Albert J. Myer
Encyclopedia
Albert James Myer was a surgeon and United States Army
officer. He is known as the father of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, as its first chief signal officer just prior to the American Civil War
, the inventor of wig-wag signaling (or aerial telegraphy), and also as the father of the U.S. Weather Bureau
.
. He worked as a telegrapher before entering Geneva College (now Hobart College
) in Geneva, New York
, in 1842, at age 13, and from where he was graduated in 1847 as a member of The Kappa Alpha Society
. He received his M.D. degree from Buffalo Medical College in 1851, while working part time for the New York State Telegraph Company. His doctoral thesis, A New Sign Language for Deaf Mutes, showed concepts that he later used for his invention of aerial telegraphy. Although he inherited a large fortune from his family, he was ambitious and intellectually curious. It was said "that he was specially noted for the manner in which he would take hold of an idea or principle, and, following it to its length and breadth, develop all there was in it or of it."
He engaged in private medical practice in Florida
and then sought a commission as a U.S. Army assistant surgeon (lieutenant), entering service September 18, 1854, posted at Fort Duncan
, Texas
, and Fort Davis
, Jeff Davis County, Texas
. His major interest of the time, besides medicine, was to devise a system of signaling across long distances, using simple codes and lightweight materials. This system of codes using a single signal flag (or a lantern or kerosene torch at night), known as wig-wag signaling or aerial telegraphy, would be adopted and used by both sides in the Civil War and afterward.
(Note: Myer's signaling system should not be confused with semaphore signaling
. The wig-wag system used a single flag, waved back and forth in a quasi-binary code conceptually similar to Morse code
; semaphores used two flags and each character to be transmitted had a unique pattern for holding the flags.)
In 1858, the Army expressed interest in Myer's invention and appointed a board to examine "the principles and plans of the signalling, mode of use in the field, and course to be pursued in introducing to the army." Myer appeared before the board, chaired by Lt. Col.
Robert E. Lee
, in 1859 and convinced them to authorize field testing of his invention. He conducted field tests starting in April of that year around New York Harbor
. The tests were successful and Secretary of War
John B. Floyd
recommended to Congress
that the Army adopt Myer's system and that Myer be appointed as chief signal officer. Congress approved Myer's appointment as major and chief signal officer and the Signal Corps was formed, despite opposition in the Senate
by Jefferson Davis
from Mississippi
. Myer was sent to the Department of New Mexico
for further field trials of his system in a campaign against the Navajos
.
On August 24, 1857, he married Catherine Walden, daughter of a prominent Buffalo attorney, with whom he would have six children.
that ordered Myer to organize and command the new U.S. Army Signal Corps provided little of substance. It authorized $2000 for equipment and a promotion for Myer to major
, effective June 27. Myer was faced with the responsibility of recruiting subordinates who could be detailed from elsewhere in the Army. The Signal Corps would not commence as an official Army organization until March 3, 1863, at which time Myer was promoted to colonel
. Between these two dates, Myer served first under Maj. Gen.
Benjamin Butler
at Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he established a camp of instruction, and then as the chief signal officer for Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan
's Army of the Potomac
in its campaigns from the Peninsula Campaign
to the Battle of Antietam
. During this period Myer was awarded a brevet
promotion to lieutenant colonel in the regular army
for his actions at Hanover Court House, and to brevet colonel for Malvern Hill
.
Ironically, the first use in combat of Myer's signaling system was by Confederate
Captain Edward Porter Alexander
at the First Battle of Bull Run
. Alexander had been a subordinate of Myer's and assisted in the New York field trials.
In addition to his aerial signaling, Myer recognized the need for electrical telegraphy in field communications. He introduced a field telegraph train of wagons to support a device called the Beardslee telegraph
, which used a dial instead of a key tapping Morse code, developed to require less training for its operators.
Myer's Signal Corps was actually a separate entity from the Military Telegraph Service, a War Department bureau staffed primarily by civilian telegraph operators. He had numerous organizational disputes with the assistant secretary of war for this function, attempting on several occasions to take control of all telegraphic operations. When he proposed to remove the less than dependable Beardslee device and recruit training telegraphers into the Signal Corps, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
removed him from his post as chief signal officer on November 15, 1863, and reassigned him out of Washington, D.C.
, effectively exiling him.
While conducting routine reconnaissance of the Mississippi River
from Cairo, Illinois
, to Memphis, Tennessee
, Myer wrote the Manual of Signals for the United States Army and Navy. In June 1864, he was appointed by Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby
to be the signal officer of the Military Division of West Mississippi. Under Canby, Myer added a new duty to the tasks of the Signal Corps by working out a system for interrogating deserters and refugees who came into the Union lines. He also developed a coding system for transmitting routine messages between land and sea forces. He organized communications plans for the operations in the Mobile
area and participated, with U.S. Navy officers, in the surrender of Fort Gaines
. He served as signal officer for the Department of the Gulf from August 1864 to 1865.
