In late September 1863, when Confederate forces laid siege to Chattanooga and cut off telegraph lines into the city, Federal forces established a series of signal stations to move messages between Chattanooga and their supply base in Bridgeport, Alabama. One of those stations stood at Signal Point, where messages relayed from Bridgeport were flashed to Stringers Ridge and then on to Cameron Hill in the city. Through this system, the Federals received news of reinforcements and supplies coming to their relief. After the siege was broken in late October, the stations diminished in importance. The U.S. Army Signal Corps, established during the Civil War, operated the stations, sending signals with square flags or torches; flag-waving patterns represented numbers, and secret codes translated number combinations into letters to form words, while observers used telescopes and binoculars for long-range viewing.