The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-03
WAR TELEGRAPHERS' STORIES.
THE ORIGINAL MILITARY TELE-
GAFH CORPS.

| Up Some Thrilling "Reminiscences
of Heroes of the Wire-Operntor
Nichols Climbed on Cracker Boxes
and Opened His once at the Top
of the POIe-RObinsOn, With SIu%s
and BuckshOt in His Shoulder and
| Hip, Stripped of His Instrument
and Set Adrift in the Woods,
Crnwled Back to His Post and Saw
ed GrIersOn From DnnEer-FranlS
DrummOnd's Magnificent Courage
Under Fire.
Boston. Sept. AT Boston, the 18th Of
September. the pioneer operators of Amer
lea viii meet to swap stories over the
| juvenile days of the most wonderful dis
covery of the century, the electric tele-
graph. Said one of the Old Guards of civil
war operators still doing duty at Western
Union headquarters: 1T will be a notable
| gathering at Boston, and 1 hope l shall
not be taken in a spirit of rivalry nor
boastfulness when I say that the men of
the original Military Telegraph Corps will
be the lions of the occasion. Why shouldn't
they? Army heroes are having their in
nings once more, and let me tell you that
the first men I saw killed at the front, and
l got there, musket in hand about as soon
as the next one was an operator doing a
piece of rush work out of purely volun-
tary enthusiasm The affair took place
at Yorktown, the 4th of May, 1862 When
the Confederates evacuated Yorktown a
bright Ohio boy named d. B. Lathrop and
his comrade of the corps, II. l.. Smith,
followed the federal skirmish line into
| the works and dashed for the Confederate
| telegraph Office to test the wires toward
| Richmond. The wires had been cut and
were dangling from the pole. Lathrop
gave a leap, landed at the base of the
pole, and came down with full force upon
a percussion shell lying half hidden by
some light rubbish. The shell exploded
and was fatal.
Yes, the war operators We're the real
pioneers of the hustling methods that put
dot and dash on the skirmish line of Amer
lean progress. The principle Of biography
was in its infancy when The war broke out
| thirty-eight years ago. Commerce was
conservative and not at all given to the
rapid pace of modern times There was
needed a great war with its fearful draft
| upon public patience, popular interest and
universal sympathy. Added to these, war 3
| imperative demand for lightning commun-
| ications between armies served to develop
this wonderful system of ruling the
worlds desunies as the genii rule fairy
land, by the mysterious might of magic.
The ancients made use of swift run
ners or of men with phenomenal voices TO
carry battle news and orders, while Ma
| poleon, initiating Caesar, brought to his
aid carrier pigeons. The very first method
in our war to come to my notice was prim-
tive indeed-simply line of men stretch
ed across the feld-pa ssing messages and
orders by word of mouth. The theory of the
| inventor of this system doubtless was that
the line could find shelter in a ravine or
under a low ridge, but it turned out in
this case that our men were hemmed in
upon broad open plain and the telegra-
piers made better targets than did the
armed combattants. They stood the oroeal
bravely.
witty Expedients. LASH.
Shortly after the skirmish. which was
near Yorktown, May T. 1862, all enlisted
men who could handle the key, I, myself
being of Mat number were put to work
upon a field telegraph, and wires strung
upon bayonets or pointed saplings set in
the earth, came into use on every battle
field. Every risk was taken In order to
get a line working as quickly as possible
The getting at wires and establishing a
circuit was the first thought of an opera
tor when the army advanced. The brav-
cry of young Lathrop, at yorktown, was
only one of the many instances of the
same class which might be cited. In NOV
ing through the enemys country the old
wires poles and offices were looked after
first. If they had been destroyed or dam
aged, as was often the case, other means
had to be mprovised, and the wits of the
operators were equal to the occa sion.
Operator Nichols, of our detachment,
serving at Gen. Summers headquarters
during the Seven Days battles on the pen
insula, found during the battle of Saw
hot bo had hl1t
of spare wire to lay a line twelve feet
from the ground. The main wire of the
| army was in constant use and could not
be grounded, although Sumner was anx-
ious to communicate with his chief, some
miles down the line. With the aid of some
commlssary men Nichols piled cracker
boxes against the pole, climbed up and
opened his Office. 1t was just dark and
1t was necessary TO have a lantern to do
the work. The light made a good target,
which the enemy shelled briskly, but
Nichols held his perch until Sumner or
dered him down. This daring operator at
that time was only Is.
Another witty expedient was adopted
by Operator Fuller OF Gen. Boyle's com
mand during Morgan's Kentucky raid in
1852. MoTgan's men captured Fuller's OUT
fit while he was marching toward Colum e.
bia with Boyle's troops, trying TO head off
the raiders. When the force reached Co
lumbia the telegraph Office was found dis
mantled. Gen. Boyle had some urgent
messages TO send to distant posts asking
help for the emergency, and threatened
to shoot Fuller If he didn't get the wires
in working order. To vindicate his good
intentions-he was a civilian employers
well as to save his life. the unlucky oper-
ator seized the ground wire IN one hand
| and the main wire In the other, using the
ends as a key and sent the message on
It's way. This was not so difficult, but it
was necessary 70 get return, which could
only be done by reading the shocks on the
wire This he managed 10 do by using
the tip of his tongue as a receiver.
| Grit to the backbone.
Sometimes more than the ordinary
nerve to be expected in an operator wnen
near his key was demanded by the omer-
| gencies of war, as was the case in the Con-
federate siege Of Knoxville in 1863. Burn
side was shut up in Knoxville by Long
| streets corps of Virginians, while Grant
and Sherman were hammering at Chatta-
| Fefg -