While he was preparing for the Mobile campaign, Myer received the disturbing news that his appointment as colonel and chief signal officer, which had been made before his dismissal in 1863, had not been confirmed by the Senate and was revoked, thus returning him to his permanent rank of major. Through early 1865, Myer employed lawyers and political connections to attempt to correct what he perceived as an injustice. On July 28, 1866, reacting to the influence of Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant
and President
Andrew Johnson
, Congress reorganized the Signal Corps and, with the permanent rank of colonel, Myer again became chief signal officer. He was particularly gratified when word of this victory came on October 30, 1866, as his old nemesis, Edwin Stanton, had to inform him of his reinstatement. He was not confirmed in the position until February 1867 and was not ordered to active duty until August 1867. His new duties included control of the telegraph service, resolving the dispute that had removed him from his position.
Myer received the brevet rank of brigadier general
in honor of his formation of the Signal Corps, effective March 13, 1865. His commission as brigadier general in the regular Army came on June 16, 1880, two months before his death. As an Army officer, Myer was nicknamed "Old Probabilities" by his subordinates.
, was assigned to General Myer's Signal Corps, due in part to his previous interests in storm telegraphy. It was the birth of the U.S. Weather Bureau, now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
. In 1873 at the International Meteorological Congress of Vienna, he proposed a resolution for the establishment throughout the world of weather stations and daily exchange of simultaneous weather observations, the effective beginning of the World Meteorological Organization.
Myer was instrumental in the development of heliograph
y in the U.S. Army. In 1877, he acquired heliograph instruments from the British Army
for experimental purposes and sent them on to General Nelson A. Miles
, at the Yellowstone Department in Montana
. Miles developed expertise with the heliograph, which he used to great purpose in the Arizona Apache
campaigns.
Myer headed the Signal Corps from August 21, 1867, until his death of nephritis
at Buffalo, New York
, in 1880. He is interred in the Walden-Myer Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.
in 1881; U.S. Navy ship (formerly U.S. Army Ship) , an undersea cable-laying vessel built in the 1950s; the Albert J. Myer Center, the Signal Headquarters building of the U.S. Army Communication Electronics Command (CECOM) at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey; and the General Albert J. Myer Forecast Facility at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport
.
Hobart College
awarded Myer an honorary LL.D. degree in 1872 and Union College
conferred an honorary Ph.D. on him in 1875.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
officer. He is known as the father of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, as its first chief signal officer just prior to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the inventor of wig-wag signaling (or aerial telegraphy), and also as the father of the U.S. Weather Bureau
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
.
Early life
Myer was born in Newburgh, New York, son of Henry Beekman Myer and Eleanor McClanahan Myer. The family moved to Western New York and after the death of his mother in 1834, he was raised primarily by his aunt in BuffaloBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. He worked as a telegrapher before entering Geneva College (now Hobart College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in Geneva, New York, are together a liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. In athletics, however, the two schools compete with separate teams, known as the Hobart Statesmen and the...
) in Geneva, New York
Geneva, New York
Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. Some claim it is named after the city and canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Others believe the name came from confusion over the letters in the word "Seneca" written in cursive...
, in 1842, at age 13, and from where he was graduated in 1847 as a member of The Kappa Alpha Society
Kappa Alpha Society
The Kappa Alpha Society , founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It was the first of the fraternities which would eventually become known as the Union Triad...
. He received his M.D. degree from Buffalo Medical College in 1851, while working part time for the New York State Telegraph Company. His doctoral thesis, A New Sign Language for Deaf Mutes, showed concepts that he later used for his invention of aerial telegraphy. Although he inherited a large fortune from his family, he was ambitious and intellectually curious. It was said "that he was specially noted for the manner in which he would take hold of an idea or principle, and, following it to its length and breadth, develop all there was in it or of it."
He engaged in private medical practice in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and then sought a commission as a U.S. Army assistant surgeon (lieutenant), entering service September 18, 1854, posted at Fort Duncan
Fort Duncan
Fort Duncan was a U.S. Army post, set up to protect the first U.S. settlement on the Rio Grande near the current town of Eagle Pass, Texas.Fort Duncan was established on March 27, 1849, when Captain Sidney Burbank occupied the site with companies A, B, and F of the First United States Infantry...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and Fort Davis
Fort Davis National Historic Site
Fort Davis National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in unincorporated Jeff Davis County, Texas. Located within the Davis Mountains of West Texas, the historic site was established in 1961 to protect one of the best remaining examples of a United States Army fort in...
