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Who was Cyrus Field?
Cyrus Field was a wealthy merchant and investor who masterminded the creation of the transatlantic telegraph cable in the mid-1800s. Thanks to Field's persistence, news which had taken weeks to travel by ship ...
When did Field die?
When Field died on July 12, 1892, he was remembered as the man who had proven that communication was possible between continents.
What obstacles did Field overcome?
For several years Field had to overcome any number of obstacles, which ranged from technical to financial to governmental. He eventually was able to get the governments of the United States and Britain to cooperate and assign ships to help lay the proposed transatlantic cable.
Where did Frederick Gisborne travel to?
After a trip to South America he returned to New York and happened to be introduced to Frederick Gisborne, who was trying to connect a telegraph line from New York City to St. John's, Newfoundland. As St. John's was the easternmost point of North America, a telegraph station there could receive the earliest news carried aboard ships from England, ...
Where was Cyrus's boundary?
The boundary between his dominions and those of the queen was at the River Araxes, a stream flowing from west to east, through the central parts of Asia, toward the Caspian Sea.
Who succeeded Cyrus in the end?
This was the end of Cyrus. Cambyses, his son, whom he had appointed regent during his absence, succeeded quietly to the government of his vast dominions.
What did the embassadors say to Cyrus?
While Cyrus was engaged in the work of constructing the bridge, embassadors appeared, who said that they had been sent from Tomyris. She had commissioned them, they said, to warn Cyrus to desist entirely from his designs upon her kingdom, and to return to his own. This would be the wisest course, too, Tomyris said, for himself, and she counseled him, for his own welfare, to follow it. He could not foresee the result, if he should invade her dominions and encounter her armies. Fortune had favored him thus far, it was true, but fortune might change, and he might find himself, before he was aware, at the end of his victories. Still, she said, she had no expectation that he would be disposed to listen to this warning and advice, and, on her part, she had no objection to his persevering in his invasion. She did not fear him. He need not put himself to the expense and trouble of building a bridge across the Araxes. She would agree to withdraw all her forces three days' march into her own country, so that he might cross the river safely and at his leisure, and she would await him at the place where she should have encamped; or, if he preferred it, she would cross the river and meet him on his own side. In that case, he must retire three days' march from the river, so as to afford her the same opportunity to make the passage undisturbed which she had offered him. She would then come over and march on to attack him. She gave Cyrus his option which branch of this alternative to choose.
What was the result of the stratagem?
The result of this stratagem, triumphantly successful as it was, would have settled the contest, and made Cyrus master of the whole realm, if as he, at the time, supposed was the case, the main body of Tomyris's forces had been engaged in this battle; but it seems that Tomyris had learned, by reconnoiterers and spies, how large a force there was in Cyrus's camp, and had only sent a detachment of her own troops to attack them, not judging it necessary to call out the whole. Two thirds of her army remained still uninjured. With this large force she would undoubtedly have advanced without any delay to attack Cyrus again, were it not for her maternal concern for the safety of her son. He was in Cyrus's power, a helpless captive, and she did not know to what cruelties he would be exposed if Cyrus were to be exasperated against her. While her heart, therefore, was burning with resentment and anger, and with an almost uncontrollable thirst for revenge, her hand was restrained. She kept back her army, and sent to Cyrus a conciliatory message.
What was Cyrus' first plan for annexing the realm of the Massagetae?
The first plan which Cyrus formed for the annexation of the realm of the Massagetae to his own dominions was by a matrimonial alliance. He accordingly raised an army and commenced a movement toward the north, sending, at the same time, embassadors before him into the country of the Massagetae, with offers of marriage to the queen. The queen knew very well that it was her dominions, and not herself, that constituted the great attraction for Cyrus, and, besides, she was of an age when ambition is a stronger passion than love. She refused the offers, and sent back word to Cyrus forbidding his approach.
How did the Persians fight?
At length the armies approached each other, and the battle began. The attack was commenced by the archers on either side, who shot showers of arrows at their opponents as they were advancing. When the arrows were spent, the men fought hand to hand, with spears, and javelins, and swords. The Persians fought desperately, for they fought for their lives. They were in the heart of an enemy's country, with a broad river behind them to cut off their retreat, and they were contending with a wild and savage foe, whose natural barbarity was rendered still more ferocious and terrible than ever by the exasperation which they felt, in sympathy with their injured queen. For a long time it was wholly uncertain which side would win the day. The advantage, here and there along the lines, was in some places on one side, and in some places on the other; but, though overpowered and beaten, the several bands, whether of Persians or Scythians, would neither retreat nor surrender, but the survivors, when their comrades had fallen, continued to fight on till they were all slain. It was evident, at last, that the Scythians were gaining the day. When night came on, the Persian army was found to be almost wholly destroyed; the remnant dispersed. When all was over, the Scythians, in exploring the field, found the dead body of Cyrus among the other ghastly and mutilated remains which covered the ground. They took it up with a ferocious and exulting joy, and carried it to Tomyris.
How many sons did Cyrus have?
