George A. Ellsworth (1843–1899), commonly known as "Lightning" Ellsworth, was a Canadian

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

er who served in the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

forces of Brig. Gen.

John Hunt Morgan John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825 – September 4, 1864) was an American soldier who served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War of 1861–1865. In April 1862, Morgan raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment (CSA) and fought in ...

in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the American Civil War. His use of the telegraph to spread

disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...

to the Union forces was declared by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

'' as the greatest innovation to come out of the war.

Biography

Born in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

, Ellsworth was fascinated by the telegraph as soon as it was invented. As a teenager, he travelled to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, to study in

Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...

's telegraphy school. He then began working in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, where he became friends with

. In 1860, Ellsworth moved to

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Civil War

When the Civil War began in the following year, Morgan conceived the idea of using the telegraph to send disinformation to the enemy. Realizing that Ellsworth was perfect for the job, he asked him to join him. Ellsworth accepted and enlisted in Morgan's 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment at

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

. Ellsworth excelled as a telegrapher. Not only could he read extremely fast code messages, but he also could imitate the sending style of other telegraphers (each of whom was slightly different), and he quickly mastered the "fist" of the Union Army's telegraphers in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to t ...

. He gained his nickname "Lightning" during Morgan's first Kentucky Raid, when he sat on a railroad cross tie in knee deep water near

Horse Cave, Kentucky Horse Cave is a home rule-class city in Hart County, Kentucky, United States. Randall Curry currently serves as mayor of the city and is assisted by a city council that is composed of six members. As of the 2010 census, the population of Hors ...

, calmly tapping away at his telegraph key during a thunderstorm. Ellsworth accompanied Morgan on his unauthorized great raid into Indiana and Ohio in 1863, but he escaped capture by swimming across the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illi ...

with his portable telegraph, hanging on to a

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two po ...

, at the

Battle of Buffington Island The Battle of Buffington Island, also known as the St. Georges Creek Skirmish, was an American Civil War engagement in Meigs County, Ohio, and Jackson County, West Virginia, on July 19, 1863, during Morgan's Raid. The largest battle in Ohio d ...

. After Morgan made his escape from a Yankee prison, Ellsworth accompanied him on his last Kentucky Raid in 1864. Morgan was killed, and Ellsworth himself was captured at

Cynthiana, Kentucky Cynthiana is a home rule-class city in Harrison County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 6,402 at the 2010 census. It is the seat of its county. History The settlement developed on both sides of the South Fork of the Lickin ...

, but he soon managed to escape and made his way to Canada. Confederate secret agent Thomas Hines met him there, and he enlisted Ellsworth's help in an unsuccessful attempt to free Confederate

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

in the North.

Post-war

After the war, Ellsworth is said to have worked for

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invent ...

in Cincinnati, Ohio, but his last years are unknown. Edison claimed that Ellsworth found an ordinary telegraph office lacked any adventure and resigned. According to Edison, ''Lightning'' Ellsworth died in the

Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...

, after he had become a "bad gun man". However, George A. Ellsworth appears in the 1880 U.S. Census as a telegrapher living in Kirkwood, St. Louis Co., Missouri. He was unmarried and told the census taker that his father had been born in New York and his mother in Connecticut.U.S. Census, 15 June 1880, Kirkwood, St. Louis Co., Missouri, page 30, Supervisor's District No. 1, Enumerator's District 182. This census record makes Edison's Texas gunman story seem most unlikely.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellsworth, George American Civil War spies Canadian expatriates in the United States People of Kentucky in the American Civil War 1843 births 1899 deaths