From: Jim Choate <ravage@ssz.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 00:40:42 +0800
To: cypherpunks@ssz.com (Cypherpunks Distributed Remailer)
Subject: Re: Civil War Crypto Question... (fwd)
Message-ID: <199712221658.KAA18167@einstein.ssz.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text



Forwarded message:

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 97 08:10:02 PST
From: jim@mentat.com (Jim Gillogly)
Subject: Re: Civil War Crypto Question... (fwd)
 
> > used for flag codes but not telegraphy.  For telegraphy the Union apparently
> > used a word-based route transposition that Friedman found unimpressive.
> >
> > Friedman? Who the hell is Friedman? None of my references has anyone by that
> > named listed, let alone involved.
 
> In case you weren't being ironic or something, Weber was referring to William
> F. Friedman, the star of the US cryptologic effort during WW2, who was
> commenting on the strength of the Union cryptosystems long after it was too
> late to do anything about them.  I gather the word-based route transposition
> was quite good enough to conceal the meaning from the Confederates, so I
> suppose one shouldn't be censorious.
 
Actualy that was so far out in left field that I didn't make the connection.

Really couldn't care less about Friedman and his WWII views of the Civil
War, not relevant to what I am doing. And further, if Friedman is claiming
that this code wheel wasn't invented by the telegraphers, for the
telegraphers then perhaps he isn't as historicaly accurate as some claim of
him. It is clear that Myer invented the code wheel, per his and McClellans
own documents, expressely for telegraphy as a direct results of the success
of Myers new flag signaling system previous to the Peninsula campaign.

Perhaps there is some confusion over exactly *which part* of the Union Army
was using what. McClellan was using Myer and his techno-marvels at the
tactical level and this had no relation to the strategic communications -
the big boys might very well have been using some fancy transposition
cipher.

After Antietam McClellan told Myer:

"When I start from this camp, I want to break loose from the regular
telegraph lines and depend upon those under my command."

The 'regular telegraph' was Military Telegraph which was the strategic
minded folks. That McClellan had no stomach for them is clear.


    ____________________________________________________________________
   |                                                                    |
   |      Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make       |
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   |                                          John F. Kennedy           |
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   |            _____                             The Armadillo Group   |
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    ____________________________________________________________________
   |                                                                    |
   |      Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make       |
   |      violent revolution inevitable.                                |
   |                                                                    |
   |                                          John F. Kennedy           |
   |                                                                    |
   |                                                                    | 
   |            _____                             The Armadillo Group   |
   |         ,::////;::-.                           Austin, Tx. USA     |
   |        /:'///// ``::>/|/                     http://www.ssz.com/   |
   |      .',  ||||    `/( e\                                           |
   |  -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'-                         Jim Choate       |
   |                                                 ravage@ssz.com     |
   |                                                  512-451-7087      |
   |____________________________________________________________________|