He had two sons, Cambyses and Smerdis. His wife is said to have been a daughter of Astyages, and that he married her soon after his conquest of the kingdom of Media, in order to reconcile the Medians more easily to his sway, by making a Median princess their queen. Among the western nations of Europe such a marriage would be abhorred, Astyages having been Cyrus's grandfather; but among the Orientals, in those days, alliances of this nature were not uncommon. It would seem that this queen was not living at the time that the events occurred which are to be related in this chapter. Her sons had grown up to maturity, and were now princes of great distinction.
What happened to Cyrus after he died?
Herodotus reports that after Cyrus' death, Tomyris orded his body be brought forth, and proceeded to decapitate him, and dip his head in a vessel of blood.
Where is Cyrus the Great buried?
I personally don’t think it is a likely version since it was written by a Greek historian. Cyrus’s body is buried in his tomb in Pasargad. His mausoleum stands to date.
What did Cyrus tell Tomyris to do?
Cyrus first sent Tomyris a proposal of marriage. When Tomyris, quite reasonably, told him to get stuffed he invaded. Tomyris challenged Cyrus to honourable warfare and gave him a place for their two armies to meet and hit each other repeatedly. Cyrus however was going to be cunning about this.
Where is Cyrus' tomb?
I believe Cyrus died peacefully on his bed as Xenephon & Strabo claimed . Today Cyrus’s tomb is located on Pasargadae which is in southern Iran. And from what we know about Alexander’s visit to Cyrus’s tomb that place ia 100% where the Persian king is buried ; if Herodotus’s account was right we must accept that a defeated Persian army could be able to beat the Massagatae and recover Cyrus’s body from north of central Asia and bring it to pasargadae , i mean there are thousands of kilometers between these locations how many days a dead body can survive before it rots or even explodes under the
Who beheaded Cyrus the Great?
Cyrus The Great was killed in battle by the Massagatae in present day Uzbekistan. Legend has it that Cyrus was beheaded by queen Tomyris but that has never been substantiated.
Who was Tomyris' son?
Tomyris also had a son, a man named Spargapises, and he was a commander in the Army. He discovered a Persian camp, which was lightly guarded. It was not hard for Spargapises’ army to overwhelm the Persian guards and take the camp, whereupon he discovered that it was stocked with enough booze to supply an army. Spargapises and his men promptly got smashed.
Was Cyrus the Great a Persian?
Cyrus the great was half Med Half Persian and the Lurs and Kurds are decedents of Meds so it is possible that he was a Kurd as well.
Overview
Later years
In the 1870s-80s, Field entered into transportation business. He served as president of the New York Elevated Railroad Company in 1877-1880 and collaborated with Jay Gould on developing the Wabash Railroad. Field also loaned Henry W. Grady the $20,000 used for Grady to buy a one-quarter interest in the Atlanta Constitution newspaper. He also owned the Mail and Express, a New York newspaper. Bad investments deprived Field of his fortune. He lived modestly during the las…
Early life
Field was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts to Rev. David Dudley Field, a Congregational clergyman, and Submit Dickinson Field, daughter of Revolutionary War Captain Noah Dickinson from Somers, Connecticut. The eighth of ten children, he was the brother of David Dudley Field Jr., Henry Martyn Field, and Stephen Johnson Field, the 38th United States Supreme Court Justic…
Getting started in business
Although Field had many available career options, he chose business. This was a great move for Field. At first, he worked for his brothers, David Dudley Field Jr. and Matthew Dickinson Field. In 1838, he accepted an offer from his brother Matthew to become his assistant in the paper manufacturing venture, the Columbia Mill, in Lee, Massachusetts. In Spring 1840, he went into business by himself, manufacturing paper in Westfield, Massachusetts. The same year, he beca…
Midlife
Business earnings permitted Field to partially retire at the age of 34 with a fortune of $250,000 and build a home in Gramercy Park. In 1853, Field financed an expedition to South America with his artist friend Frederic Edwin Church, during which they explored present-day Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. They followed the route taken by Alexander von Humboldt over 50 years earlier. Chur…
Commemoration
Field and his wife are buried in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in the Stockbridge Cemetery in Berkshire County. His headstone reads: CYRUS WEST FIELD To whose courage, energy and perseverance the world owes The Atlantic Telegraph.
In December 1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway named the community of Field, British …
External links
• Bill Burns. History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications: Cyrus W. Field, Atlantic-Cable.com
• Cyrus Field (1819-1892), The Great Transatlantic Cable, PBS
Early Life
Envisioning The Transatlantic Cable
- Field later recalled thinking about how that could be accomplished while looking at a globe he kept in his study. He began to think it would make sense to also place another cable, heading eastward from St. John's, all the way to the west coast of Ireland. As he wasn't a scientist himself, he sought advice from two prominent figures, Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, and L…
The First Cable
- The next step was to create a business to undertake the project. And the first person Field contacted was Peter Cooper, the industrialist and inventor who happened to be his neighbor on Gramercy Park. Cooper was skeptical at first, but became convinced the cable might work. With Peter Cooper's endorsement, other stockholders were enlisted and more than $1 million was rai…
The Second Cable
- The Civil War interrupted Field's plans, but in 1865 an attempt to place a second cable began. The effort was unsuccessful, but an improved cable was finally put in place in 1866. The enormous steamship Great Eastern, which had been a financial disaster as a passenger liner, was used to lay the cable. The second cable became operational in the summer of 1866. It proved to be relia…