Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-10-26
ECKERT PROUD OF
HIS WIRE RECORD
cssEmer Western Union Chief
: Noted Civil War Figure.
HEADED MILITARY TELEGRAPH
Swapped Yarns With Lincoln While
Stationed In Washington - Fought
Jay Gould and Western Union, but
Finally Allied Himself With Little
Wizard Against Competitors.

Wizard Against Competitors.
To the present generation General
Thomas Thompson Eckert, who has
been seriously ill at his summer home
at Long Branch, N. j., is known as
former president of the Western I'm
| ion Telegraph company and a veteran
at the key and sounder. To another
generation which still thinks of the
period during the great civil war; Gen.
eral Eckert's name suggests the band
Of daring telegraphers which proved
of such assistance to the Union cause.
Moreover. his subsequent fame is as
nothing to him as compared with his
war record. He is eighty-tive years of
age.
Secretary Of War Stanton in his re-
port to President Lincoln in 1868 said.
1.-The military telegraph. under the
general direction Of Colonel Stager and
Major Eckert. has been Of inestimable
value to the service. and no corps has
surpassed. few have equaled. the tele.
OlJClulolS III OllSCuSS anu OCSO-
ton to their duties"
Eckert Raconteur.
That the praise was merited is indi
Gated by many anecdotes with which
General Eckert has RECALLED his friends.
for be was good story teller and
when stationed at the White House
would swap yarns with President Lin.
coin to their mutual delight.
One story gave an idea Of the hard
ships and catch-as-catch-can accommo.
dations the military telegraph corps
was obliged to put up with Of necessi
ty. 1t was during the operations in
Missouri that an operator from Spring.
field named Gregg married, and, de-
spite the perls Of the war, insisted on
having his bride accompany him when
the detachment was suddenly ordered
to move.
In the party were six soldiers and
another operator. wifeless. and the en-
tire party stopped at a farmhouse one
night where there was but one spare
room, which contained two beds. The
bridal couple were allotted one bed.
and the operator and half dozen sol.
diers took the other. lying crosswise
under the one blanket. which left their
feet we'll out for the chickens to roost.
General Eckert was pioneer in the
field of practical telegraphy and work
ed his way up from the ranks. He
was born in 1925 ut st. Clairsville, o..
and began to operate the keys when
he was postmaster Of the town of
Wooster. o. He was then twenty-four
years old. He became much interested
in this work and within the next three
years had become such an expert that
he was Entrusted with the construction
of the lines over the Pittsburg, Fort
Wayne and Chicago road. When these
were completed in 1852 he was ap-
pointed superintendent of the Union
Telegraph lines.
The outbreak of the war not only
ruined him. but very nearly cost him
his life. as he was condemned by a
Confederate court martial for alleged
treason and only escaped by persuad-
ing the court to accept $500 bail
bond for his appearance on the day
appointed for the hanging.
Headed Military Telegraph.
In 1862 he was called to Washing
ton by Colonel Thomas A. Scott, then
assistant secretary Of war, and placed
In charge Of the military telegraph OF
the department Of the Potomac, with
the rank of captain and headquarters
! with General Mcclellan in the field.
! He was after a few months promoted
to the charge Of the military telegraph
department at Washington, ranking as
major. As such he enjoyed the conf
dence of President Lincoln and Secre-
tary Stanton and successfully organ
lied the entire military telegraph sys'
TEN.
In 1864 he was brevetted lieutenant
colonel and made assistant secretary
of war, and in 1865 he was made a
brigadier general by brevet. He re
signed in 1866 to accept the Office OF
general superintendent Of the eastern
division of the Western Union Tele
graph company. In this position Id
superintended the construction Of lines
to connect with the new transatlantic