Union Army Balloon Corps

The Union Army Balloon Corps was a civilian-run operation of Aeronauts and gas-filled Balloons that performed reconnaissance missions for the Union Army in the American Civil War from September 1861 to August 1863. It was established by Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe , who was able to convince President Abraham Lincoln to use his services.

SELECTING A CHIEF AERONAUT

Thaddeus Lowe

Thaddeus Lowe was only one of a short list of American balloonists who sought the position of Chief Aeronaut for the Union Army. Vying for the position were Prof. John Wise, Prof. John LaMountain, and Ezra and James Allen. Like Lowe, all these men were aeronauts of particular note in the annuls of aviation of the day. Among them Lowe stood out as the most successful in balloon building and the closest to coming to a making a transatlantic flight. His scientific record was held in high regard among colleagues of the day, to include one Prof. Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian Institution , who became his greatest benefactor.

On his and others' recommendations, Lowe was contacted by the Secretary Of The Treasury , Salmon P. Chase , inviting him to Washington for an audience with the Secretary Of War Simon Cameron and the President. On June 11 1861 , Lowe was received by Lincoln and immediately offered to give the President a demonstration of his ballooning and how he envisioned its use as an air-war mechanism.

With his own balloon, the ''Enterprise'' , Lowe ascended some 500 feet above the White House with a Telegraph key and operator, and a wire following a tether line to the ground. From there he transmitted the message:

Balloon Enterprise in the Air

To His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln

President of the United States

Dear Sir:

:''From this point of observation we command an extent of our country nearly fifty miles in diameter. I have the pleasure of sending you this first Telegram ever dispatched from an aerial station, and acknowledging indebtedness to your encouragement for the opportunity of demonstrating the availability of the science of aeronautics in the service of the country.

I am, Your Excellency's obedient servant,

T.S.C. Lowe

After further demonstrations with Gen. Irvin McDowell at the First Battle Of Bull Run , the President personally introduced Lowe to General Winfield Scott , Union Army Commander. "General Scott, this is my friend Prof. Lowe. He is going to establish a balloon corps and he is to be its Chief Aeronaut." This introduction fairly well cemented the selection of a Chief Aeronaut.

John Wise

Professor John Wise was an older man, 27 years Lowe's senior. Although he made great contributions in the science of aeronautics, he was more suited as a showman. His attempts at free flight in preparation for a transatlantic crossing were less than successful and he did not receive the same type of financial support from the community, nor did he accrue the same credentials as Lowe.

He did, however, receive enough favor from the Topographical Engineers to be requested to build a balloon. This delayed Lowe's immediate assignment as chief, presidential assertion or not. Although Wise's arrival on the scene was late, he did inflate a balloon in Washington and proceed toward the battlefield. It was caught in the brush on the way out and was completely disabled. This ended Wise's bid for the position.

John LaMountain

John LaMountain was only two years older than Lowe, but had accrued quite a reputation in the field of aeronautics. He had joined company with Wise at one time to help with the plans for a transatlantic flight. The attempt they made failed miserably, wrecked their balloon, the ''Atlantic'', and ended their partnership. LaMountain took possession of the balloon.

However, his contributions and successes were minimal at best, and all he had was his bravado with which to impress people, which he failed to do for the people in Washington. However, he did attract the attention of General Benjamin Butler at Fort Monroe . LaMountain was there for a while with the battered ''Atlantic'' and was actually accredited with having made the first effective wartime observations from an aerial position. He also obtained use of a balloon, the ''Saratoga'', which he soon lost in a windstorm. LaMountain advocated free flight balloon reconnaissance, whereas Lowe strictly enforced use of captive, or tethered, flight, remaining always attached to a ground crew that could draw him in.

Wise and LaMountain had been longtime detractors of Prof. Lowe, but LaMountain maintained a vitriolic campaign against Lowe with a strong intent to discredit him and usurp the position as Chief Aeronaut. He used the arena of public opinion to revile Lowe at every turn. But as Gen. Butler was replaced at Ft. Monroe, ironically LaMountain was assigned to the Balloon Corps, and he promised to behave on Lowe's behalf. The promise did not last long and LaMountain went about his public derogation of Lowe as well as tampering with the other men in the Corps. Lowe lodged a formal complaint to Gen. George B. McClellan and by February 1862 LaMountain was discharged from military service.

