 Although Myer interpreted his appointment to include control over electromagnetic telegraphy, a rival organization emerged.The U.S. Military Telegraph Corps employed civilian telegraph operators, with supervisors who received military commissions in the Quartermaster Department, under the general management of Anson Stager, a former official of the Western Union Telegraph Company.In February 1862, Lincoln took control of the nation's commercial telegraph lines, which were then used by Stager's organization.