Milroy telegrams (1861–62) — Read with known key

At a glanceKnown key applied · complete

The telegrams: Cox to Milroy, 3 December 1862, and a telegram of Bascom, 4 December 1861, both among the papers of General Robert H. Milroy.
Where: The text used here is Milroy’s own copy of the Cox telegram, as transcribed in a Jasper County Library lesson plan. The transcription is unreliable in places.
The cipher: Stager Cipher No. 7: the words are entered into a grid of six fixed columns, up or down each column in a set sequence, and the plaintext is read along the rows. An indicator word gives the number of lines: “China” is 8, “Turkey” 12, “Austria” 9.
How it was read: Richard Bean, working with Claude Opus 5, published the solution in 2026 (listed as solved on Tomokiyo’s cryptiana). Here, one run and one reversed run of Milroy’s copy were found to fit Bean’s grid.
What it says: Cox asks Milroy, if his information about Imboden is confirmed, by what route he will try to reach him and how far forward on the Moorefield road. Bascom reports that General Kelley has been told by General Halleck to hold himself in readiness to move.
Still open: Our own route search did not converge, so no part of the decipherment is independent; the full Bascom text is on the cryptiana page only.
Credit: Richard Bean found the system and the plaintexts. This page records a check and adds nothing to them.

01 The telegrams

The Cox telegram, as Milroy’s copy gives it, is a run of ordinary English words in the wrong order, with an indicator word in front (“China”) and a few words that are nulls or code words:

China quest whether transportation in reach what is if bully imboden
by to forward Jrsisert also are Cumberland hole that the will the him
route confirmed your health information let you also morsefield supply
roads with stine at connection's for co your far try know w to fight
as me shall hour road your and Kelley x Guusmat road country you of
communications avoid you drink to your direction extest Mountain
Moonfield morning star answer from can - Winchester by being

02 The cipher

The words of the message are not changed; their order is. They are written into a grid of six columns, going up or down each column in a fixed sequence, and the message is read off the rows. “China” as the first word means eight lines. The result is a telegram that looks like a list of words but that a telegraph clerk could undo with the route.

03 The reading and our check

Bean’s decipherment of the Cox telegram begins “If your information as to Imboden is confirmed, let me know by what route you shall try to reach him, also how far forward in the Moorefield Road…” The Bascom telegram begins “General Kelley having received directions from General Halleck to hold himself in readiness to move under orders from army head quarters…”

The check here (route.py in the repository folder) used Milroy’s copy. The run “imboden by to forward” is column 6, rows 1 to 4, read downward, and the run “what is if” is column 1, rows 3 to 1, read upward. Both agree with Bean’s grid. A blind bigram search over all six-column routes did not converge, because the transcription is unreliable and the grid holds nulls and code words, so it was not pursued.

04 What remains uncertain

The transcription of Milroy’s copy has misread words (“Jrsisert”, “Guusmat”, “extest”), so the full decipherment cannot be reproduced from it unaided.
Only two routes were checked. The rest of the grid, and the Bascom telegram, rest on Bean’s published solution.

Full texts

The transcription and the decryption of every document on this page, so that the reading can be used and checked. Short files are shown here; all are in the repository.

Cox to Milroy, 3 Dec 1862 (Richard Bean's decipherment, 2026)

A Union telegram in Stager Cipher No. 7 (a word route transposition with indicator words) from Cox to General Milroy: 'If your information as to Imboden is confirmed, let me know by what route you shall try to reach him, also how far forward in the Moorefield Road'. Deciphered by Richard Bean with Claude Opus 5 in 2026; the full decipherment is on Tomokiyo's cryptiana page.

Transcription

cox1862_transcription.txt

Cox to Milroy, 3 Dec 1862: the telegram as in Milroy's copy, from the Jasper County Library lesson plan transcription (unreliable in places). Copied verbatim from the raw string in route.py, 22 Oct 2026.

China quest whether transportation in reach what is if bully imboden by to forward Jrsisert also are Cumberland
hole that the will the him route confirmed your health information let you also morsefield supply roads with stine
at connection's for co your far try know w to fight as me shall hour road your and Kelley x Guusmat road country you of
communications avoid you drink to your direction extest Mountain Moonfield morning star answer from can - Winchester by being

Decryption: civilwar1b_milroy.htm

05 Sources

Richard Bean with Claude Opus 5, solution of the Milroy telegrams, 2026, on S. Tomokiyo’s Cryptiana.
The Cox telegram as transcribed from Milroy’s own copy in a Jasper County Library lesson plan.

Notes, scripts and profile: targets/milroy/.

The Milroy telegrams, 1861–62