, Jeff Davis County, Texas
Jeff Davis County, Texas
Jeff Davis County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is named for Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. In 2000, its population was 2,207, and 2,258 by 2009...
. His major interest of the time, besides medicine, was to devise a system of signaling across long distances, using simple codes and lightweight materials. This system of codes using a single signal flag (or a lantern or kerosene torch at night), known as wig-wag signaling or aerial telegraphy, would be adopted and used by both sides in the Civil War and afterward.
(Note: Myer's signaling system should not be confused with semaphore signaling
Flag semaphore
Semaphore Flags is the system for conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held flags, rods, disks, paddles, or occasionally bare or gloved hands. Information is encoded by the position of the flags; it is read when the flag is in a fixed position...
. The wig-wag system used a single flag, waved back and forth in a quasi-binary code conceptually similar to Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
; semaphores used two flags and each character to be transmitted had a unique pattern for holding the flags.)
In 1858, the Army expressed interest in Myer's invention and appointed a board to examine "the principles and plans of the signalling, mode of use in the field, and course to be pursued in introducing to the army." Myer appeared before the board, chaired by Lt. Col.
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
, in 1859 and convinced them to authorize field testing of his invention. He conducted field tests starting in April of that year around New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
. The tests were successful and Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
John B. Floyd
John B. Floyd
John Buchanan Floyd was the 31st Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and the Confederate general in the American Civil War who lost the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson.-Early life:...
recommended to Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
that the Army adopt Myer's system and that Myer be appointed as chief signal officer. Congress approved Myer's appointment as major and chief signal officer and the Signal Corps was formed, despite opposition in the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
by Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
from Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. Myer was sent to the Department of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
for further field trials of his system in a campaign against the Navajos
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
.
On August 24, 1857, he married Catherine Walden, daughter of a prominent Buffalo attorney, with whom he would have six children.
Signal Corps and the Civil War
The June 21, 1860, letter from the War DepartmentUnited States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
that ordered Myer to organize and command the new U.S. Army Signal Corps provided little of substance. It authorized $2000 for equipment and a promotion for Myer to major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
, effective June 27. Myer was faced with the responsibility of recruiting subordinates who could be detailed from elsewhere in the Army. The Signal Corps would not commence as an official Army organization until March 3, 1863, at which time Myer was promoted to colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
. Between these two dates, Myer served first under Maj. Gen.
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Benjamin Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)
Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....
at Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he established a camp of instruction, and then as the chief signal officer for Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
's Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
in its campaigns from the Peninsula Campaign
Peninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...
to the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
. During this period Myer was awarded a brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
promotion to lieutenant colonel in the regular army
Regular army
A regular army consists of the permanent force of a country's army that is maintained under arms during peacetime.Countries that use the term include:*Australian Army*British Army*Canadian Forces, specifically "Regular Force"*Egyptian army*Indian Army...
for his actions at Hanover Court House, and to brevet colonel for Malvern Hill
Battle of Malvern Hill
The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, took place on July 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, on the seventh and last day of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee launched a series of disjointed assaults on the nearly impregnable...
.
Ironically, the first use in combat of Myer's signaling system was by Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
Captain Edward Porter Alexander
Edward Porter Alexander
Edward Porter Alexander was an engineer, an officer in the U.S. Army, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, and later a railroad executive, planter, and author....
at the First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...
. Alexander had been a subordinate of Myer's and assisted in the New York field trials.
In addition to his aerial signaling, Myer recognized the need for electrical telegraphy in field communications. He introduced a field telegraph train of wagons to support a device called the Beardslee telegraph
Beardslee Telegraph
The Beardslee Telegraph was a portable military telegraph developed by George Beardslee and adopted by Albert Myer to provide a mobile field telegraph system. The instrument was operated by hand-turned magnetos and did not require the heavy batteries needed in the civilian telegraphs...
, which used a dial instead of a key tapping Morse code, developed to require less training for its operators.
Myer's Signal Corps was actually a separate entity from the Military Telegraph Service, a War Department bureau staffed primarily by civilian telegraph operators. He had numerous organizational disputes with the assistant secretary of war for this function, attempting on several occasions to take control of all telegraphic operations. When he proposed to remove the less than dependable Beardslee device and recruit training telegraphers into the Signal Corps, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...
removed him from his post as chief signal officer on November 15, 1863, and reassigned him out of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, effectively exiling him.
