December 15, 2020 Edged Weapons, Armor & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/15/2020
The Beardslee Electro-Magnetic Military Telegraph was a portable military telegraph developed by George Beardslee and adopted by Lieutenant Colonel Albert J. Myer, founder and Chief of the U.S. Signal Corps, to provide a mobile field telegraph system for the Union Army shortly following the advent of the Civil War. The instrument was powered by hand-turned magnetos to send the electronic signal over insulated wire and did not require the heavy batteries needed in the civilian telegraphs. It included an alphabet dial and pointer instead of the usual key for transmission. The operator needed only to move the lever to a point on the dial representing the letter that he wished to send as part of his message, while on the receiving end, the dial would move to the corresponding position on the dial. This rare and important example of the patent Beardslee telegraph set, numbered ‘5’ in brass on its lid, is one of the first sets procured for the Union Army and thus, was almost certainly one of those that played a critical role in the early battle applications of the telegraph during the war. It is housed in its original brass-bound, wooden case measuring 14 x 20 3/4 x 11 11/16 inches (LxWxD). The case has a hinged top and when opened, the working components of the field operator are revealed, including the Beardslee patent dial set, the send and receive switch plates and the four brass posts or “hitchers” for the wiring. On the front of the box is a hinged drop-down that allows the operator access to the internal components of the system, the magnetos. Of the Beardslee telegraph, Mayer said “There were advantages to attaching to this instrument…it was portable and compact, could be set a work anywhere, required no batteries, acids, or fluids; and…could be worked by soldiers without skill as operators [but its] defects were, that messages could not be sent as rapidly or as far as by some other instruments.” He believed that “on the field of battle, or under fire,…it is, perhaps, as good an instrument as has ever been devised.” Limitations of the instrument were its short range of about ten miles due to insufficient power, slow transmission, and frequent lack of synchronization between sending and receiving sets. Mayer partly mitigated these drawbacks by establishing a field telegraph train of wagons to expedite fast and efficient deployment of the Beardslee telegraphs and their wiring systems in the field. The Beardslee telegraph was first used on 24 May 1862 during the Peninsular campaign. However, it was during the Battle of Fredericksburg when it achieved strategic importance, allowing Burnside and his subordinate commanders the ability to communicate with great effectiveness despite the fog and smoke which had impeded the usual system of flag signal communications. Approximately 60-odd Beardslee telegraphs were acquired and used during the war, of which this example (machine number 5) is an extremely rare survivor and one of only two known in private hands (three are in museum collections: one from the Hilton Head campaign now at the US Army Signal Corps Museum and two at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution). Facsimiles of its patent, military operating manual and other period references accompany the telegraph set. CONDITION: In very good condition (and presumably good working order), the electro-magnetic device complete and its case housing in very good condition. The wood with only slight surface bruises and scratches and its brass-work complete and clean.
Item Dimensions: 20 - 1/2" x 14" x 12".