Anson Stager's Civil War Cipher Cache Mystery Cache
Anson Stager's Civil War Cipher Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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The cache is not at the posted coordinates. Those coordinates however are within 2.0 miles of the cache. The cipher below will provide you with the actual coordinates.
Recently, while researching a lecture on Civil War codes and ciphers for the CWRT-NH (The Civil War Round Table of New Hampshire), I came across the interesting story of Anson Stager.
Prior to the Civil War, Mr. Stager had been the CEO of Western Union. When the Civil War began in 1861, he offered his services to the Union Army and initially served on the staff of George B. McClellan. It was at this time that Anson developed a simple word transposition cipher to help secure McClellan's telegraph communications. The cipher was easy to use and worked well. As a result, it was quickly adopted as the cipher system for the enire Union Army and it remained in use until the end of the conflict. As the war progressed, Anson would rise to the rank of Colonel and would command the Military Telegraphic Service.
What is really incredible about this story is that the Confederate Army never seems to have broken Anson's cipher. This is almost 'inconceivable', since I recently decrypted, in less than five minutes, two actual wartime messages enciphered with this system. (The CSA must have been really hurting for cryptanalytic talent!) To find this cache, you will have to do what the CS Army never could. You must decrypt Anson's cipher.
To make the job a bit simpler, I have refrained from using nulls and/or code words in the message. Further, I've used a route indicator within the message that was actually used by Union Forces in 1862. A little research and this cipher should be easy/fun to decrypt.
The Cipher text:
REGULARS STOP LEFT ZERO DEGREES MINUTES THREE AT NANO ONE
SIX ZERO TWO PERIOD MSCREP FINIS TRUNNION FIVE FIVE NORTH POINT
FOUR FOR DEGREES SIX SEVEN DOT WEST LUCK GOOD MINUTES ZERO
AND SEVEN THREE SEARCH
The cache container is a micro, so bring your own pencil or pen. As with all my puzzle caches, I encourage you all to work in teams to solve the cipher and/or to exchange hints with other cachers. Feel free to contact me with questions and/or to confirm your decrypt. Good luck!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Sbe gur pvcure: Tbbtyr vf lbhe sevraq!
Sbe gur pnpur: Pbagnvarq va gur pelcgbtenz.
Treasures
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