Man all Stations!
530 Nov 7
Cleveland Nov 7
Maj Eckert
Stevens will be on hand
and if feasible Ward via Parkersburg
If weather is fair shall do as
well or better tomorrow night
for you than at State Elections
Horner will furnish NY State
returns Brooks will give Penna
I will send all west of NY
& Penna
Anson Stager
The evening before the Election of 1864 Stager wires Eckert to let him know which telegraphers are in place to forward election results to him. This was all part of Eckert’s efforts to have all the results and news sent to him speedily and efficiently. As noted earlier, in the message between Sanford and Eckert, it was important to get these pieces in place. It is interesting that Stager appears to be hand picking certain operators for the task. Were these Lincoln men, or were they simply fast and competent? Those answers are for others to ferret out. However, it is clear that by dawn of November 8, 1864, Eckert, along with Stager and Sanford, had all hands on deck. The tension of that contentious election season was about to snap and all were at their stations ready to relay the news: Lincoln or McClellan.
Decoding the Civil War 
Thanks for your previous posting and now your timely USA 2016 election eve blog. We have certainly shared the contentiousness of the 1864 lead up to actual voting. Where we obviously differ dramatically is the suspense they had to live with on voting day+ (which Stager was attempting to deal with) – versus our second by second media coverage ad nauseam! Thankfully, we have “off” buttons.
Craig
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