United States. Military Telegraph Corps

The U.S. Military Telegraph Corps was initiated in the first days of the Civil War. Secretary of War Simon Cameron sought the aid of Thomas A. Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad in creating the service. He in turn enlisted the help of David Strouse of the American Telegraph Company, who extended his company's lines from Pennsylvania to the War Department in Washington, DC. Formal executive sanction of the Corps came in October 1861 from Abraham Lincoln. Congress permitted the establishment in January 1862, and the President took control of all telegraph lines in the United States. The Corps trained all its operators and all but 3 of its officers. Technically, the Corps was under the control of the Quartermaster's Department but practically reported to the Secretary of War. Telegraphy from the field was initially under the Signal Corps but was transferred to the Military Telegraph in February, 1864. When the Civil War ended the Military Telegraph supervised the restoration of commercial telegraph lines in the South, but then control was relinquished both in the South and in the North to private companies. The Corps was disbanded, and the last officer left his duty station at the War Department in 1869.

John Ellis Wool was born in 1784. A veteran of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, Wool was responsible for keeping Fort Monroe in Federal hands at the outbreak of the Civil War. He commanded the Department of Virginia from Fort Monroe until June 2, 1862.

Richard O'Brien was born in Ireland in 1839. He came to the United States with his family in 1851 and began work in telegraphy with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1856, quickly rising to chief operator. At the outbreak of Civil War, O'Brien sent to Washington, DC and became one of the founding members of the U.S. Military Telegraph Corps. In November 1861, O'Brien was assigned to Fort Monroe. Shortly thereafter he was joined by his brother John and the two O'Briens ran telegraph communications at the fort. Later in life, John O'Brien published his memoirs entitled Telegraphing in Battle: Reminiscences of the Civil War (Scranton, Pa. :[The Raeder Press, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.] 1910).

William H. Heiss was a superintendent for the American Telegraph Company and was tasked with constructing an underwater telegraph cable that ran between Fort Monroe and Cherrystone Point on the Eastern Shore. This cable was completed in March 1862. He was also tasked with completing an underwater line between Fort Monroe and Norfolk after the surrender of Norfolk in May 1862.

From the description of Fort Monroe Telegrams, 1862 February. (The Mariners' Museum Library). WorldCat record id: 751396257