Union Signal Corps Crew Putting up Telegraph Lines 1864

This is an antique woodcut engraving titled "The New Army Signal Telegraph - Putting Up the Line. From a Sketch by Our Special Artist W. T. Crane." It is in very good condition and was published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on June 24, 1865. A brief accompanying article identifies this engraving as being a view of General Gilmore's engineers putting up telegraph lines at Morris Island beach. Albert James Myer, an Army doctor, first conceived the idea of a separate, trained professional military signal service. He proposed that the Army use his visual communications system called "wigwag" while serving as a medical officer in Texas in 1856. When the Army adopted his system June 21, 1860, the Signal Corps was born with Myer as the first and only Signal officer. MAJ Myer first used his visual signaling system on active service in New Mexico during the 1860-1861 Navajo expedition. Using flags for daytime signaling and a torch at night, wigwag was tested in Civil War combat in June 1861 to direct the fire of a harbor battery at Fort Calhoun (Fort Wool) against the Confederate positions opposite Fort Monroe. Until March 3, 1863, when Congress authorized a regular Signal Corps for the duration of the war, Myer was forced to rely on detailed personnel. Some 2,900 officers and enlisted men served, albeit not at any one time, in the Civil War Signal Corps. Myer's Civil War innovations included an unsuccessful balloon experiment at First Bull Run and, in response to McClellan's desire for a Signal Corps field telegraph train, an electric telegraph in the form of the Beardslee magnetoelectric telegraph machine. Even in the Civil War the wigwag system, dependent upon line-of-sight, was waning in the face of the electric telegraph. The electric telegraph, in addition to visual signaling, became a Signal Corps responsibility in 1867. Within 12 years, the Corps had constructed, and was maintaining and operating some 4,000 miles of telegraph lines along the country's western frontier. In 1870, the Signal Corps established a congressionally mandated national weather service. With the assistance of LT Adolphus Greely, Chief Signal Officer BG Myer, by the time of his death in 1880, commanded a weather service of international acclaim. The weather bureau became part of the Department of Agriculture in 1891, while the Corps retained responsibility for military meteorology. From http://www.gordon.army.mil/ocos/rdiv/HISTARCH/schist.asp The overall size is approz. 5 by 10 inches. T is some age toning on the paper. T is text next on the reverse side. This is not a reproduction or reprint. It is a vintage woodcut engraving dating from the Civil War period, and guaranteed to be as described. Free Shipping with the purchase of three prints or more at any one time! Ask for the shipping discount. (Matted and Framed prints not included in this offer) CLICK FOR INFORMATION ON 19TH CENTURY PRINTS, PRINT MAKING, AND THE TERMINOLOGY USED IN OUR AUCTIONS. Thanks! We appreciate your business! When matted and framed these antique prints make very fine gifts! We can mail these directly to a third party if you wish. We Have a Large Selection of Searchable, Well Priced, Quality Prints in Our eBay Store! Click to See Them. Insurance of $1.70 should also be included if desired. . We accept Paypal! In response to inquiries we have recieved, please note; the terms used in our auctions, engraving, steel engraving, woodcut, lithograph, and photogravure refers to a PRINT, ie. an image on paper. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. The prints may be returned to us at any time for a full refund including postage read more