thought that would be an interesting topic. so i broaden that a bit to think about different kinds of that civil war. americans shared, transmitted and almost as soon as i came up with that idea, i started to think about a terrific book with an incredibly intriguing title, mr. lincoln's tales. and so early on in process, i thought to myself, if i could get the author of this book to come and speak maybe this thing will work out extremely. and so i was absolutely thrilled. when tom wheeler, the author of, mr. lincoln's t mails, accepted the invitation to be with us as, a speaker at this year's civil war weekend, wheeler is businessman, an author and a public figure. i'm not even going to try and read out the list of his accomplishments. a few highlights include his service as chairman of. the federal communications commission from 2013 to 2017. he's a visiting fellow at brookings institution. as well, as a senior fellow at the harvard school. his publication does include a really insightful about leadership lessons from civil war, as well as the one i've already mentioned. and i know. you've got a big clue about one behind me on the screen. mr. lincoln's t mails and that, of course, is going to be the subject of, his presentation tonight. let's give him a warm welcome to virginia tech. thank you very much, paul. and and everybody. it's a privilege to be here. paul gave a little bit of a overview of, my background. i'm a techie you know, and and here i with a bunch of civil war civil scholars and one of the things that i have always loved is the study of the civil war. and this book ended up being an attempt excuse me, to relate my interest in technology with my love of the civil war and, and a couple of jumped out at me as thought about tonight and topic of of lincoln and the telegraph. the first was that as paul has indicated the civil war was the begin of the telecommunications era. it was the war in which telecommunications played an integral part. and we're going to talk a lot tonight about how lincoln was able to take advantage of that, that telecommunications led us to the internet and the internet era and. now on to a.i. and the artificial intelligence era. and as i began to prepare tonight, i thought, my goodness, the similarities between the telegraph and the challenge that it represented for abraham lincoln. and artificial intelligence and the challenges represents for us are freight parallel. lincoln was called upon to deal with technology that no one had seen before and to come up with. no one had imagined. it's the same kind of reality that we're facing today when we try and come grips with this thing called artificial intelligence. so they put the telegraph in perspective for a second. in 1861, when abraham lincoln first came to the white house. the concept of electricity was a vague scientific idea. it wasn't until 1789. i'm. 1879 that edison patented the light bulb. and so the idea that you could send messages by electric sparks was truly something that was beyond the grasp of the typical american. in 1843. when the congress was voting on the appropriation for samuel f.b. morris's test line between washington and baltimore. the members of the house were so unsure of this idea of message use by sparks that offered a series of last thing amendments such as well, let's amend the bill to study, not just telegraph, but also mesmerism and the ability to. by thinking and by hypnosis. those amendments were voted down, but the more appropriate version passed the congress. by three votes. and what's most interesting is that there were as many members, congress who chose to from voting as who to pass the bill because they want to have to go explain to their constituents that they were putting up this big sum of money for this crazy idea of messages by sparks. even after that line to baltimore was built. it's still was hard for people to get their heads around it in 1844, after line was completed. alfred vail was morse's assistant, who was manning the baltimore terminus of the line telegraph back maybe we ought to be suspending the trial because the clerk of baltimore had determined that this was black magic and that there was a riot, a demonstration being planned and he feared for his safety and the safety of the equipment. that was the environment into which abraham lincoln walked when he became president of the united states. he had first seen the a telegraph f in 1857 when he was writing circuit and was in the tazewell house in pekin, illinois, where he literally. we not forget he was a litigator. he literally in guarded the operator, a guy by the name of charles pinker who tinker, who then went on to work in the white house telegraph office, the administration. but he interrogated is how does this thing work work? because one of the things that we don't think about when we about abraham lincoln lincoln is that if he were alive today would call him an early adopter. that he is the only president to hold a patent. his job when he was a lawyer, illinois, his frequent were the railroads. which were the revolutionary network technol logy that was totally changing both commerce and culture in as they as it progressed west. he even thought that he could make it on the lecture circuit with a lecture discoveries and invent in, which he talked about the importance of technology. so we are lucky that regard. that this man who had to figure how to work with this new technology was in fact who was fascinated by technology which he. the other general observation that i will point out before we down to some of the specific things. is that not only is lincoln use of the telegraph a study in dealing with technology, but it also an incredible insight into the man. as you know lincoln kept no diary diary. everything that we know about abraham lincoln has three sources. his speeches, his writings and his telegrams. the first two are set pieces. they're out. their planned. they. the purpose is to delay live or some kind of message as. we'll see in a moment. in a minute. his telegrams are off the top of the head. spontaneous responses, scratch things out, insert, respond to external forces. it's the closest that we'll get to a transcript of a conversation with abraham lincoln and. we'll watch how. he went through three phases in his development of what i call the modern electronic management technique and how he had to ease in to what he took to the situation he was put in by this new technology. so. let's take a look at some things. this the telegraph office in washington, d.c. when lincoln came to town in 1861, there was no telegraph line at the white house. there was