Union Army Balloon Corps The Union Army Balloon Corps was a branch of the Union Army during the American Civil War , established by presidential appointee Thaddeus S . C . Lowe . It was organized as a civilian operation , which employed a group of prominent American aeronaut s and seven specially built , gas - filled balloons to perform aerial reconnaissance on the Confederate States Army . Lowe was one of few veteran balloonists who was working on an attempt to make a transatlantic crossing by balloon . His efforts were interrupted by the onset of the Civil War , which broke out one week before one of his most important test flights . Subsequently he offered his aviation expertise to the development of an air - war mechanism through the use of aerostat s for reconnaissance purposes . Lowe met with U . S . President Abraham Lincoln on June 11 , 1861 , and proposed a demonstration with his own balloon , the " Enterprise " , from the lawn of the armory directly across the street from the White House . From a height of he telegraphed a message to the President describing his view of the Washington , D . C . , countryside . Eventually he was chosen over other candidates to be chief aeronaut of the newly formed Union Army Balloon Corps . The Balloon Corps with a hand - selected team of expert aeronauts served at Yorktown , Seven Pines , Antietam , Fredericksburg , and other major battles of the Potomac River and the Virginia Peninsula . The Balloon Corps served the Union Army from October 1861 until the summer of 1863 , when it was disbanded following the resignation of Lowe . Selecting a Chief Aeronaut . The use of balloons as an air - war mechanism was first recorded in France by the French Aerostatic Corps at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794 . U . S . President Abraham Lincoln became interested in an air - war mechanism for reconnaissance purposes . This created a notion at the War Department and at the Treasury that some sort of balloon aviation unit need be established and headed by a " Chief Aeronaut " . Several top American balloonists traveled to Washington in hopes of obtaining just such a position . However , there were no proposed details to the establishment of such a unit , or whether it would even be a military or civilian operation . Nor was there any set method to the process of selecting a Chief Aeronaut , rather it became a free - for - all in attempts to attract the attention of any officials in either the government or the military . In actuality the use of balloons was left to the discretion of the commanding generals through a process of trial and error based on the best recommendations of the balloonists themselves . Of those seeking the position , only two were given actual opportunities to perform combat aerial reconnaissance , Prof . Thaddeus Lowe and Mr . John LaMountain . Thaddeus Lowe . Professor Thaddeus S . C . Lowe was one of the top American balloonists who sought the position of Chief Aeronaut for the Union Army . Also vying for the position were Prof . John Wise , Prof . John LaMountain , and Ezra and James Allen . All these men were aeronauts of extraordinary qualification in aviation of the day . Among them Lowe stood out as the most successful in balloon building and the closest to 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 Henry ' s and others ' recommendations , Lowe was contacted by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P . Chase , who invited him to Washington for an audience with Secretary of War Simon Cameron and the President . On 11 June 1861 , Lowe was received by Lincoln and immediately offered to give the President a live demonstration with the balloon . On Saturday , 16 June , with his own balloon , the " Enterprise " , Lowe ascended some above the Columbian Armory with a telegraph key and operator , and a wire following a tether line to the White House across the street . From aloft he transmitted the message : Lowe ' s first assignment was with the Topographical Engineers , where his balloon was used for aerial observations and map making . Eventually he worked with Major General Irvin McDowell , who rode along with Lowe making preliminary observations over the battlefield at Bull Run . McDowell became impressed with Lowe and his balloon , and a good word reached the President , who personally introduced Lowe to Union General - in - Chief Winfield Scott . " General , this is my friend Professor Lowe who is organizing an aeronautics corps and who is to be its chief . I wish you would facilitate his work in every way . " This introduction fairly well settled the selection of Lowe as Chief Aeronaut . The details of establishing the corps and its method of operation were left up to Lowe . The misunderstanding that the Balloon Corps would remain a civilian contract lasted its duration , and neither Lowe nor any of his men ever received commissions . John Wise . John Wise was an early pioneer of American ballooning born in 1808 . Although he made great contributions to the then newborn science of aeronautics , he was more a showman than a scientist . 