By NED HARRISON

Samuel Morse

Over the past several columns, we have been talking about how railroads, developed as part of the Industrial Revolution, transformed warfare. In the American Civil War, this new ability to move large numbers of soldiers, along with their equipment and supplies, over long distances and with predictable times of arrival, made war enormously different from what it had been before.

Another product of the Industrial Revolution was the telegraph. Invented in 1837 by Samuel F.B. Morse, the telegraph provided instant communication over long distances. By 1860, the nation had strung more than 50,000 miles of telegraph wire. In 1861, telegraph wires spanned the nation.

About 95 percent of this wire was in the North; telegraph wires ran along rail lines and were used to connect stations and to operate the rail systems. Telegraph kept stations aware of train locations and of scheduling changes. One key fact that helped unite the nation: Railroad headquarters sent out a signal announcing the time at precisely noon every day. The local telegraph operator became the de facto timekeeper for every community, and all towns along that rail line were on the same time.

When war came, both North and South recognized the value of instantaneous and long-distance communication. The Confederacy quickly established a Corps of Signallers to take advantage of telegraph lines from Richmond to New Orleans and from Nashville to New Orleans.

However, the South was hampered by the lack of telegraph connections to the countryside. During the entire war, the Confederacy was able to run only about 1,000 miles of telegraph line to support military needs.

The North had all the communication advantages. In 1861, the Union had in place a fully integrated and connected civil telegraph system. The government took over all commercial telegraph operations that year. In 1862, Congress ordered the Army to take control of all private and railroad telegraph systems, which were integrated into the telegraph lines controlled by the Military Telegraph Corps.

During the war, the Union Army laid some 15,000 miles of line directly related to war needs.

Information is the key to any battle, and this is no problem as long as the commander can see the fighting as it develops and can give orders verbally or with hand signals. In larger battles, commanders relied on runners, horsemen or visual signals both to receive information about fighting they could not see and to transmit orders.

Often, these orders were useless because the battle situation had changed by the time they were received. Thus, until the Civil War, battlefield-headquarter communication was a critical problem. Commanders frequently were out of touch with what was actually going on during a battle, especially when large numbers of men were involved in a struggle over large land areas.

The telegraph, if there was a connection between the battlefield and headquarters, allowed commanders to know what was happening in the field, to coordinate and appreciate the strategy as it developed; and because they had accurate and current information, commanders could give specific orders to specific commanders in different parts of a battlefield, shaping the course of the battle and possibly changing defeat into victory.

The Encyclopedia of the Confederacy goes so far as to offer the possibility that the disparity in "telegraphic communications was a major factor in determining the outcome of the war."

Virginia and the Civil War

One of the great treasures of the South is located in Richmond. The Museum of the Confederacy, along with the Confederate White House next door, tells the story of Southern history and the quest for freedom through exhibits and lectures by authors and historians. Opened in 1896, the museum attracts more than 70,000 visitors every year.

One of the great attractions is the way the museum puts the war into historical context, explaining what was going on in the rest of the world between 1861 and 1865. For example, in 1863, the year of Gettysburg, the rest of the world was concerned with the French capture of Mexico City and a civil war in Afghanistan.

The museum currently is showing period photographs that, according to the museum newsletter, "represent virtually every type of photographic technique popular in the 19th century" including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes. A recent lecture series concerned "The Debate Over Black Confederates, Then and Now."

The White House of the Confederacy was the official residence of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, his wife, Varina, and their children. It was also the social, political and military center of the Confederacy.

The house was built in 1818 and was owned by several wealthy families until purchased by the Confederacy. The Washington Post wrote that it is "a national treasure, a meticulously restored neoclassical masterpiece that, in terms of quality, historical associations and authenticity probably is second only to Mount Vernon among restorations of historic American dwellings."

Excellent guided tours show the interior of the mansion. The master bedroom and bed are open for viewing, as are other personal possessions of the Davises. The tour also shows Davis' private office, where Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson met in 1862 to plot strategy.

The Museum of the Confederacy and the Confederate White House are at 1201 E. Clay St., Richmond VA 23219, (800) 649-1861.

Role of rail transport becomes critical

Railroads were a major part of military strategy

Lee proves himself with Seven Days' Battle

The end of 'Stonewall' Jackson