Augur’s cipher telegrams, Texas 1874

At a glanceCiphertext-only break · partial (97% of the cipher)

The documents: Four telegrams from Brig. Gen. C. C. Augur, commanding the Department of Texas at San Antonio: two to Lt. Gen. Sheridan in Chicago (9 and 12 January 1874) and two to Major G. B. Russell in Austin (12 and 17 January).
Where: Newberry Library, Chicago, Ayer MS 3008 (C. C. Augur papers), box 02, letter-book pp. 84–85, digitised free in Newberry Digital Collections.
The cipher: Word transposition: the words of the message are written in rows and taken off down or up the columns in a set route; a city name in front (Baltic, Dresden) names the route; a few code words stand for names, and Texas place names fill the last column.
How it was read: A word-pair model of English scored every column order and direction; the four routes came out of the cipher words alone. An 1869 letter in the Grierson papers explains the method but not Augur’s tables.
What it says: Augur reports the Texas Supreme Court ruling and Governor Davis’s request for troops, and declines to act “without orders from the President”; he later tells Russell he need not recognize either governor.
Still open: Seven code words in the telegram of 12 January to Sheridan (nun, scatter, faint, table, novel, fussy, self).

01 The telegrams

Christopher Columbus Augur commanded the Department of Texas from San Antonio in 1872–75. His press letter-book for 1873–74 survives among his papers at the Newberry Library. Most entries are in clear. On pages 84 and 85 the clerk copied four telegrams of January 1874 as he received them from the cipher operator: rows of English words in no grammatical order, with no decipherment written anywhere near them.

No.	Date	To	Indicator	Words	Grid
22	9 Jan 1874	Sheridan, Chicago	Baltic	90	9 columns × 10 rows
29	12 Jan 1874	Sheridan, Chicago	Dresden	49	7 × 7
30	12 Jan 1874	Russell, Austin	none	35	7 × 5
45	17 Jan 1874	Russell, Austin	none	70	7 × 10

Letter-book page with a telegram to Major G. B. Russell, Austin, 17 January 1874, written as scrambled English words — Telegram 45, to Major Russell at Austin, 17 January 1874, as the clerk copied it: “It recognize in of interfere specially Expected seems Either any him…”. Image: Newberry Library, Ayer MS 3008 box 02, letter-book p. 85 (scan 00045-1), via Newberry Digital Collections.

The Newberry’s volunteer transcription (Newberry Transcribe) was checked against the scans and corrected in a few words (table, Nueces, I. Davis, to, late, and). Telegram 22 ends with a clear line, “Am I correct, please reply.” No other page of the Augur papers holds cipher: all 842 transcribed pages were scored for scrambled word order, and only these two pages stood out.

02 The cipher

The method is explained in a letter in Benjamin Grierson’s papers, also at the Newberry (Ayer MS 3039, box 3 f. 153). On 18 February 1869 Lieutenant L. V. Caziare, at the headquarters of the Fifth Military District in Austin, told the commander of Fort Concho that “your plan of setting up cypher is not correct” and worked an example through. The message is written in lines of four to nine words, code words (“arbitraries”) from the key replace names and phrases, an indicator word names one of the key’s route tables, and the columns are taken in the table’s order, some down and some up, with a check word after each. The letter gives only the example, not the tables.

Augur’s telegrams use the same family without the check words. Seen from the receiving end: write the cipher words in rows of seven (or nine), and the message runs down or up the columns.

Telegrams 30 and 45 (no indicator): seven columns, taken 1 down, 7 up, 4 down, 6 up, 2 down, 5 up, 3 down.
Telegram 22 (indicator Baltic): nine columns, all down, in the order 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1.
Telegram 29 (indicator Dresden): seven columns, 1 down, 7 up, 6 up, 2 down, 5 up, 4 down, 3 down.

The last column ends in place names that fill the grid: Waco, Denison, Houston; Brownsville; Houston, Nueces, Cheyenne.

03 The reading

Word order as the routes give it; punctuation and capitals added. Square brackets mark code words left as written, with a guess after “=?”.

22. To Sheridan, 9 January 1874 (Baltic)

Letter-book page with the telegram to Lieutenant General Sheridan of 9 January 1874, beginning Baltic — Telegram 22, with its indicator “Baltic” and the clear line “Am I correct, please reply.” Image: Newberry Library, Ayer MS 3008 box 02, letter-book p. 84 (scan 00045-0), via Newberry Digital Collections.

The Supreme Court of the State has decided the law under which the late election was held here unconstitutional. Governor Davis anticipates, however, that the legislature and governor then elected will meet in Austin on Tuesday next and attempt by force to get possession of the State government. The [He?] asks me to prevent this by use of United States troops. I decline to act without orders from the President [written “precedent”], who by law is made judge as to when United States troops are to interfere in the troubles of a State. (In clear:) Am I correct, please reply.