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 patrons of the sciences , nor did he carry the overall scientific credibility of Lowe . Wise was , however , taken seriously enough by the Topographical Engineers to be asked to build a balloon . Mary Hoehling indicated that Captain Whipple of the Topographical Engineers told Lowe that Wise was preparing to bring up his own balloon , supposedly the " Atlantic . " Other accounts state that John LaMountain had taken possession of the " Atlantic " after a failed flight he made with Wise in 1859 , and later place the " Atlantic " with LaMountain at Fort Monroe . Lowe ' s report says that Captain Whipple indicated they had instructed Mr . Wise to construct a new balloon . He also proposed that Lowe pilot the new balloon . Prof . Lowe was vehemently opposed to flying one of Wise ' s old - style balloons . The engineers waited the whole month of July for Wise to arrive on scene . By 19 July 1861 , McDowell started calling for a balloon to be brought to the front at First Bull Run ( Centreville ) . As Wise was not to be found , Whipple sent Lowe out to inflate his balloon and prepare to set out for Falls Church . Mary Hoehling tells of the sudden appearance of John Wise who demanded that Lowe stop his inflating of the " Enterprise " and let him inflate his balloon instead . Wise had legal papers upholding his purported authority . Although Wise ' s arrival on the scene was tardy , he did inflate his balloon and proceeded toward the battlefield . On the way the balloon became caught in the brush and was permanently disabled . This ended Wise ' s bid for the position , and Lowe was at last unencumbered from taking up the task . Lowe describes the inflation incident in his official report less dramatically , saying that he was told by the gas plant supervisor to disconnect and let another balloon go first . Lowe did not name names , but it is not likely that it was anyone other than Wise . Lowe ' s report about a new balloon has to be considered over Hoehling ' s account of the " Atlantic . " John LaMountain . John LaMountain , born in 1830 , 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 . Their attempt failed miserably , wrecked their balloon , the " Atlantic " , and ended their partnership . LaMountain took possession of the balloon . LaMountain ' s contributions and successes were minimal . However , he did attract the attention of General Benjamin Butler at Fort Monroe . LaMountain operated at Fort Monroe 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 used captive or tethered flight , remaining always attached to a ground crew who could reel him in . Wise and LaMountain had been longtime detractors of Prof . Lowe , but LaMountain maintained a vitriolic campaign against Lowe to discredit him and usurp his position as Chief Aeronaut . He used the arena of public opinion to revile Lowe . But as Gen . Butler was replaced at Fort Monroe , LaMountain was assigned to the Balloon Corps under Lowe ' s command . LaMountain continued his public derogation of Lowe as well as creating ill - will among 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 . Free flight vs . captive flight . There were two methods of piloting balloons : free flight or captive . Free flight meant that the balloon was able to travel in any direction or distance for as long or as far as the pilot was able to fly it . Captive flight meant that the balloon was retained by a tether or series of tethers manned by ground crews . Free flight required that the pilot ascend and return by his own control . Captive flight used ground crews to assist in altitude control and speedy return to the exact starting point . Tethers also allowed for the stringing of telegraph wires back to the ground . Information gathered from balloon observation was relayed to the ground by various means of signaling . From high altitudes the telegraph was almost always necessary . At closer altitudes a series of prepared flag signals , hand signals , or even a megaphone could be used to communicate with the ground . At night either the telegraph or lamps could be used . In the later battles of Lowe ' s tenure , all reports and communications were ordered to be made orally by ascending and descending with the balloon . This is notable in Lowe ' s Official Report II to the Secretary where his usual transcriptions of messages were lacking . Free flight would almost always require the aeronaut to return and make a report . This would be an obvious detriment to timely reporting . LaMountain and Lowe had long argued over free flight and captive flight . In Lowe ' s first instance of demonstration at Bull Run , he made a free flight which caught him hovering over Union encampments who could not properly identify him . As a civilian he wore no uniform nor insignias . With each descent came the threat of being fired on , and to make each descent Lowe needed to release gas . In one instance Lowe was forced to land behind enemy lines and await being rescued overnight . After this incident he remained tethered to the ground by which he could be reeled in at a moment ' s notice . Besides , his use of the telegraph from the balloon car required a wire be run along the tether . LaMountain , from his position at Fort Monroe , had the luxury of flying free . When he was enjoined with the Balloon Corps , he began insisting that his reconnaissance flights be made free . Lowe strictly instructed his men against free flight as a matter of policy and procedure . Eventually the two men agreed to a showdown in which LaMountain made one of his free flights . The flight was a success as a reconnaissance flight with LaMountain being able to go where he would . But on his return he was threatened by Union troops who could not identify him . His balloon was shot down , and LaMountain was treated harshly until he was clearly identified . Lowe considered the incident an argument against free flight . LaMountain insisted that the flight was highly successful despite the unfortunate incident . The showdown did nothing to settle the argument , but Lowe ' s position as Chief Aeronaut allowed him to prevail . Building military balloons . Lowe believed that balloons used