Charles Dana

[Jim in Wisconsin]

I just finished reading "Charles A. Dana - Lincoln's Informer" by Carl J. Guarneri. I learned a lot about Grant, Stanton, the politics and infighting going on etc.
Dana really was an influential person - a civilian giving military advice and even sometimes military orders on his own.
I knew next to nothing about him before I read this book.

 

[Rhea Cole]

You will find this interesting. This link is to the bespoke log where Dana's reports were recorded at the Washington Military Telegraph Staion.

Because Dana's reports are Lincoln's eyes only, he had his own cipher.

I encourage you to read entries out loud like Lincoln did. It is as close to living history as there is. The dispatches sent during the climatic Battle of Chickamauga are dramatic. The hand writing of the clerk reflects the excitement of the events. It reads like a football game radio play by play.

Read more here

Link:

CONTENTdm

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