The telegraph was one of the most important inventions used throughout the Civil War. Developed in the 1830s-1840s by Samuel Morse, the telegraph could send long distance messages along electrical wires. By using the telegraph people were able to send and receive messages in a shorter amount of time when compared to the postal service. This was thanks to morse code, a language developed for the telegraph. Morse code uses a system of dots and dashes that represent different letters and numbers. Once mastered communication between two people far away from each-other could happen quickly and seamlessly. This especially helped on the battle-field. During the Civil War "it allowed commanders to instantly communicate with each other and provide almost real time information about battle results, enemy troop movements, unit locations etc..." This definitely helped give a commander a leg up on the enemy. By being able to tell a unit far away which way the enemy was moving, they could regroup and strategize before they got there. It also would have helped keep the armies more organized. Overall the telegraph was an extremely important piece of technology during the Civil War and had the capability to change the tide of the war.
https://www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-technology
https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/telegraph
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