no telegraph at the war department. there was no telegraph at the navy yard. when the united states army wanted to send a telegram to some distant post out west, they wrote it out in longhand, handed it to a clerk who stood in line in at this office. our national leadership was flummoxed on how do we use this technology. bankers had figured out how to use it. newspapers had figured how to use it. railroads had figured out to use it. but washington had not come close to figuring out how to this. and lincoln was put into a situation where he had to make those conclusions himself. he couldn't exactly turn to see what somebody done before. there was no press event. he couldn't exactly a book. he couldn't find a tutor that said, well, this is how we use this technology. and he had to figure this out in the middle of a civil war. so let's look at some of the experiences that he had in that process. and first, let's begin with with what i call lincoln's aha moment where he began to realize the significance of the telegraph. this is colonel baker. baker was amongst lincoln's closest friends. he was a had been a senator from illinois and then a senator from, oregon, lincoln second son was edward baker. lincoln had. and on 21st, 1861, baker was killed leading a regiment at the battle of ball's bluff. about three months after the disaster, edmund versus. george mcclellan, who was then commanding union forces. the was was sitting with president lincoln in the white house discussing affairs when. a runner came in and handed him a piece of paper. mcclellan opened it, read read it, put his pocket. never said anything about its content to the commander in chief. and that report was a report of the disaster at ball's bluff and the death of lincoln's close friend. later that afternoon. as lincoln was want to do. he wandered over to mcclellan's headquarters. and mcclellan not there. but he said to thomas eckert, who was mcclellan's clerk. anything new. and accurate says, no, sir, there's nothing new in the file. he goes into mcclellan's office and he sees they're laying on his desk, a copy of telegram reporting on ball's bluff in the death of colonel baker. to say he was in would probably an understatement. and he comes out and he confronts eckert. and he said, i asked you was there anything new. and eckert? well, sir if you'll recall my response, there's nothing new in the file that when he saw lincoln coming he took copy of the telegram out and slipped it under the blotter of his desk because he had been by the commanding general not to share military information with the president of the united states to and the secretary of war, simon cameron, was in cahoots on this plan. it was only a few months later after a few other missteps, cameron found as minister to russia. and. edwin stanton came in as secretary of war. and he knew who his boss was and what his responsibility was. and in january of 62, when the congress came back into session, one of the first things they did was pass telegraph legislation which included the creation of the u.s. military telegraph corps. now it have had the word military its title, but it was entirely civilian. it did not report to any general in the field. it reported directly to stanton and stanton understood who he reported to. the lesson that lincoln learned from this is one that we see today in the internet and in other places, and that is that he who controls the conduit, controls the content. and so he took steps to, correct? that. this is an example of. one of those. first steps in the first 14 months of his presidency. abraham lincoln sent fewer than 20 telegraph teams. remember i said he had ease way and he had learned what was possible. on. may 24th, 1862. a date that i call his electronic. he sent nine telegrams in that one day and week, sent more telegrams than had sent ever in cumulative since he had taken the oath of office. and this is one of those telegrams. and unfortunately it is a copy clerk's copy. not in lincoln's hand. the others we were going to look at in a minute are all in lincoln's hand. but you can see that he is saying here to general. you are there for directed by the president to against jackson at harrisonburg and to give and and operate against the enemy as much to relieve banks. so this was during the. this was during the peninsula. jackson was coming and threatening washing vinton macleish and had dissembled to the president in terms of how many troops he had left behind to protect the nation's capital. and abraham lincoln. stepped up in this telegram to become commander in in actuality, not just in title and. for the first time in history. a political figure operating in the political capital of the nation gave a order to. an officer in the field. you know, there was a reason why, charles the fifth was at agincourt. there was a reason why bonaparte went to russia because the government tried gamble with the troops. but that wasn't the tradition in this democracy. and on this day may 24th, 1862, abraham lincoln aiken rewrote the textbook on the relationship. commander in the field and the commander in chief in and he used the telegraph to accomplish it. now, here's what's spooky. may 24th, 1862, is 18 years to the day day from when samuel f.b. morris said sent what have god wrought. george? briton. don't get us started. it's a great. get out. i'm sitting here and i'm saying to myself, let's just how good was he? he over estimated the forces that were opposed to him and under-delivered again and again and again, he loved his uniform, he loved the pants, the pomp. he didn't fare too well in his belief in the battle. but he understood the telegraph. when mcclellan was shortly out of west point. the army sent him to observe the crimean war war. and this thing called the telegraph was being used by british forces, not to command forces or not to back to london, but to to relay messages, supplies and things like this off the battlefield. and mcclellan saw that. it's possible to make the case that george mcclellan was elevated to command in the east of the telegraph because he. he made a point of as his troops advanced, making sure that they strung telegraph wire and just happened to make access to that telegraph line available. the reporters that were covering him him so when he had his victories, western virginia against e lee word went out. mcclellan was so proud of what he had done that he you know, he was famous for the letters that he wrote to his wife. he wrote a letter to his wife for the first time in history a telegraph, has moved with an army, the front. and he took of it. so he's down on the peninsula. in