Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War

by Tom Wheeler and Tom E. Wheeler

Book Overview

The Civil War was the first "modern war." Because of the rapid changes in American society, Abraham Lincoln became president of a divided United States during a period of technological and social revolution. Among the many modern marvels that gave the North an advantage was the telegraph, which Lincoln used to stay connected to the forces in the field in almost real time.

No leader in history had ever possessed such a powerful tool to gain...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006112978X
• ISBN13: 9780061129780
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Harper Business
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The E-Mail of the Civil War

My interest crept up on me, as I read this book. The focus upon the t-mails alone, initially gave me the sense that the author's choice of direction could become too narrow. But, in Lincoln's own words, as he dealt with his general problem, it becomes clear what a great insight into Lincoln's thinking this approach reveals. Lincoln's management skills, his understanding of human nature, and his resolve to find men who were as focused as he, in destroying Lee's army...are all displayed directly and clearly through his t-mails...including the ones never sent. His dissatisfaction with his generals leads him to question, to criticize, and finally, even to direct. Today he would have been accused of micro-management....something anathema to the current occupant of the White House. It's through his t-mails that he comes to deeply know and understand their many limitations....and through those same t-mails that he learns the type of men required to win the Civil War. Lincoln then acts decisively in removing the incompetents.....and then, and only then, finally gets the generals he deserves in Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. His latter t-mails demonstrate his great respect, gratitude, and relief as he allows these generals a wider birth to act. It's a fine book....to the point, insightful, and leading to a conclusion. Lincoln simply camped out every day at the telegraph office, and Tom Wheeler takes us into his mind....through his communications. T-mail was the e-mail of the Civil War.

A new means of communication

This is an easy to read, informative book. Lincoln was the first president to use telegraphy duing wartime to confer with and/or direct his armies. In this age of modern communication we tend to forget how difficult it use to be. The telegraph was invented at the right time and Lincoln was in the right place and of the right frame of mind, to take a giant step forward. This is an interesting history of how Lincoln learned to communicate during a war and how he inserted himself into the conflict.

Lincoln uses telegraph to micro-manage the Civil War

As a commander of a Army Signal Company in Vietnam in the 1960's, I found this book to be a "must read" for me. After I read the first chapter "on-line" I immediately purchased it. Lincoln's use of the "new" telegraph to communicate in "real" time with his generals is fascinating. To view his handwritten messages that were telegraphed brings this book to life. The "bite" to many of his messages must have been painful to the generals who received them. My favorite was the telegram to a field commander in which Lincoln asked what had happened in the last 25 minutes to an action in which the field commander was engaged miles away! The messages bring to life the urgency of Civil War engagements and of Lincoln's active, on-going involvement. His frequent visits to the close-by telegraph office to read, personally, the latest telegrams from the field is inspiring. Great leaders understand unique opportunities and take advantage of them. The inability of Army headquarters' staff to grasp the opportunity to communicate was unbelievable. The parallels of Lincoln's t-mail with today's e-mail provides us with a small insight of just how important Lincoln's use of this means of communucation truly was in managing the War.

Lightning-fast leadership

A truly exciting book. It shows President Lincoln stretching his communication powers to the utmost, to prod timid generals and to support energetic commanders like Grant. Lincoln refused to accept defeat. He was confident in the justice of the union cause, and confident that right would prevail ... if only they did not lose heart. He used the new technology of the telegraph to put iron in the backs of his commanders. Some presidents (Carter and Johnson, in particular) have used modern communications to micromanage and undermine their subordinates. Lincoln, with his excellent judgment, somehow avoided this trap, using the telegraph to both guide and empower his generals. Wheeler shows how Lincoln's use of the telegraph trickled down to his subordinates. General Grant used the telegraph to operate as General-In-Chief while traveling with the armies, rather than managing at a distance from Washington D.C. There is no doubt that this dramaticallly improved Grant's ability to quicky improvise, based upon changing battlefield conditions. And, in Wheeler's vivid language: "His decision to operate from the field would not have been possible but for the army's central nervous system running over telegraph wires." Tom Wheeler is the perfect author for this trailblazing study of Lincoln's instant communications. He combines first-hand knowledge of modern communications and leadership with a contagious enthusiasm for President Lincoln and the Civil War.

Really interesting view

In this quite oriignal study the book examines the use of the telegraph by Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln has long been seen as a pivotal figure in the presidency. Never before was so much power put into the hands of an American President and such power wouldnt be again until world war two. Lincoln not only was able to suspect Habeas Corpus but he truly was deeply involved in military affairs. Essential to this was his use of the telegraph which he used to badger and cajole his generals into action, action that was so important to press every victory home and grind the South down using attrition. It was these tactics that eventually played out by Grant, led to victory in the war through the blowprint of the Anaconda Plan drafted by Winfield Scot. Lincoln's use of the telegraph has never before been seriously and extensively examined and the contention is here that it was a major component leading to victory in the war. Surely after 1962 and after Gettysburg this was the case and the author makes a very good point here, other books on the Civil War will need to be updated and take this unque view into persepective. Seth J. Frantzman