While conducting routine reconnaissance of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
from Cairo, Illinois
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
, to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Myer wrote the Manual of Signals for the United States Army and Navy. In June 1864, he was appointed by Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby
Edward Canby
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War, Reconstruction era, and the Indian Wars...
to be the signal officer of the Military Division of West Mississippi. Under Canby, Myer added a new duty to the tasks of the Signal Corps by working out a system for interrogating deserters and refugees who came into the Union lines. He also developed a coding system for transmitting routine messages between land and sea forces. He organized communications plans for the operations in the Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
area and participated, with U.S. Navy officers, in the surrender of Fort Gaines
Fort Gaines, Alabama
Fort Gaines is a historic fort on Dauphin Island, Alabama, United States. It was named for Edmund Pendleton Gaines. Established in 1821, it is best known for its role in the Battle of Mobile Bay during the American Civil War....
. He served as signal officer for the Department of the Gulf from August 1864 to 1865.
While he was preparing for the Mobile campaign, Myer received the disturbing news that his appointment as colonel and chief signal officer, which had been made before his dismissal in 1863, had not been confirmed by the Senate and was revoked, thus returning him to his permanent rank of major. Through early 1865, Myer employed lawyers and political connections to attempt to correct what he perceived as an injustice. On July 28, 1866, reacting to the influence of Lt. Gen.
Lieutenant General (United States)
In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
and President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
, Congress reorganized the Signal Corps and, with the permanent rank of colonel, Myer again became chief signal officer. He was particularly gratified when word of this victory came on October 30, 1866, as his old nemesis, Edwin Stanton, had to inform him of his reinstatement. He was not confirmed in the position until February 1867 and was not ordered to active duty until August 1867. His new duties included control of the telegraph service, resolving the dispute that had removed him from his position.
Myer received the brevet rank of brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
in honor of his formation of the Signal Corps, effective March 13, 1865. His commission as brigadier general in the regular Army came on June 16, 1880, two months before his death. As an Army officer, Myer was nicknamed "Old Probabilities" by his subordinates.
Postbellum career
The U.S. Congress, on February 9, 1870, authorized "... meteorological observations at the military stations in the interior of the continent and at other points in the states and territories of the United States, and for giving notice on the northern lakes and seaboard by telegraph and signals of the approach and force of storms". This duty, previously conducted by the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, was assigned to General Myer's Signal Corps, due in part to his previous interests in storm telegraphy. It was the birth of the U.S. Weather Bureau, now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
. In 1873 at the International Meteorological Congress of Vienna, he proposed a resolution for the establishment throughout the world of weather stations and daily exchange of simultaneous weather observations, the effective beginning of the World Meteorological Organization.
Myer was instrumental in the development of heliograph
Heliograph
A heliograph is a wireless solar telegraph that signals by flashes of sunlight reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter...
y in the U.S. Army. In 1877, he acquired heliograph instruments from the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
for experimental purposes and sent them on to General Nelson A. Miles
Nelson A. Miles
Nelson Appleton Miles was a United States soldier who served in the American Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War.-Early life:Miles was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, on his family's farm...
, at the Yellowstone Department in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. Miles developed expertise with the heliograph, which he used to great purpose in the Arizona Apache
Chiricahua
Chiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...
campaigns.
Myer headed the Signal Corps from August 21, 1867, until his death of nephritis
Nephritis
Nephritis is inflammation of the nephrons in the kidneys. The word "nephritis" was imported from Latin, which took it from Greek: νεφρίτιδα. The word comes from the Greek νεφρός - nephro- meaning "of the kidney" and -itis meaning "inflammation"....
at Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, in 1880. He is interred in the Walden-Myer Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.
Legacy
Myer is honored by several entities: Fort Whipple, Virginia, was renamed Fort MyerFort Myer
Fort Myer is a U.S. Army post adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is a small post by U.S...
in 1881; U.S. Navy ship (formerly U.S. Army Ship) , an undersea cable-laying vessel built in the 1950s; the Albert J. Myer Center, the Signal Headquarters building of the U.S. Army Communication Electronics Command (CECOM) at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey; and the General Albert J. Myer Forecast Facility at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport
Buffalo Niagara International Airport
Buffalo Niagara International Airport is an airport located in Cheektowaga CDP, Town of Cheektowaga, in Erie County, New York, USA. It is named after the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The airport serves Buffalo, New York as well as Southern Ontario, Canada...
.
Hobart College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in Geneva, New York, are together a liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. In athletics, however, the two schools compete with separate teams, known as the Hobart Statesmen and the...
awarded Myer an honorary LL.D. degree in 1872 and Union College
Union College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
conferred an honorary Ph.D. on him in 1875.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals
- Signal Corps in the American Civil WarSignal Corps in the American Civil WarThe Signal Corps in the American Civil War comprised two organizations: the U.S. Army Signal Corps, which began with the appointment of Major Albert J...
Further reading
- Raines, Rebecca Robbins. Getting the Message Through: A Branch History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Army Historical Series. Washington, DC: United States Army Center of Military History, 1996. ISBN 0-16-045351-8.