Telegraph Alley

Details: Single location feature film. Synopsis: Thayer M. Morrison is one of the oldest (mid-twenties), and most skilled operator in the Confederate Signaling Corps.  He is given a dangerous post.  Station 17 has seen the last five operators killed from Union fire from the other side of Mather Gorge.  Still, Thayer volunteered for the job.  He is a meticulous engineer, who takes his job and the records of his job very seriously. His life is thrown into chaos with the arrival of Wyatt Bush (17), an injured Confederate Soldier who Thayer suspects of being a deserter.  The job becomes much more complicated with him around, but he agrees to train Wyatt and get him a position at one of the signaling shacks that are being built up and down the Potomac. Thayer repairs a junked transmitter so that Wyatt can practice.  He has him tap out "tidio" a hundred times.  Wyatt finally figures out that he's really making him tap out "idiot."  That was the first test.  A signaler needs to be able to recognize codes. Thayer is an avid stargazer with his field glasses.  He also likes practicing his guitar, but he doesn't play songs often.  He loves the aspect of practice and harmony much more than he does the fixed order of a song. Wyatt notices that the Union Corporal on the other side of the gorge has built a target, and they engage in sharp shooting contests with him.  Thayer usually ends it by shooting down the insulators on top of the union building and cutting their lines for an hour or two. The Union Corporal has his own pranks, and they are deeply insulting to the Confederate crew on the southern side of the Potomac.  He takes the confederate grey of a uniform and covers the bullseye.  Thayer arranges a trade of contraband with a local tribe and Wyatt bursts in and accuses him of being a traitor.  Thayer shows him what he was trading for.  He is buying voltaic batteries that are not made in the South.  These are the batteries that keep the lines of communication open.  On top of that, he's trading stolen Union supplies for them. Wyatt promises to always trust him going forward.  That turns out to be a deadly mistake.