Signaling from the Cobb's Hill tower by the Appomatox.
In this second view of the
Cobb's Hill signal tower, appearing in full length on the opposite page, the signalman has dipped his flag forward in front of him—signifying ‘Three.’
Signal messages were sent by means of flags, torches, or lights, by combinations of three separate motions.
With the flag or torch initially held upright, ‘one’ was indicated by waving the flag to the left and returning it to an upright position; ‘two’ by a similar motion to the right; and ‘three’ by a wave or dip to the front.
One or more figures constituted a letter of the alphabet, and a few combinations were used for phrases.
Thus 11 indicated ‘A,’ 1221 ‘B,’ 212 ‘C,’ and so on. 12221 meant ‘Wait a moment’; 21112 ‘Are you ready?’
And 3 meant the end of a word, 33 the end of a sentence, and 333 the end of a message.
Where a letter was composed of several figures, the motions were made in rapid succession without any pause.
Letters were separated by a very brief pause, and words or sentences were distinguished by one or more dip motions to the front; one, signifying the end of a word; two, the end of a sentence; and three, the end of a message.
The tower shown in this photograph, 125 feet high, was first occupied June 14, 1864.
It commanded a view of
Petersburg, sections of the Petersburg and Richmond Railway, and extended reaches of the
James and
Appomattox Rivers.
Its importance was such that the
Confederates constructed a two-gun battery within a mile of it for its destruction, but it remained in use until the fall of
Petersburg.
 | |
‘Three’—signaling from the Cobb's hill tower by the Appomattox—1864 |
|
