Emmitsburg
during the Civil War
Signal
Operations of Emmitsburg During the
Civil War
John
Allen Miller
Emmitsburg was not only
important to the cavalry operations of the Union Army, but it
also served as an important role in communications and
observing battle maneuvers in Gettysburg. Indian Lookout was
a very important landmark during the battle of Gettysburg for
the Union Army. It served Union officers who could see the
positions of the armies on the battlefield. It also served as
a communication center via dispatches and telegraph for the
Union Army.
Using the highest point in the
Emmitsburg area, Indian Lookout became a land mark. This area
situated near Mount Saint Mary's College held the most
spectacular view of the battle of Gettysburg. A letter
reprinted on March 25, 1976 from the Emmitsburg Chronicle a
gentlemen only known as A.J.B. wrote about the Battle of
Gettysburg as seen from Indian Lookout directly behind
Emmitsburg. There he writes about the battle as he saw it.
“I should spare some of that
talk for describing the battle of Gettysburg as seen by us
from Indian Lookout. Truly we are at that place (Indian
Lookout) almost the whole time during the three days battle.
We had plenty of glasses viz telescopes, spy, and opera
glasses. We had a clear view of the field and could see so as
to make the men in their lines, attending cannon, the cannon
themselves, making charges, officers riding along about their
lines, and in a word the whole scene was spread out to our
view.
We could distinctly observe the
changes in the position of the armies: sometimes one army
would slowly give way, but seeming to dispute every inch of
ground with as much energy and determination as if the fate of
the Nation depended on its holding or yielding its position
again rallying and driving the foe headlong before it for some
distance. When the retreating body either reinforced some
fresh troops or perhaps reinforced with courage, the battle
would become terrific.”
The Union Army had several ways
of communicating and delivering orders. Situated on the
highest point they would translate or send out messages. The
Signal Corp had two flags that were squared and colored red
and white. One flag would be red with a smaller white square
in the center, while the second was all white and a smaller
red square in the center. Each movement of the signal flags
represented a letter. The signalmen would wave these flags
while the intended party who was observing these flags would
look through a telescope calling out the letters and another
man would write the letters down. The second way of
communicating was by telegraph. The armies had what was
called a Flying Telegraph battalion or company. They would set
up near the signal corps or where they would best serve the
commanders.
An article
reprinted in 1951 from the Emmitsburg Chronicle gave a sharp
description of the Union cavalry and Signal Corps that was
stationed at Emmitsburg during the time of the battle of
Gettysburg:
“Small flags waved and dipped
from the tower of the old Lutheran Church, used as a signal
station by the army. Bearers of dispatches and squads of
cavalry dashed madly through the town. The long roll of drums
and the blood-stirring bugle calls filled the air; the fields
were alive with soldiers. To the untrained eye it looked like
a great mob, but it was not a mob in any sense, for in a very
short time the men fell into orderly lines and in full
marching swing, pressed forward across the fields toward
Gettysburg, towards victory and also many of them toward
death."
As the battle of Gettysburg
commenced, Signal man Aaron Jerome, turned his telescope
toward Emmitsburg. Around quarter after nine in the morning,
he saw movements of troops approaching Gettysburg. From his
location on the Lutheran Seminary steeple he could see the
company colors waving in the wind. As the wind shifted the
flags he recognized the emblems of Reynolds Corps. He knew
help was on the way.
During the battle of Gettysburg,
Indian Lookout and Round Top served as one of many lines the
Federal Army had. These are the official reports written by
the men stationed at Indian Lookout during the battle of
Gettysburg, and how the signal stations were organized during
the Union occupation of Emmitsburg along with communication
difficulties:
"Signal Station, July 2,
1863
Major-General Butterfield:
Communication with Emmitsburg is
still open, but no communication yet with Gettysburg.
L. B. Norton, Captain, and Chief
Signal Officer
MARYLAND HEIGHTS SIGNAL
STATION, June 24-July 10, 1863
General Slocum
A message confirming the above
was received, via Washington, late in the afternoon by the
commanding general from General Tyler, at Maryland Heights. On
the 25th, all signal communication was discontinued upon the
removal of the army corps, and the signal telegraph line
withdrawn. Two officers made separate reconnaissance for
General W. S. Hancock, while two others performed the same
duties for General J. F. Reynolds.
On the 26th, general
headquarters moved to Poolesville. By direction of the general
commanding, three signal officers were ordered to report for
duty to Major General A. Pleasonton, commanding Cavalry Corps.
On the 27th, the headquarters of
this army moved to Frederick, and an attempt was made to open
communication between this point and the station on Sugar Loaf
Mountain, which proved unsuccessful, on account of the
unfavorable condition of the atmosphere. A station of
observation was established at Middletown, and communication
opened from that place to another point of observation at
South Mountain Pass, and the results reported to Generals J.
F. Reynolds and O. O. Howard.
On the 28th and 29th, no signal
operations were found necessary. On the 30th, general
headquarters removed to Taneytown. A signal station was placed
in the church steeple at that place, and a party sent to
Emmitsburg for the purpose of opening a line between General
J. F. Reynolds and headquarters. Communication was not opened
this day on account of the haziness of the atmosphere. The
signal officer with General John Buford, who occupied the town
of Gettysburg, took position in the steeple of the college,
and reported to General Buford the whereabouts and movements
of the enemy. The officers attached to the First Corps, from a
station of observation on the mountain (Indian Lookout) back
of Emmitsburg, made a telescopic reconnaissance toward
Gettysburg, reporting the results to the general commanding
that corps.