BUILDING MILITARY BALLOONS

Lowe believed that balloons for military purposes had to be better constructed than the ordinary balloons most civilian aeronauts were used to. They also required special handling and tactics for use in the field. The gas-filled balloons of the day were inflated at municipal (coke) gas services (see Wood Gas ) and were towed by handlers inflated to the battlefield. Lowe recognized the need for the development of portable hydrogen gas generators, by which the balloons could be filled in the field. Dealing with administrative officers (ranks lower than major) caused great hold ups in procuring proper equipment and materials.

After having performed an aerial demonstration of directing artillery fire from an unseen fire base onto an unseen target, Lowe received orders on September 25 to build four balloons and accompanying hydrogen gas generators. Lowe went to work at his Philadelphia facility. He was given funding to order the finest India silk and fine cotton cording he proposed for their construction. Along with that came Lowe's undisclosed recipe for a varnish that would leakproof the balloon envelopes.

The generators were built at the Washington Navy Yard by master joiners who fashioned a contraption of copper plumbing and tanks, which when filled with sulfuric acid and iron filings, would yield pure hydrogen gas. The generators were Lowe's own design and were considered a marvel of engineering. They were designed to be loaded into box crates that could easily fit on a standard buckboard. The generators took more time to build than the balloons and were not as readily available as the first balloon.

By October 1 the first balloon, the ''Eagle'', was ready for action, and although lacking any portable gas generator, was called into immediate service. It was gassed up in Washington and towed overnight to Lewinsville via Chain Bridge. The fully covered and trellised bridge required that the towing handlers crawl over the bridge beams and stringers to cross the upper Potomac into Fairfax County. The balloon and crew arrived by daylight, exhausted from the ordeal, when a gale force wind blew the balloon away. It was later recovered, but not before Lowe, who was humiliated by the incident, went on a tirade about the delays in providing proper equipment.

Lowe was left alone to finish building his balloons and gas generators. In all he built seven balloons, six of which were put into service. The smaller balloons were ''Eagle'', ''Constitution'', and ''Washington'', which could be used in windier weather, or for quick one-man ascents. The larger balloons were ''Union'', ''Excelsior'', ''Intrepid'' (Lowe's favorite balloon), and the ''United States'', which was held in storage in Washington and never saw service. These could carry more weight, such as a telegraph key and operator, and could ascend higher.

ESTABLISHING THE CORPS

In the very beginning Lowe was offered $30 a day for each day his balloon was in use. Lowe offered to accept $10 gold a day (colonel's pay) if he were allowed to build more suited balloons. He was also allowed to hire as many men as he needed for $3 currency a day. Commissions were never forthcoming even though Lowe placed hope that one day they would be. Lowe was able to enlist his father, Clovis Lowe, an already accomplished balloonist; Captain Dickinson, a seafaring volunteer from his days of transatlantic attempts; the Allen Brothers, who had lost their own balloon when they were vying for the top job; two men the Allen Brothers recommended, Eben Seaver and J. B. Starkweather; William Paullin, an older Philadelphia colleague; German balloonist John Steiner; and Ebenezer Mason, Lowe's construction supervisor, who requested active duty.

Lowe set up several locations for the balloons—Fort Monroe, Washington D.C., Camp Lowe near Harpers Ferry —but always kept himself at the battle front. He served General McClellan at Yorktown until the Confederates retreated toward Richmond . The heavily forested Virginia Peninsula would force him to take to the waterways.

THE FIRST AIRCRAFT CARRIER

At the time the Balloon Corps was finally equipped with its gas generators, Lowe was introduced to the ''General Washington Parke Custis'', a converted coal barge with its deck completely cleared of all items that could entangle the ropes and nets of the balloons. Lowe had two gas generators and a balloon loaded aboard and later was able to report:

I have the pleasure of reporting the complete success of the first balloon expedition by water ever attempted. I left the Navy yard early Sunday morning ... having on board GWP Custis competent assistant aeronauts, together with my new gas generating apparatus, which, though used for the first time, worked admirably.

