par
ticular instrument to be equipped is OF sec
ondary consideration. The soldiers drilled
to the duty of construction acquire, in
short time, remarkable skill in the rapid
extension Of those lines.
The ease with which Geographic commune
cation may be made, and with portable in
Struments, worked in almost any field, Sug-
geSts its use in a variety of ways which we
are not aware have as yet been tried. In
such q raid as was lately attempted in Mary
l.. L. n ~ lfob in
formation, most of the usual telegraphic
wires having been cut by the rebels, paralyzed
efficient effort either to meet or pursue them,
and hence the facility with which they trav-
eled over nearly the whole State unimpeded,
when there was force enough scattered around
to destroy them, il their movements could
have been accurately traced, and the various
marauding forces known, so as to concentrate
an equal or superior force in their front or
upon their rear. In the event Of such raids,
when other means Of communication are cut
off, few cavalrymen, trained to the service,
can readily re-establish communication be-
tween scouting parties and headquarters, by
carving with them q reel of wire and
transportable working apparatus, such as are
now in use, and running the wire off upon
the ground as they advance. As soon as the
raiders are successfully secuted, the informa-
ton can Immediately be sent back over the
wires TO headquarters, and the latter be pre-
pared for making the earliest disposition of
forces to meet the emergency. One half the
time for ordinary communication, BY riding
forward and backward. would be saved, and
time is everything in the success with which
such movements are made.
The usefulness Of telegraph operations to
army movements suggests the practicability
of APPLYING the same system, in modified
form TO the navy A Geographic cable con-
structed IN the superior manner that the At
lantic cable is being made, laid along our
coast, and connected with our land telegraph
lines, would enable communication TO be
held with every b!ockading feet along the
Atlantic coast. Every ship in the feet would
connect itself BY wire properly insulated with
this cable, and receive orders directly, either
from Washington or the feet Admiral, by
telegraphic signals or by words, if necessary.
A very little inventive ingenuity would sup
ply the mechanical means of making prac-
ticab,e working connection with the cable,
which the motion of the ship riding upon the
water would not disturb or impair. The con-
nection could be easily detached when the
ship was ordered off in pursuit Of blockade
runner, BY transferring it to buoy, and be
resumed again as soon as the pursuit is over.
The value to our navy of having such means
Of communication from the end Of the block
ade line at the Chesapeake, to the other end
at Mobile, or even to the Rio Grande in
Texas, and also in instant communication
with Washington, would be incalculable. 1t
would not only give increased yigor to our
naval operations, but it would be protection
to our commerce against the operations of
fugitive rebel privateers, who rely upon their
sudden descent upon our coast for the sue
cess with which they can plumber our ships,
and depend upon the speed with which they
can fly from pursuit to get out Of the way,
before our navy can be communicated with,
to provide the necessary means Of overhaul
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