may of 62, stalled surprise and, he sends to lincoln a telegram that rambles on and on, but then says it is the policy and duty of the government to send me by all well drilled troops available. the temerity. telling the president of the united states what the policy of the government is. and lincoln, his command voice delivered over the telegraph to. this way to mcclellan. this is written by lincoln in. his tight forward cursive. and it starts out and it reviews some of the things that he said, questioning some of the things he said. for instance, mcclellan claimed a big victory for fitzjohn porter and the president kind of questions that. but the important part of it is he gets down here to the end and he i am painfully impressed with the import ance of the struggle before and i shall aid you all i can with my view of all the regions too, and all the other fronts and. last i must remind you, i must remain the judge, as the purpose underline of the government. and he crosses that out. and i said a minute ago that you could you could see thought processes as you read these telegrams. there is a classic example this is one on happy fella who feels it's necessary to say hey listen let me remind you who establishes the policy he and then he says now no, this not the best way or the right time to deliver this message. and he crosses it out. a few months later. mcclellan once again. has his difficulties. be polite at, antietam. and the background story to this telegram is this that in early october, halleck fell to its antietam. was september. mcclellan not follow lee. october 17, i'm sorry. september 17, early october, a couple of weeks after the battle. halleck general sends a telegram to mcclellan quote the, president directs that you crossed the potomac and give battle to the enemy. crickets. we week or so later abraham lincoln the president i states wrote a letter to mcclellan and had it hand delivered delivered. mcclellan gave him back of the hand and did not reply. by this point in time, lincoln was maturing his use of his understand ing, of the use of the telegraph, and he was the messages that would come in to the war department, even they weren't addressed to him. and he saw a message that had come in from mcclellan to halleck saying that they couldn't pursue lee because his horses were sore tongued and fatigued. october 24, five five weeks after battle of antietam, abraham lincoln sits down and responds to a telegram that was not written to him and says, have read your dispatch about sore tongued and, fatigued horses. will pardon me for asking what the horses of the army have done since the battle of and tedium that fatigue. remember i said that you get some insights into into his personal reac tions when he's prodded on things. and this was another another insight that it gave was how fed up he was because as know, less than two weeks later, mcclellan was relieved of command. this is the war department. it sits on the site next to the white house of the current old executive office. i can't reach it. but here on the second floor, behind that portico, in the former library of the war department was where the telegraph got set up after lincoln's aha moment with mcclellan. so he when the u.s. embassy, u.s. telegraph corps was was was created. they took all the telegraph lines out of mcclellan's headquarters, moved them into the war department, and created the telegraph office just outside the secretary's office. and it was here that lincoln's spent more. than any other place save the white house and maybe his sanctuary at soldier's home. they had a cot moved in so he could stay there, monitor the wires and sleep and it was, if you think about it, it was the first situation room. and what he would is he would walk in and he'd go straight to. the clerk's desk and he'd open the bottom, the clerk's desk and take out a stack of flimsy. there were the copies of the telegraph traffic that had coming in and out wouldn't addressed to him. but all of the telegraph traffic going through the war department and he would take that stack over to desk next to a window overlooking avenue and he would sit down and start reading them. and he would page through and when he came to one that he was interested in, he would set it aside. and when he got as far as he need get, he would endeavor to ably say to the telegrapher around him, well, boys, i'm down to the raisins. and finally one of the telegraph clerks said, mr. president, you keep saying you're down to the raisins. what's that mean? and he told the story of classic abraham lincoln. he tells a story about a time in springfield where a young girl was celebrating her birthday and the party plied her with all kinds sweets and foods to the point where she became. or as the president said, she began casting up her accounts. and the parents worried that she was sick. so they send for the doctor and the doctor comes over and he's going through the bowl of accounts. and he to the parents. what was the last thing that she. and they said raisins. he said, we have no fear. the raisins are here and she'll be fine. and so lincoln said, so, boys, when i come to the telegram i saw last time i was here, i know i have gone far enough. and he puts them back in the drawer. ultimately. it was. that act of reading. that the nature of his. of the telegraph from one of transmitting his command to voice to one of having a keyhole into the headquarters of. his generals, so that he could understand what was really going on and use that information to guide his actions. this is an example of one of those listening first experiences. think about august 17th,. 1864 was a pretty dark time for. the union. lincoln had just. note around his cabinet table asking his cabinet secretaries to sign in anticipation of his defeat at the polls and that they would continue to fight for the union because they knew that whoever beat them would not keep the union together. grant was stalled before. draft riots were going on in the major cities. you all was up the warren path, shenandoah valley to threaten washington washington and lincoln saw. a memo or a telegram that grant had sent to halleck in which grant asked about the of the riots on his troop strength. they be taking troops away to put down riots and also was just kind of a okay how are things? what's what's happening. and lincoln saw that and he picked up a piece of paper and he wrote this. i have your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break your whole where you are neither. am i willing hold on with bulldog grip and chew and choke
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