for military purposes had to be better constructed than the common balloons used by civilian aeronauts . They also required special handling and care for use on the battlefield . At first the balloons of the day were inflated at municipal coke gas supply stations and were towed inflated by ground crews to the field . Lowe recognized the need for the development of portable hydrogen gas generators , by which the balloons could be filled in the field . Lowe had to deal with administrative officers who usually held ranks lower than major and had more interest in accounting than providing for a proper war effort . This caused delays in the funding of materials . Lowe was called out for another demonstration mission that would change the effective use of field artillery . On 24 September 1861 , he was directed to position himself at Fort Corcoran , south of Washington , to ascend and overlook the Confederate encampments at Falls Church , Virginia , at a distance further south . A concealed Union artillery battery was remotely located at Camp Advance . Lowe was to give flag signal directions to the artillery who would fire blindly on Falls Church . Each signal would indicate adjustments to the left , to the right , long or short . Simultaneously reports were telegraphed down to headquarters at the fort . With only a few corrections , the battery was soon landing rounds right on target . This was the precursor to the use of the artillery forward observer ( FO ) . The next day , Lowe received orders to build four proper balloons with hydrogen gas generators . Lowe went to work at his Philadelphia facility . He was given funding to order India silk and cotton cording he had proposed for their construction . Along with that came Lowe ' s undisclosed recipe for a varnish that would render the balloon envelopes leakproof . 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 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 1 October 1861 , the first balloon , the " Union " , was ready for action . Though it lacked a portable gas generator , it 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 River into Fairfax County . The balloon and crew arrived by daylight , exhausted from the nine - hour overnight ordeal , when a gale - force wind took 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 built seven balloons , six of which were put into service . Each balloon was accompanied by two gas generating sets . The smaller balloons were used in windier weather , or for quick , one - man , low altitude ascents . They inflated quickly since they required less gas . They were : The larger balloons were used for carrying more weight , such as a telegraph key set and an additional man as an operator . They could also ascend higher . They were : The latter two balloons were held in storage in a Washington warehouse . Eventually the " Excelsior " was sent to Camp Lowe , a high altitude observation point , as a back - up balloon to the " Intrepid " during harsh winter weather , but the " United States " was never put into service . LaMountain made reference to these two balloons in his diatribes against Lowe as " being hoarded " by Lowe so he could buy them unused at the end of the war . Establishing the Corps . Initially , Lowe was offered $ 30 per day for each day his balloon was in use . Lowe offered to accept $ 10 gold per day ( colonel ' s pay ) if he were to be allowed to build more suitable balloons . He was also allowed to hire as many men as he needed for $ 3 currency per day . Lowe was able to enlist his father , Clovis Lowe , an 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 forced him to take to the waterways . Balloon service was requested at more remote locations as well . Eben Seaver was assigned to take the " Eagle " to the Mississippi River to assist in battlefronts there . Mr . Starkweather was sent to Port Royal with the " Washington " just prior to the Peninsula Campaign . First aircraft carrier . The " General Washington Parke Custis " , a converted coal barge , had its deck cleared of all items that could entangle the ropes and nets of the balloons , and it was used as a river transport for the Corps . Lowe had two gas generators and a balloon loaded aboard and later reported : Peninsula Campaign . The battlefront turned toward Richmond in the Peninsula Campaign . The heavy forestation inhibited the use of balloons , so Lowe and his Balloon Corps , with the use of three of his balloons , the " Constitution " , the " Washington " , and the larger " Intrepid " , used the waterways to make its way 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 18 May , he had set up a balloon camp at Gaines ' Farm across the Chickahominy River 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 contingent 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 ' s envelope was an hour away from being fully inflated . He then called for a camp kettle to have the bottom cut out of it , and he 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 . McClellan took Lowe ' s advice , repaired the bridge , and had reinforcements sent to Heintzelman ' s aid . An account of the battle was being witnessed by the visiting Count de Joinville who at day ' s end addressed Lowe with : " You , sir , have saved the day ! " Confederate Army ' s counter . Because of the effectiveness of the Union Army Balloon Corps , the Confederates felt compelled to incorporate balloons as well . Since coke gas was not readily available in Richmond , the first balloons were made of the Montgolfier rigid style : cotton stretched over wood framing and filled with hot smoke from fires made of oil - soaked pine cones . They were piloted by Captain John R . Bryan for use at Yorktown . Bryan ' s handlers were poorly experienced , and his balloon began spinning in the air . In another incident , one of the handlers became entangled in the ascending tether rope which had to be chopped loose , leaving the captain free - flying over his own Confederate positions whose troops threatened to shoot him down . Attempts at making gas - filled silk balloons were hampered by the South ' s inability to obtain any imports at all . They did fashion a balloon from dress silk . Evans cites excerpts from Confederate letters that stated their balloons were made from dress - making silk and not dresses themselves . As it was put : " . . . not a single Southern Belle was asked to give up her Sunday best for the cause . " Eugene Block quotes a letter that Lowe received from Confederate Major General James Longstreet asserting that they were sent out to gather up all the silk dresses to be found to fashion a balloon : The silk material balloon used by the Confederates was of a design by Dr . Edward Cheves on Savannah , Georgia . Dr . Cheves had the silk material sewn together by seamstresses , and then covered the silk material with a varnish made by melting rubber in oil . The balloon was filled with a coal gas , and launched from a railroad car that its pilot , Edward Porter Alexander had positioned near the battlefield . In late June 1862 , Alexander made a few ascents in the balloon and was able to signal his observations of the battlefield to men on the ground , using a wigwag system that he had devised . The coal gas used in the balloon was only able to keep the balloon aloft for about three to four hours at a time . The patchwork silk was given to Lowe who had no use for it but to cut it up and distribute it to Congress as souvenirs . The inflated spheres appeared as multi - colored orbs over Richmond and were piloted by Captain Landon Cheeves . The balloon was loaded onto a primitive form of an aircraft carrier , the CSS Teaser . Before the first balloon could be used , it was captured by the crew of the USS " Maratanza " during transportation on the James River . A second balloon was put into action in the summer of 1863 , when it was blown from its mooring and taken by Union forces and divided up as souvenirs for members of the Federal Congress . As the Union Army reduced its use of balloons , so did the Confederates . Troubled Balloon Corps . During the Seven Days Battles in late June , McClellan ' s army was forced to retreat from the outskirts of Richmond . Lowe returned to Washington and 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 had been 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 he 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 activated Lowe at the Battle of Fredericksburg . For all its success , the Balloon Corps was never fully appreciated by the military community . They were still regarded as carnival showmen . Others had little respect for their break - neck operation . The only ones who found any value in them were the generals whose jobs and reputations were on the line . Lower - ranking administrators looked with disdain on this band of civilians who , as they perceived them , had no place in the military . Furthermore , none of the corps ever received a military commission , leaving them facing the dangers of being captured and treated as spies , summarily punishable by death . The Balloon Corps was eventually assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers and put under the administrative purview of one 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 ) per day . Lowe posted a letter of outrage and threatened to resign his position . No one came to his support , and Comstock remained unyielding . On 8 April 1863 , Lowe left the military service and returned to the private sector . Direction of the Balloon Corps defaulted to the Allen brothers , but they were not as competent as Lowe . By 1 August 1863 , the Corps was no longer used . After the Civil War . Manned air - war mechanisms became important again to the Army when the airship ( a dirigible , blimp , or zeppelin ) came into existence with their motorized propulsion and mechanical means of steering . The United States Army Signal Corps established a War Balloon Company in 1893 at Fort Riley , Kansas ( at the time , home of the Signal School ) , and the next year at Fort Logan , Colorado , using a single balloon ( the " General Myer " ) purchased in France . When that balloon deteriorated , members of the company sewed together a silk replacement in 1897 . The balloon , dubbed the " Santiago " , saw limited use in combat in 1898 during the Spanish - American War . Reports of Lowe ' s work in aeronautics and aerial reconnaissance were heard abroad . In 1864 , Lowe was offered a Major - General position with the Brazilian Army , which was at war with Paraguay , but he turned it down . Not long thereafter , the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin visited Lowe to look into his aeronautic methods . Von Zeppelin ’ s dirigible revolutionized aviation of the day . In the 19th century , the idea of dropping ordnance on the enemy from an aerial station was not seriously considered , although there was a patent issued to a Charles Perley in February 1863 for a bomb - dropping device that could be floated aloft by balloon . The balloon bomb was to be unmanned , and the plan was a theory which had no effective way of assuring that a bomb could be delivered and dropped remotely on the enemy . Also , as a civilian operation the Balloon Corps would have never been expected to drop ordnance .