Keen Lookouts
& Little Flags
The Civil War
Highlights
Virginia SOLs in the following curriculum areas are supported by this program:
USI.9d; USI.9e; USI.9f
C/T 6-8.3; C/T 9-12.1; C/T 9-12.3
VS.7b
USI.9d; USI.9e; USI.9f
C/T 6-8.3; C/T 9-12.1; C/T 9-12.3
VS.7b
The American Civil War witnessed unparalleled advances in American technology, including manual and electrical communications delivery systems.
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Back to Getting
the Message Through
Principle methods used to transmit critical and time sensitive messages during the war and their impact on specific battles
General Albert J. Myer, Father of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)
General Myer’s “wigwag” system of flagged battlefield messaging, considered the first “wireless” communications mode
The “flying telegraph”
Professor Thaddeus Lowe, the Father American Overhead Aerial Reconnaissance
Professor Lowe’s fleet of hydrogen balloons for overhead reconnaissance missions and their real-time messaging capabilities
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Other Communication Programs
“[…Federal] signal stations on the Blue Ridge commanded a view of every movement. We could not make a maneuver in front or rear that was not instantly revealed by keen lookouts; as soon as the intelligence could be communicated to their batteries below, shot and shell were launched against the moving columns. It was this information, conveyed by the little flags upon the mountaintop, that no doubt enabled the enemy to concentrate his force against our weakest points and counteract the effect of whatever similar movements may have been attempted by us.”
War correspondent writing in a Richmond paper, describing the importance of wigwag messaging during the Battle of South Mountain ( Antietam campaign), September 1862.
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