In order that these instructions
might be promptly and successfully fulfilled, signal telegraph
trains were sent to Frizellburg, and everything held in
readiness to extend the wire at a moment's notice to the
points desired by the commanding general. During the whole of
this day, endeavors were made to open the signal line between
general headquarters, Emmitsburg, and Round Top Mountain, but
on account of the smokiness of the atmosphere, the desired
result was not obtained until 11 p. m., when the first message
was received. These lines were kept open during the subsequent
battle.
On July 6, the lines between
Round Top and Taneytown and Emmitsburg and Taneytown were
discontinued. The two officers attached to the First Corps
made a telescopic reconnaissance from the hill back of
Emmitsburg, and sent the information obtained to Major General
John Newton. The same officers subsequently occupied signal
stations at Turner's Gap and Washington Monument, and reported
the result of their observations of Hagerstown and vicinity to
Generals Sedgwick and Newton.
July 7, the headquarters of the
army moved to Frederick. The signal officer who had been
previously assigned to duty with the detached command under
General Neill made a reconnaissance near Waynesborough, Pa.,
discovering the whereabouts and movements of the enemy.
On July 8, in the afternoon,
general headquarters moved to Middletown. A party of signal
officers, under charge of Captain W. J. L. Nicodemus, arrived
from Washington, for the purpose of working in conjunction
with the signal corps of this army. Captain Nicodemus opened a
line of communication between Frederick and South Mountain
Pass.
On July 9, headquarters of the
army moved to Turner's Gap. A station was occupied near this
place, communicating, through others at Middletown and
Crampton's Pass, with Maryland Heights. This line, appearing
of little importance on account of telegraphic facilities, was
abandoned the same day, and its officers ordered to more
active duty in the front. A station of observation was
established on Washington Monument, near South Mountain Pass,
from which Hagerstown and the whole valley could be seen. On
July 10, the general commanding and his staff removed to a
bivouac near Beaver Creek crossing, west of Boonsborough.
On July 30 and 31, the
communication opened on the 29th remained intact. In summing
up the operations of the signal corps of this army for the
month and a half herein recorded, I find that sixty-seven
signal stations of observation and communication were
occupied, eight signal telegraph lines established, and
seventeen extra reconnaissance’s made. I have stated as
concisely as possible the amount and character of the work
performed. When it failed in a signal point of view it has
been noted; but of the real value of the information obtained
by the corps and the importance of other services rendered,
the commanding general and the corps commanders are best able
to judge. A map is herewith enclosed, *indicating by the
signal flags placed upon it the majority of the points at
which stations were occupied; by dotted red lines where
communication by flag signals was established, and by plain
red lines where the signal telegraph was used.
"
On the morning of July 5th,
General JEB Stuart made his way from the fields of Gettysburg
to Emmitsburg. There was a sharp skirmish fought at the
Farmer's Inn as seventy Union men and their Captain were taken
prisoners. General Stuart stopped long enough to study maps
and feed and water the horses. After General Stuart traveled
to Mechanicstown, he learned of the mountain passes guarded by
General Merrit's Cavalry. General Stuart then traveled back
into Emmitsburg.
A skirmish
erupted south of Emmitsburg as General Stuart and his cavalry
passed Mt. Saint Mary’s College. It was here, General Stuart
ran into a small body of Union cavalry. In the skirmish the
Confederates pushed the Union troopers back into town taking
some prisoners. Some of the Union prisoners taken at
Emmitsburg by General Stuart’s Cavalry on July 5th
were those belonging to the Signal Corps. In this report to
General Slocum, it tells of the small ordeal:
“MARYLAND HEIGHTS SIGNAL
STATION, June 24-July 10, 1863
General Slocum:
During the
late movements of the army, 3 signal officers and 6 flagmen
were captured by the enemy. The only reported injuries were
those of 2 flagmen slightly wounded at the battle of
Gettysburg. The capture of Captain B. F. Fisher, chief
acting signal officer, has been previously mentioned.
Captain C. S. Kendall and Lieutenant L. R. Fortescue, acting
signal officers, were taken at Emmitsburg, where they had
been on station, by Stuart's cavalry upon their retreat from
Gettysburg, July 5.
The following
officers are entitled to mention for the active part taken
by them in the late operations of the corps, and for the
prompt and efficient manner in which they discharged every
duty, both under the fire of the enemy and on the march:
Captains James S. Hall and P. A. Taylor, serving with Second
Army Corps; Captains P. Babcock, jr., and T. R. Clark,
serving with Eleventh Army Corps; Captains Joseph Gloskoski
and Richard Dinsmore, serving with Cavalry Corps; Captain F.
E. Beardslee, in charge signal telegraph train; First
Lieutenants J. C. Wiggins and N. H. Camp, serving with First
Army Corps; First Lieutenant George J. Clarke, serving with
Sixth Army Corps; First Lieutenant J. E. Holland, serving
with Twelfth Army Corps. First Lieutenants William S.
Stryker, adjutant, and A. B. Capron, acting assistant
quartermaster and acting ordnance officer of Signal Corps,
have discharged the duties of their respective positions
throughout the campaign with a care and faithfulness which
entitles them to commendation. I take pleasure in still
further mentioning Captain D. E. Castle, of this corps, for
distinguished gallantry and close attention to duty under
most trying circumstances.”
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