29. To Sheridan, 12 January 1874 (Dresden)

I have just received this following dispatch from [nun =? Governor] Davis with request to forward: “[scatter =? President] Grant, [faint]: as I anticipate unauthorized persons may attempt to [table =? take] possession of the state [novel =? capitol] buildings, I request [fussy]” — it, as he has no cypher to [self] that secure.

30. To Russell, 12 January 1874

I [written “In”] am informed through [written “though”] General Sheridan that the President has no instructions to give on the subject, but that if any change occurs I will have immediate notice. I have sent the Governor’s dispatch.

45. To Russell, 17 January 1874

It seems to me if Governor Davis yields to force without armed collision it is all that can be expected of him. Under the circumstances it is evident neither the President nor the party desire trouble. You need not specially recognize either governor. You can return to-morrow unless your further stay there is desirable. Instruct Sellers not to interfere in any way without orders from me.

The telegrams follow the end of Reconstruction in Texas day by day. The Republican governor, Edmund J. Davis, had lost the December 1873 election to Richard Coke; the State Supreme Court struck down the election law; the new legislature met in Austin on Tuesday 13 January and installed Coke while Davis held the ground floor of the Capitol. Grant refused Davis’s requests for troops, and Davis left office on 19 January. Augur’s first telegram already states the position the President took: federal troops would not decide the governorship.

04 Method

A model of English letters failed even on the 1869 worked example. A model of English word pairs, built from the project’s Gutenberg corpus, did better: a search over every order and direction of the columns recovered the example’s five columns and its row text. On telegram 45 the columns of a seven-word grid came out as English phrases at once (“It seems to me if governor Davis yields to force”, “without armed collision it is all that can be Expected”), and the search put them in order. Telegram 30 then read with the same route unchanged. Scoring every transcribed Augur page with the same model found telegram 22 on the facing page. There “Baltic” stood outside the grid; that suggested “Dresden” did too in telegram 29, which then fell into a seven-by-seven grid once “I. I.” was counted as two words. route.py in the target folder holds the four routes and prints the reading.

05 What remains uncertain

Telegram 29: seven code words, each once: nun (Governor?), scatter (President?), faint, table (take?), novel (capitol?), fussy, self. The Department’s list of arbitraries is not in the Augur or Grierson papers. The closing clause (“as he has no cypher to [self] that secure”) is uncertain.
Telegram 22: “The asks me” is probably the clerk’s slip for “He asks me”; “precedent” for President. Telegram 30: “In” for I, “though” for through.
Sheridan’s headquarters deciphered these at the time; his received copies, in the Division of the Missouri records, were not looked for and could settle the code words.

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.

Telegram 22, Augur to Sheridan, 9 Jan 1874

Augur reports that the Texas Supreme Court has ruled the election law unconstitutional and that Governor Davis, expecting the newly elected legislature and governor to seize the government by force, asks for U.S. troops; Augur declines to act without the President's orders and asks Sheridan whether he is right.

Transcription

ct_22.txt

# Telegram 22, Augur to Sheridan (Chicago), 9 Jan 1874. Newberry, Ayer MS 3008 box 02, scan 00045-0 (letter-book p. 84).
# Transcribed from the scan (collections.newberry.org asset 2KXJ8ZSFQYFRB), checked against Newberry Transcribe.
# First word is the route indicator. Clear postscript after the cipher: "Am I correct, please reply."
Baltic Troops the by under I. Davis me will force are supreme law which decline anticipates to meet
to to court is the to however prevent in get interfere of made late act that this Austin possession in the judge Election
without the by on of the State as was orders legislature use tuesday the troubles has to held from and of next state of
decided when here the governor united and government a the united unconstitutional precedent then states attempt
the state law states governor who elected troops by asks

Decryption

dec_22.txt

# Telegram 22: route.py output, in plaintext order (code words left as written)
the supreme court of the State has decided the law under which the late Election was held here unconstitutional governor Davis anticipates however that the legislature and governor then elected will meet in Austin on tuesday next and attempt by force to get possession of the state government the asks me to prevent this by use of united states troops I. decline to act without orders from the precedent who by law is made judge as to when united states Troops are to interfere in the troubles of a state

Reading

reading.md

# Augur's route-cipher telegrams, January 1874: reading

Decipherment by `route.py` from `ct_22.txt`, `ct_29.txt`, `ct_30.txt` and `ct_45.txt`. The word order below is the
order the route gives; nothing is reordered by hand. Punctuation and capitals are added. Square brackets mark
code words (arbitraries) left as written, with a conjecture after `=?` where the context suggests one; `[sic]` marks
the letter-book clerk's copying slips. Fillers at the end of the last column are listed separately.

