Was the telegraphed used to great effect in the American Civil war?

by Crappy_Historian

I've heard people say it helped Lincoln win the war, how true is that? I was under the impression it had no military applications until much later.

lojafan

It's very true. Both sides used the telegraph lines extensively, and for the Union army specifically, the created a telegraph corps which installed, repaired and maintained over 15,000 miles of new telegraph line they installed during the war. This is in addition to what was already in place.