PENINSULA CAMPAIGN

In order to access the war front as it turned toward Richmond, Lowe and his Balloon Corps, with the use of three of his balloons, the ''Constitution'', the ''Washington'', and the larger ''Intrepid'', used the waterways inland. In mid May 1862 Lowe arrived at the White House on the Pamunkey River . This is the first home of George and Martha Washington, after which the Washington presidential residence is named. At this time it was the home of the son of Robert E. Lee , whose family fled at the arrival of Lowe. Lowe was met by McClellan's Army a few days later and by May 18 he had set up a balloon camp at Gaines' Farm across the Chickahominy River almost directly north of Richmond, and another at Mechanicsville . From these vantage points Lowe, his assistant James Allen, and his father Clovis were able to overlook the Battle Of Seven Pines .

A small complement from Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman 's corps crossed the river toward Richmond and was slowly being surrounded by elements of the Confederate Army. McClellan felt that the Confederates were simply feigning an attack. Lowe could see, from his better vantage point, that they were converging on Heintzelman's position. Heintzelman was cut off from the main body because the swollen river had taken out all the bridges. Lowe sent urgent word of Heintzelman's predicament and recommended immediate repair of New Bridge and reinforcements for him.

At the same time he sent over an order for the inflation of the ''Intrepid'', a larger balloon that could take him higher with telegraph equipment, in order to oversee the imminent battle. When Lowe arrived from Mechanicsville to the site of the Intrepid at Gaines' Mill, he saw that the Aerostat was an hour away from being fully inflated. He then called for a camp kettle to have the bottom cut out of it and hooked the valve ends of the ''Intrepid'' and the ''Constitution'' together. He had the gas of the ''Constitution'' transferred to the ''Intrepid'' and was up in the air in 15 minutes. From this new vantage point Lowe was able to report on all the Confederate movements. Fortunately McClellan took Lowe's advice, repaired the bridge, and had reinforcements sent to Heintzelman's aid, which by all accounts "saved the day".

THE TROUBLED BALLOON CORPS

During the Seven Days Battles in late June, McClellan's Army was forced to retreat from the outskirts of Richmond. Lowe was told to pack up and head back to Washington. He contracted Malaria in the swampy conditions and was out of service for a little more than a month. When he returned to duty, he found that all his wagons, mules, and service equipment were returned to the Army Quartermaster. He was essentially out of a job. Lowe was ordered to join the Army for the Battle Of Antietam , but did not reach the battlefield until after the Confederates began their retreat to Virginia. Lowe had to reintroduce himself to the new commanding general of the Army of the Potomac, Ambrose Burnside , who would activate Lowe at the Battle Of Fredericksburg . Burnside's command failed miserably and he was replaced by Gen. Joseph Hooker . Despite all Lowe's successful service as an aeronaut, the Union Army continued to be met by failure.

For all its successes the Balloon Corps was never fully appreciated by the military community. The only ones who had use for them were the generals whose jobs and reputations were on the line. Lower ranking administrators looked with disdain on this band of civilian showmen who, as they perceived them, had no business in tactical efforts. Furthermore, none of the men of the corps ever received military commissions, leaving them facing the dangers of being captured as spies.

The Balloon Corps was eventually assigned to the Corps of Engineers and put under the administrative purview of Captain C. B. Comstock, who did not appreciate a civilian (Lowe) being paid more than he. He reduced Lowe's pay from $10 gold to $6 currency (equal to $3 gold) a day. Lowe posted a letter of outrage and threatened to resign his position. No one came to his support, and Comstock remained unyielding. On April 8 1863 , Lowe left the military service and returned to the private sector. The Allen Brothers took up the task of commanding the Balloon Corps by default, but were not up to the task as Lowe was. By August 1863 the Corps all but ceased to exist.

SEE ALSO

History Of Military Aviation

REFERENCES

Lowe's personal reminiscences

Lowe's Official Report

EXTERNAL LINKS

Thaddeus Lowe website

Information About

Union Army Balloon Corps