Page "Semaphore line" Paragraph 50

In Ireland, Richard Lovell Edgeworth ( 1744 – 1817 ) proposed a telegraph there when a French invasion was anticipated in 1794, and again in 1796 ; however, the proposal was not implemented.

Soon, the British forces fighting Napoleon in Portugal found that the Portuguese army had a very capable semaphore system giving the Duke of Wellington a decisive advantage in intelligence.