It will transform the nature of this war,as information and decisions can flow backwards and forwards, at lightning speed.
这改变了这场战争的本质因为信息和决策如今能够以光速在各地来回传送
It became kind of the early version of e-mail.
这算得上是电子邮件的早期形式
Suddenly it was possible to get a message to somebody from St. Louis
突然之间身处圣路易斯的某人可以把消息传给
you know, to get a message to New York
比如说传给纽约的某个人
in a shockingly short amount of time.
而这些都只需要很短的时间
Lincoln immediately realizes the telegraph's potential as a weapon of war.
林肯马上意识到了电报作为一个战争武器的潜力
He insists on the installation of telegraph lines directly into the War Department.
他坚决要求安装直通陆军部的电报线路
And he quickly acts to place all telegraph facilities in the Union under military control.
并迅速采取行动将联邦内的所有电报传输设施都划归军方控制
The Telegraph Office becomes the central hub of Lincoln's war operation. His command and control center.
这个电报办公室成为一个中央枢纽，林肯在这里组织、指挥、控制战事
He even takes to sleeping here at busy times.
他忙的时候甚至会睡在这里
The Telegraph Office manager, David Homer Bates,describes how Lincoln obsesses over every scrap of news from the front:
电报办公室的经理大卫·荷马·贝茨描述了林肯有多专注于战争前线传来的任何一条消息
sometimes reading dispatches word by word as they are deciphered.
他常常逐字逐句读这些急件就像是在破译密码一般
Lincoln's habit was to go immediately to the drawer each time he came into our room,and read over the telegraphs beginning at the top until he came to the one he had seen on his previous visit.
每次林肯走进房间就会习惯性地直接去查看抽屉从最上面的电报开始仔细阅读 一直读到他上次已经看过的为止
The North's telegraph network spreads its tentacles far and wide,sucking information back to Lincoln and his commanders in Washington.
北方的电报网延伸发展到四面八方从各处采集的信息反馈到了林肯和他在华盛顿的指挥官们手中
It gives him a vast strategic overview,providing him an unrivaled insight into his commanders' tactical thinking.
这将全局性的战略视野和无可匹敌的前瞻思维融入了他的指挥战术
Lincoln himself was able to stay on top of, literally, hour-by-hour developments in the course of individual battles.
林肯得以随时跟踪着，可以说是每小时都在更新专注着每场战斗的即时战况
That had never happened before.
以前从没有指挥官能做到这一点
To the irritation of his generals,it even allows him to issue his own direct orders,telling them how to fight.
让他的将军们有些恼火的是这甚至让他得以直接发布自己的命令，告诉他们该如何作战