## Telegram 22, to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, 9 January 1874 (indicator "Baltic", 9 columns x 10 rows)

The Supreme Court of the State has decided the law under which the late election was held here unconstitutional.
Governor Davis anticipates, however, that the legislature and governor then elected will meet in Austin on Tuesday
next and attempt by force to get possession of the State government. The [sic: He?] asks me to prevent this by use
of United States troops. I decline to act without orders from the President [written "precedent"], who by law is
made judge as to when United States troops are to interfere in the troubles of a State.

In clear after the cipher: Am I correct, please reply.

## Telegram 29, to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, 12 January 1874 (indicator "Dresden", 7 columns x 7 rows)

I have just received this following dispatch from [nun =? Governor] Davis with request to forward:
"[scatter =? President] Grant, [faint]: as I anticipate unauthorized persons may attempt to [table =? take]
possession of the state [novel =? capitol] buildings, I request [fussy]" -- it, as he has no cypher to [self] that
secure.

Fillers: Houston Nueces Cheyenne.

Open: nun, scatter, faint, table, novel, fussy, self (7 code words; no list of the Department's arbitraries is
known). "to to" before "self" is as the route gives it.

## Telegram 30, to Maj. G. B. Russell, Austin, 12 January 1874 (no indicator, 7 columns x 5 rows)

I [written "In"] am informed through [written "though"] General Sheridan that the President has no instructions to
give on the subject, but that if any change occurs I will have immediate notice. I have sent the Governor's
dispatch.

Filler: Brownsville.

## Telegram 45, to Maj. G. B. Russell, Austin, 17 January 1874 (no indicator, 7 columns x 10 rows)

It seems to me if Governor Davis yields to force without armed collision it is all that can be expected of him.
Under the circumstances it is evident neither the President nor the party desire trouble. You need not specially
recognize either governor. You can return to-morrow unless your further stay there is desirable. Instruct Sellers
not to interfere in any way without orders from me.

Fillers: Waco Denison Houston.

## Context

Edmund J. Davis, the Republican governor, lost the December 1873 election to Richard Coke. The Texas Supreme Court
(the "semicolon court", Ex parte Rodriguez, 5 Jan 1874) held the election law unconstitutional; the new legislature
met in Austin on Tuesday 13 January and Coke was inaugurated on 15 January while Davis held the ground floor of the
Capitol. Grant refused Davis's requests for federal troops and Davis left office on 19 January. Augur commanded the
Department of Texas at San Antonio; Russell was his officer in Austin.

Telegram 29, Augur to Sheridan, 12 Jan 1874

Augur forwards a dispatch from Davis for President Grant warning that unauthorized persons may try to take the state buildings; seven code words are open.

Transcription

ct_29.txt

# Telegram 29, Augur to Sheridan (Chicago), 12 Jan 1874. Newberry, Ayer MS 3008 box 02, scan 00045-1 (letter-book p. 85).
# Transcribed from the scan (asset 2KXJ8ZSFQY9EQ). First word is the route indicator.
Dresden I persons to it fussy unauthorized forward have may self as request anticipate to just attempt that he
I. I. request received to secure has buildings as with this table Houston no novel faint Davis following possession Nueces Cypher
state Grant nun dispatch of Cheyenne to the scatter from

Decryption

dec_29.txt

# Telegram 29: route.py output, in plaintext order (code words left as written)
I have just received this following dispatch from nun Davis with request to forward scatter Grant faint as I. anticipate unauthorized persons may attempt to table possession of the state novel buildings I. request fussy it as he has no Cypher to to self that secure
# fillers: Houston Nueces Cheyenne

Reading

reading.md

# Augur's route-cipher telegrams, January 1874: reading

## Telegram 22, to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, 9 January 1874 (indicator "Baltic", 9 columns x 10 rows)

In clear after the cipher: Am I correct, please reply.

## Telegram 29, to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, 12 January 1874 (indicator "Dresden", 7 columns x 7 rows)

Fillers: Houston Nueces Cheyenne.

Open: nun, scatter, faint, table, novel, fussy, self (7 code words; no list of the Department's arbitraries is
known). "to to" before "self" is as the route gives it.

## Telegram 30, to Maj. G. B. Russell, Austin, 12 January 1874 (no indicator, 7 columns x 5 rows)

Filler: Brownsville.

## Telegram 45, to Maj. G. B. Russell, Austin, 17 January 1874 (no indicator, 7 columns x 10 rows)

Fillers: Waco Denison Houston.

## Context

Telegram 30, Augur to Russell, 12 Jan 1874

Augur tells Major Russell in Austin that, through Sheridan, the President has no instructions to give, and that he has sent on the Governor's dispatch.

