Andrew Carnegie, Founder of the United States Military Telegraph Corps, April twenty-second 1861: An Appreciation

1917. Limited edition, #22 of 75. Wraps. 36 pages. Black & white photographs, facsimiles. Covers soiled, some splitting along spine. Extremely rare commemoration of Andrew Carnegie and the establishment of the United States Military Telegraph Corps at the beginning of the Civil War. David Homer Bates was one of the original four operators of the U.S. Military Telegraph Corps. The other three were Samuel M. Brown, David Strouse and Richard O'Brien. Contains many interesting anecdotes along with some historic photographs and portraits. Carnegie is quoted herein regarding his experience in re-opening the Annapolis & Elk Ridge Railroad between Annapolis and Annapolis Junction in April 1861. Laid in is an appeal letter on stationery from the Society of The United States Military Telegraph Corps, which gives background on this Appreciation of Mr. Carnegie and the printing of first 25, then 75 copies of it at a cost of $325 in 1917. This is copy #22 of 75, numbered on the limitation statement inside front cover. While there is a modern reprint available, several searches have located no other original copies offered for sale and only copies held by the libraries of Harvard and Carnegie Mellon. The chief chronicler of President Lincoln’s telegraph operations, David Homer Bates (1843–1926) was born in Steubenville, Ohio. He entered the telegraph service in the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which at that time was under the supervision of Andrew Carnegie. In April 1861, Bates and three other cipher operators were ordered to Washington, D.C., to form a new telegraph corps within the War Department—the first time a federal government department had telegraph service. Major Thomas Eckert was appointed superintendent of the telegraph corps shortly after their arrival. Except for two weeks of service in early 1865 as the operator for General Ulysses S. Grant at City Point, Virginia, Bates was stationed for the duration of the war within the telegraph room of the War Department, located directly across the lawn from the White House. Lincoln visited the telegraph room on a daily basis and came to know Bates and the other operators well. In 1867, Bates began a twenty-five-year career with the Western Union Telegraph Company, rising to the position of vice president. As was the case during the Civil War, his service at Western Union was under the supervision of Thomas Eckert. In 1907, David Homer Bates published Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, a well-received account of his Civil War reminiscences. At the time of his death, he had completed a book of anecdotes of the sixteenth president entitled Lincoln Stories Told by Him in the Military Office in the War Department during the Civil War. Secretary of War Simon Cameron sent a request to the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad to send Thomas A. Scott to get the railroad telegraph service in Washington under control. Scott made his way to Washington and began filling positions to help him manage the railroads and telegraph lines. He asked Andrew Carnegie, who was superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania Railroad to assist him. Carnegie obliged and drafted men from his railroad division to accompany him to Washington in order to help the government take possession of and operate the railroads around the capital. Carnegie's first task when he arrived in Washington was to extend the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from its old depot in Washington across the Potomac River into Virginia. While extending the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, telegraph lines were built and communication was opened at stations such as Alexandria, Burke's Station, and Fairfax. The first government telegraph line built connected the War Office with the Navy Yard. Carnegie stayed in Washington until November 1861. By the time he left, the military railroad and telegraph operations were running smoothly. Along with the appointment of Carnegie, Colonel Scott made a demand for telegraph operators who excelled at running trains by telegraph. Colonel Scott called on four telegraph operators from the Pennsylvania Railroad to report to Washington. These operators were David Strouse (who later became the superintendent of the Military Telegraph Corps), D.H. Bates, Samuel M. Brown, and Richard O'Brien. The four operators arrived in Washington on April 27, 1861. Strouse and Bates were stationed at the War Department; Brown was stationed in the Navy Yard; and O'Brien was stationed at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad depot, which was for some time army headquarters. Thus, these four men made up the initial United States Military Telegraph Corps, which would ultimately grow to a force of over 1500 men. At the 1882 reunion of 'Old Time Telegraphers' held in Niagara Falls, a group of former Civil War telegraphers from the U.S. Military Telegraph Corps decided to form a separate organization. The Corps had been officially dismissed from service at the end of the Civil War. They organized the Society of the United States Military Telegraph Corps and elected former Civil War telegrapher, William R. Plum of Chicago as their first president. Membership was open to any former member of the Corps and to their male descendants. At the 38th reunion held in Chicago in 1921, David Homer Bates, the secretary of the Society of the United States Military Telegraph Corps, reported that there were only 101 members of the Corps still alive. With the average age being at eighty, he felt it was impossible to muster more than a few members to attend future reunions. By 1927, Bates, a former telegrapher for President Lincoln, had passed away leaving only 17 Civil War telegraphers. It was generally felt by members of the U.S. Military Telegraph Corps that their service was "unhonored and unthanked" by the government. The Society left a legacy of being instrumental in lobbying congress for their formal recognition. They helped acquire official certificates of Honorable Service from the War Department for all the original members of the Corps. They also mailed reports and information to veterans of the Corps regardless if they were a member of the Society. Later they helped with the coordination of the Carnegie Pensions - a $12.00 monthly pension arranged by former telegrapher, Andrew Carnegie for Civil War telegraphers and their widows. Condition: Good.

Keywords: Andrew Carnegie, Military Telegraph Corps, Civil War, Patriotic Society, Quartermaster Corps, Signal Corps, Union Army, Abraham Lincoln, Simon Cameron, Pennsylvania Railroad

[Book #81480]

Price: $1,750.00

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