{"id":1261,"date":"2014-06-26T11:56:33","date_gmt":"2014-06-26T15:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=1261"},"modified":"2025-04-18T09:38:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:38:21","slug":"wig-wag-flags-sent-messages-signal-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wig-wag-flags-sent-messages-signal-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"Wig-wag flags sent messages | Albert Myer | Signal Corps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"General<\/a>
General Myers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just before the Civil War, Albert Myer, an obscure telegrapher who became an Army doctor, combined his experience in both fields to invent a means of communicating by waving flags to troops. His effort spawned the Army\u2019s Signal Corps.<\/p>\n

Today, the Signal Corps sends messages by modern means. But Myer knew nothing of cellphones, emails and texting to reach units strung out across a battlefield. But he did know how to \u201cspeak\u201d with deaf people and saw a way to apply it to warfare.<\/p>\n

Myer\u2019s dissertation for his medical degree was titled \u201cA New Sign Language for Deaf Mutes.\u201d In \u201cGetting the Message Through,\u201d Rebecca Robbins Raines\u2019 history of the Signal Corps, she writes that Myer \u201ctransformed [telegraph] code into a means of personal communication by which words could be spelled by tapping them out upon a person\u2019s cheek or hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A sample of the wig-wag system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stationed in Texas in the mid-1850s as a medical officer, Myer \u201cconverted this sign language into the flag and torch signaling system that has become known as \u2018wig-wag,\u2019\u201d writes Raines.<\/p>\n

Ironically, given his later role as president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis was the first person Myer approached about adopting his system. Davis, then U.S. Secretary of War, said, \u201cIn the absence of more full information no opinion can be formed of the plan proposed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Myers
Myers (standing) with Signal Corps officers during the Civil War.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ever persistent, Myer eventually won the notice of the U.S. Senate\u2019s Committee on Military Affairs. When both houses of Congress passed a bill in 1860 and President James Buchanan signed it, the Signal Corps was born.<\/p>\n

The Civil War would break out less than a year later. By the end of 1862, the Signal Corps consisted of 300 officers and 900 men. The San Francisco Bulletin informed readers that \u201cthe colors of the flags used are modified by the nature of the background. White with a black centre and red with a white centre are used against a dark background, and black with a white centre against a clear sky\u2026.At night a\u2026torch is substituted for the flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Signal<\/a>
Signal Corps station during Civil War<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The messages conveyed by waving the flags could direct the movement of troops or guide more accurate artillery fire. Commenting on the members of the corps, another newspaper remarked that \u201csignal duty\u2026is by far the most dangerous in the whole service\u201d because enemy batteries zoned in on the flags.<\/p>\n

Davis, once dubious, would add signal units to the Confederacy\u2019s army, finally acknowledging Myer\u2019s flag-related contribution to warfare.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just before the Civil War, Albert Myer, an obscure telegrapher who became an Army doctor, combined his experience in both fields to invent a means of communicating by waving flags to troops. His effort spawned the Army\u2019s Signal Corps. Today, the Signal Corps sends messages by modern means. But Myer knew nothing of cellphones, emails… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[200,43,201],"class_list":["post-1261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-albert-myer","tag-civil-war","tag-signal-corps"],"yoast_head":"\nAlbert Myer invents communication by flags | Signal Corps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Albert Myer, combined his experience to invent a means of communicating by waving flags to troops. 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