Army web site)Īrtifact exhibits on the Signal Corps in the Civil War can be found at: I treated them just as I would any man and on our arrival in W. They were tired of war and had not been happy for a long time till in the hands of their enemies. One had a loaded carbine which I took and shall send home if possible. With immense courage and a deal of strategy I surrounded three as willing captives as ever surrendered. On my way to Williamsport on the morning of the 14th captured three rebs representing No. Remained there till the morning of the 14th and sent several messages some of which were telegraphed to Washington and most of them were sent either to Gen Meade or the Corps commanders. left me on station but learned that the rebs were in fine retreat on Hagerstown and I followed with party, arriving there at 10am just as the devils were leaving town and shelling our advance in fine style.īy 12M I had a grand station where I could see all the enemy’s movements on our right and the flag was not exposed to his sharpshooters. Our friends sent us several remembrances in the way of shot and shells which made me feel a little white at times but no one was hurt in our party. came on and ordered me with him to front where we ran a station all day and night. Swain related his experience in a letter to a friend:Īt 12, Capt. Swain was ordered to establish signal stations in the Washington County, Maryland area. The Signal Corps continued to relay information after the battle, when they followed the retreating Confederates through Pennsylvania, Maryland, and back into Virginia. Signal Corps demonstration at Pry House Field Hospital Museum (National Museum of Civil War Medicine) By the end of the war, the Signal Corps consisted of almost 300 officers and 2,500 soldiers. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Myer was tasked with recruiting and training officers and establishing schools of instruction. In 1858, the Army expressed interest in Myer’s system, and after extensive testing, the United States Signal Corps was born, with Myer appointed as major and chief signal officer. The numbers would be combined in a sequence that would equal a letter. He eventually came up with a system using one flag, with the position of the flag indicating a specific number. After receiving his commission as a surgeon in the United States Army in 1854, Myer was sent to Texas, where, in addition to practicing medicine, he continued his experiments in signaling.

Myer wrote his doctoral thesis A New Sign Language for Deaf Mutes in 1851, he could not have foreseen the impact it would have on battlefield communications 10 years later. Signal Corps in the Civil War Posted on: February 22nd, 2022

Signal corp