WELCOME  TO  THE

OHIO VALLEY

CIVIL  WAR  ASSOCIATION

CIVIL  WAR  SIGNAL  CORPS

&  U.S.  MILITARY  TELEGRAPH

The U.S. Army Signal Corps that existed during the Civil War began before the war started when the government approved an Army appropriations bill in 1860. After the outbreak of war, the first chief signal officer for the Army, Major Albert J. Myer, set up training facilities for detailed officers and men during the autumn of 1861. Utilizing organizations and techniques including electromagnetic and aerial telegraphy, the Union Army’s Signal Corps accomplished effective tactical and strategic communications. From their elevated signal stations, the Signal Corps was instrumental to the success of the Union Army by correlating battlefield observation, gathering intelligence, and instructing the direction of artillery fire with the action on the fields of battle. The Signal Corps remained active throughout the entire war.

The U.S. Military Telegraph Corps, led by an established corps of civilian operators, was formed in 1861 to maintain communications between the federal government in Washington, D.C. and the commanding officers of the Union Army. Strategically important to many facets of the war, the U.S.M.T. also played a large role in espionage by intercepting and deciphering Confederate communications.

The ONLY Living History Flying Telegraph Unit

The reenacting groups of the Civil War Signal Corps and United States Military Telegraph have been part of the Ohio Valley Civil War Association since 2000 and are an attachment of the 19th U.S. Infantry with sponsorship by the Signal Corps Regimental Association. Commanded by Major Dave Bock, members are detailed from units of the Ohio Valley Civil War Association such as the 35th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the 19th U.S. Infantry, Battery “C” 1st Ohio Light Artillery, and Birge's Western Sharpshooters as well as the Civil War Ladies who portray women members of the United States Military Telegraph and the many civilian operators that were common during the Civil War.

(More information about the Civil War Signal Corps and U.S.M.T. can be found by going directly to their website. )

-Sgt. Frederick Alms of the U.S. Signal Corps in 1864.

-(Above and RIght) The U.S.M.T. tent at Glendower in Lebanon, Ohio.

(Photos by Pat Taylor & Liz Knasel)

-Beardslee Telegraph Machine.

(Photo by Pat Taylor)

-Sign painted by Doug Roush