Evening star., 1897-03-26
LINCOLN STORIES
tA.sssfy-
How He Told Them While Waiting
for War Dispatches.
MANY LONG HOURS SPENT IN WAITING
The "Cave of AduIIam' Incident in
1864.
An AFTER-DINNER- SPEECH

At dinner recently given by the Metho-
dist Social Union, al the Windsor Hotel,
New York, Mr.. d. Homer Bates now vice
president of one OF the great New York
banks, among the speakers, and gave
some interesting "reminiscences of that
great, simple wise and beneficent man.
Abraham Lincoln.
The rebel guns had scarcely ceased their
ominous firing upon Sumter, In April,
1851 said Mr.. Bates, when. a lad of sew
enteen, | was called TO Washington for
service in the United States Military Tcle-
graph Corps, where l remained until after
the close of the war. Those four years of
my early manhood We're crowded with
events of momentous Importance For the
first time III the conduct of a great war
the telegraph was brought into use, and
this use was constant, not only between
Washington and the headquarters Of the
commanding generals in the field but also
between the several corps and brigades.
In the early part of the civil war some
of the old army officers were opposed to
the use OF the telegraph, as they favored
the old courier plan. but their objections
were soon changed to high praise when
they found the immense value of the tele
graph in army operations.
Grants Tribute.
General Grant in his memoirs says re-
ferring to the Military Telegraph Corrs:
Nothing could be more complete than
the organization and discipline of this bodT
of brave and inteliigIn mt men. Insulated
wires were wound upon reels-aboUt 100
pounds to each reel. Two men and one
mule were detailed to each reel There
a wagon with a telegraph operator,
n fGr Il inS FrtItf for ,1t1-i--
ion, each corps, each army, ard one for
my headquarters. There We're wagons load
ed with light poles with a spike in one end.
used TO mold uD the wires, so that wag-
ons and artillery would not run over them.
The moment the troops were in position to
go into camp all the ren connected with
tins service would proceed To put up the
wires. A mule loaded with a cuil of wire
would he led to the of the nearest
flank OF the brigade to which he belonged.
ana would be led IL lin. parallel thereto,
while man would hold ali end of the wire
and uncoli it the mule was led off This
would ne iohe IN the rear of every brig
ade a thc same time. Thus in few mill
utes' longer lime than il takes mule 10
wax the length OF its coil teiegIa phic
&C mmunica ton would be effected between
all the headquarters of the army. No Or
ders ever had to be given TO establish the
telegraph.
During cer;an eventful periods
practice was TO maintain continuous cnm-
mGncation between the War Department
and the headquarters in immediate
front in Virginia. The opera tors at either
end were always on duty: messages be-
ing transmitted without the sending Office
being required to go through the form of
ca!liiS < or signaling the other operator,
who was expected to be on hand TO copy
the messages at any moment of the day or
night. We read with never failing inter-
est of the wars of Frederick the Great and
of Napoleon. but there no telegra pin
in those days and history was made but
slowly. In our civil war. however. the tee-
graph brought al the armies close to-
gether. and although thousands of miles
apart, they We're moved in conjunction al
mcst simultaneously, and news of victory
or of disaster was flashed instantly all
over the land. The history of our civil war
was thus written largely by telegraph.
Lincoln In the Office.
y am proud to have been in that service
respecting which Stanton. the great war
secretary. said IN ore of his annual re-
ports, as | find recorded in my war diary:
None have surpassed and few have equal
ed the diligence and faithfuness of the
United States Telegraph Corps.
All telegrams 10 and from The several
departments of The government passed
through the War Department telegraph Of
flee, ana during those years the tall home
ly form of our beloved President was seen
to cross the Wel.-shaded lawn between the
War Department and the White House,
&,
ceaseless regularity. in order that he might
be on hand - hear the latest news from
the front. When battle was imminent or
in progress he would remain in the tele-
graph Office sometimes for hours together,
awaiting the news that would mean so
much to the couhtry and to himself. In
the Intervals of waiting he would write a
message of inquiry. counsel or encourage
ment to the general In command at head
quarters.
Thus in July 1851, while the first Bull
Kun battle was in progress. Lincoln sat
with Chase, Cameron, Winfield Scott and
others in the little telegraph Office at the
head of the stairs, half wa between the
first and second floors. There they waited,
first with eager hope, then silently al
most hreathlessly. until the message came
announcing check to our arms: then with
growing anxiety and fears, as the swell
Ing tide of disaster swept over the wires
from Fairfax Court House. our nearest
station to the scene of the conflict.
Significant Dispatches.
In the Yorktown campaign. May, 1862,
after weeks of patient waiting for a for
ware movement of our forces, he teIe-
graphed to General Mcclellan: Your call
for Parrot guns alarms me. because it ar
CUES indefinite procrastination. Is any
thing to be done% And in December. 1863.
he telegraphed to General Grant, Under
standing that your lodgment at Chatta-
nooga and Knoxville is now secure l wish
tc tender you and all under your command
my more than thanks-my profoundest
gratitude-for the skill, courage and per-
severance with which you and they over
SO great difficulties have effected that I'M
portant object God bless you ALL
In the intervals also, he would tell one
OF his inevitable stories. or converse on
special topics in such a way as to lead
some of his hearers to think him wholly
Indifferent to the awful questions of the
hour.
Once recall him speaking of the func.
tons OF the eye and brain, when one was
reading aloud from newspaper or book
He said that in his boyhood days he had
come across a volume in which 1t was stat
ed that as each letter of the alphabet ap-
peared before the eye 1t was photograph
ed upon the retfna, that the particular
letter was actually spoken aloud at the
exact moment its printed form appeared
before the eye. He discoursed at some
length en- this marvel, remarking upon the
attendant fact that the eye is capable of
receiving several distinct Impressions at
the same instant, and that these numerous
and oftentimes radically different impress
sions are Immediately communicated from
eye TO brain by means Of the most deli
cate nerve centers: for instance said he,
the eye may rest at the same insfant NJ