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Essay On How Did Lincoln Use The Telegraph

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Not only did Lincoln use the telegraph to make key decisions regarding his generals, he also used it to grow his relationships with them. For instance, in the late summer of 1864, as the Union’s advance on Richmond stalled, General Ulysses S. Grant faced criticism, resulting in his delivery of a telegram to Lincoln. Interpreting the message, Lincoln understood Grant’s spirits, prompting him to address the issue through a telegram: “I have seen your despatch [sic] expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where you are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bull-dog grip, and chew and choke, as much as possible.” Despite the distance in between them, the telegram allowed for a constructive conversation to occur as if the president were …show more content…

One example was on June 15, 1863 when Lincoln coordinated with General Joseph Hooker regarding the troops of Winchester in the pursuit of Robert E. Lee and the Confederates. In some of the early correspondence, Hooker expressed hesitation about making a decision when he said, “I do not feel like making a move for an enemy until I am satisfied as to his whereabouts.” However, all day prior to this, Lincoln had been using the telegraph to gather his own intelligence about Lee’s location. Initially, he wired General Benjamin Kelly at Harper’s Ferry, thirty miles north of Winchester on the Potomac, stating, “are the forces at Winchester and Martinsburg making any effort to get to you?” After also coordinating with General Schenck in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as General Daniel Tyler, the president was able to triangulate to estimate the location of Lee’s forces stating, “So far as we can make out here the enemy have Milroy surrounded at Winchester and Tyler at Martinsburg.” In response to Lincoln’s intelligence, Hooker telegraphed, “Your dispatch is more conclusive than any I have received. I now feel that invasion is [Lee’s] settled purpose.” This type of coordination was representative of how Lincoln utilized a centralized command structure to optimize the North’s operational tactics on the

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