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Maryland in the Civil War: Signaling an Invasion
Teacher's Guide
Written by John L. Day
Edited by Lisa Kissinger
Objectives:
In this lesson, students will:
- identify the methods of communication available during the 1860s
- analyze the advantages and disadvantages of various communications
methods during war time
- investigate the causes and effects of the invasion of Maryland by
Confederate troops in 1862.
Maryland Learning Outcomes:
Social Studies Skills
Students will demonstrate an understanding of historical and current events using chronological and spatial thinking, develop historical interpretations, and frame questions that include collecting and evaluating information from primary and secondary sources.
- Find, interpret, and organize primary and secondary sources of information including pictures, graphics, maps, atlases, artifacts, timelines, political cartoons, videotapes, journals, and government documents.
- Apply the concept of change over time by organizing turning point events in chronological order and applying chronological terms correctly, including decade, century, and generation.
Geography
Students will use geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities and spatial connections throughout time.
- Construct and interpret maps using map elements including a title, cardinal and intermediate directions, compass rose, border, longitude and latitude, legend/key, author, date, and scale.
- Explain how people in Maryland and the United States are linked by transportation and communication.
Student Worksheets:
Other Materials Needed:
- ruler or stick (to make a flag)
Key web sites used in this lesson:
Teacher Background Information:
This lesson's primary purpose is to investigate the methods of
communication used during the first war fought after the Industrial
Revolution--the American Civil War. While the telegraph had
revolutionized communication, with trans-Atlantic telegraph cables
carrying messages from Europe to America and telegraph links between
every city, the use of flags was actually much more important during the
Civil War than the telegraph.
Major Albert Myer, an Army surgeon, invented the flag signal system, a
uniquely American device, in the late 1850s. Both Confederate and Union
troops used flags for communication, but a Union "Signal Corps" was not
recognized as a separate division of the army until 1863. The military
telegraph was never recognized in the same manner. Many of the
telegraph operators were civilians and their independence was criticized
by many in the U.S. Army.
Introduction/Motivation:
Introduce the lesson by asking students how they would send a message
from their school to Washington, D.C. After writing the various methods
on the board, ask students which of these methods would have existed 140
years ago? Tell students that they will be investigating an invasion of
Maryland that took place during the Civil War and the methods used by
soldiers at that time to communicate messages about the invasion to
headquarters in Washington.
Note: some of the reading in the lesson may use vocabulary that is
unfamiliar to the students. Look over the lesson and prepare students
for any words with which they may be unfamiliar.
Lesson Development:
The first part of the lesson asks students to find Sugar Loaf Mountain,
a hill where the invasion of Maryland in 1862 was first spotted. The
lesson uses an 1861 map of the middle Atlantic states from the American
Memory collection at the Library of Congress. The map is shown at
various levels of magnification, so if students do not know where Sugar
Loaf is at the beginning, tell them to keep working - it will become
clear.
If you or your students have an fast Internet connection and wish to
view the actual map, and want to control navigation around the map, the
following link will go directly to the biographical information page.
Click on the small map to go to a page where a map view allows various
degrees of magnification and navigation. Have students view the part of
Maryland where the school is located to see what landmarks were on the
1861 map.
After students have discovered where Sugar Loaf Mountain is located, a
short discussion of the Civil War is included for students whose
curriculum does not cover the causes of the war. This could be
supplemented by other sources if the teacher wishes.
Students will then investigate several methods of communication: they
may have mentioned some during the introduction, while others may be new
to them. Several web sites are used in this portion of the activity
where students are asked to find out when the method of communication
was first used. This will allow them to answer the question of which
communication method could have been used in 1862.
Students are then asked to complete a simple chart to list advantages
and disadvantages of the various methods of communication (carrier
pigeon, flags, postal mail, and the telegraph) that were in use in 1862.
To see how people of the 1860s were fascinated by the U.S. Army Signal
Corps, students are then asked to investigate a large illustration from
the June 28, 1862 issue of Harper's Weekly magazine. The instructions
ask them to write descriptions of the 9 smaller pictures, but teachers
may wish to have them write descriptions of only 3 or 4 scenes to save
time.
Students are then shown the method by which the signal corps sent
messages. It was called the "wig-wag" flag system - a simple method to
communicate with one flag. Although it is no longer used, it was a
communications breakthrough at the time. Students should be encouraged
to try to use it to communicate simple messages and to compare it with
other flag systems, such as the semaphore flag signaling system.
The Battle of Antietam was the result of Lee's invasion of Maryland in
1862. While the image showing Confederate dead on the battlefield may
be unsettling for some students, Antietam was the single bloodiest day
of the war; where almost 5,000 Union and Confederates soldiers were
killed.
Thoughtful Activity:
The final activity involving decoding a message. This allows students
to try their hand at decoding an actual message sent during the Civil
War using the wig-wag flag system which they have studied. After
decoding this message, have them develop other codes to use with the
flag system. Have them send their messages to one other using a flag
and their own code as a key.
Scoring Tool:
| 3 Points |
The message is correctly interpreted. Students develop additional codes
and exchange a wig-wag message using this code. |
| 2 Points |
The message is correctly interpreted. |
| 1 Points |
The message is partially interpreted. |
| 0 Points |
The message is incorrectly interpreted. |
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