Transcription

ct_30.txt

# Telegram 30, Augur to Maj. G. B. Russell (Austin), 12 Jan 1874. Newberry, Ayer MS 3008 box 02, scan 00045-1 (p. 85).
# Transcribed from the scan. No indicator word.
In any sent no have if has am change the instructions I that president informed occurs governors to notice but the
though I dispatch give immediate subject that general will Brownsville on have the Sheridan

Decryption

dec_30.txt

# Telegram 30: route.py output, in plaintext order (code words left as written)
In am informed though general Sheridan that the president has no instructions to give on the subject but that if any change occurs I will have immediate notice I have sent the governors dispatch
# fillers: Brownsville

Reading

reading.md

# Augur's route-cipher telegrams, January 1874: reading

## Telegram 22, to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, 9 January 1874 (indicator "Baltic", 9 columns x 10 rows)

In clear after the cipher: Am I correct, please reply.

## Telegram 29, to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, 12 January 1874 (indicator "Dresden", 7 columns x 7 rows)

Fillers: Houston Nueces Cheyenne.

Open: nun, scatter, faint, table, novel, fussy, self (7 code words; no list of the Department's arbitraries is
known). "to to" before "self" is as the route gives it.

## Telegram 30, to Maj. G. B. Russell, Austin, 12 January 1874 (no indicator, 7 columns x 5 rows)

Filler: Brownsville.

## Telegram 45, to Maj. G. B. Russell, Austin, 17 January 1874 (no indicator, 7 columns x 10 rows)

Fillers: Waco Denison Houston.

## Context

Telegram 45, Augur to Russell, 17 Jan 1874

Augur tells Russell that if Davis yields to force without armed collision that is all that can be expected, that neither the President nor the party wants trouble, that he need not recognize either governor, and that Sellers is not to interfere without orders.

Transcription

ct_45.txt

# Telegram 45, Augur to Maj. G. B. Russell (Austin), 17 Jan 1874. Newberry, Ayer MS 3008 box 02, scan 00045-1 (p. 85).
# Transcribed from the scan. No indicator word.
It recognize in of interfere specially Expected seems Either any him to not be to governor way under not need
can me you without the Sellers you that if can orders circumstances instruct trouble all governor return from it
desireable desire is Davis to me is is party it yields morrow Waco Evident there the collision to unless Denison neither stay
nor armed force your Houston the further President without

Decryption

dec_45.txt

# Telegram 45: route.py output, in plaintext order (code words left as written)
It seems to me if governor Davis yields to force without armed collision it is all that can be Expected of him under the circumstances it is Evident neither the President nor the party desire trouble you need not specially recognize Either governor you can return to morrow unless your further stay there is desireable instruct Sellers not to interfere in any way without orders from me
# fillers: Waco Denison Houston

Reading

reading.md

# Augur's route-cipher telegrams, January 1874: reading

## Telegram 22, to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, 9 January 1874 (indicator "Baltic", 9 columns x 10 rows)

In clear after the cipher: Am I correct, please reply.

## Telegram 29, to Lt. Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, 12 January 1874 (indicator "Dresden", 7 columns x 7 rows)

Fillers: Houston Nueces Cheyenne.

Open: nun, scatter, faint, table, novel, fussy, self (7 code words; no list of the Department's arbitraries is
known). "to to" before "self" is as the route gives it.

## Telegram 30, to Maj. G. B. Russell, Austin, 12 January 1874 (no indicator, 7 columns x 5 rows)

Filler: Brownsville.

## Telegram 45, to Maj. G. B. Russell, Austin, 17 January 1874 (no indicator, 7 columns x 10 rows)

Fillers: Waco Denison Houston.

## Context

Key: route.py

06 Sources

Newberry Library, Ayer MS 3008, Christopher C. Augur papers, box 02, letter-book pp. 84–85: p. 84, p. 85 (Newberry Digital Collections), with the volunteer transcription on Newberry Transcribe.
Newberry Library, Ayer MS 3039, Benjamin H. Grierson papers, box 3 f. 153: L. V. Caziare to Gen. Gordon, Austin, 18 February 1869, first page.
Found in the Chicago archives sweep of October 2026 (lead 1536).

Transcriptions, decoder and notes: targets/augur1874/.

Augur’s cipher telegrams, Texas, 1874

01 The telegrams

02 The cipher

03 The reading

22. To Sheridan, 9 January 1874 (Baltic)

29. To Sheridan, 12 January 1874 (Dresden)

30. To Russell, 12 January 1874

45. To Russell, 17 January 1874

04 Method

05 What remains uncertain

Full texts

Telegram 22, Augur to Sheridan, 9 Jan 1874

Telegram 29, Augur to Sheridan, 12 Jan 1874

Telegram 30, Augur to Russell, 12 Jan 1874

Telegram 45, Augur to Russell, 17 Jan 1874

06 Sources