Balloons, Civil War style

John De Perro of Warrenton, Va. left, and John Boyer of Denver, Colo. make the final preparations to launch a gas air balloon filled with helium as the Civil War Balloon Corp sets up their exhibit at Leesylvania State Park for the 150th anniversary of the Potomac River Blockade in Woodbridge on Saturday, September 24, 2011. De Perro was portraying Clovis Lowe, who with son Thadeus Lowe were the first American Civil War aeronauts for the Union.

From InsideNova.com: Balloons, Civil War style
At the beginning of the Civil War Thaddeus Lowe, a balloonist or aeronaut, had the idea that balloons could be used to help fighters on the ground.

To make his point, Lowe flew a tethered hydrogen balloon over the National Mall on July 18, 1861.

He took a telegraph aloft with him and sent the first air-to-ground telegraph message to President Lincoln, said Kevin N. Knapp a Civil War Balloon Corps Historian.

In the message, Lowe told Lincoln that he could see for 25 miles from a height of 500 feet and proposed that balloons could help fight the war, said Knapp, who played a Civil War aeronaut at Leesylvania State Park Saturday during the commemoration of the Confederacy’s Blockade of the Potomac River 150 years ago.

The South made the six-month blockade in an attempt to deny Union ships access to Washington, D.C.

Lincoln was impressed with Lowe’s idea and asked him to the White House right after the demonstration, said Knapp, a retired U.S. Army Major.

“He spent that evening and the night in the White House discussing balloons with Lincoln and how they could be used for the cause,” Knapp said.

Lincoln wrote a short note to Gen. Winfield Scott who was then commander-in-chief of the Army, Knapp said.

The note advised Scott to make use of Lowe’s ideas.

Lowe made no less than ten visits to Scott’s office with poor results, so Lincoln got personally involved, Knapp said.

“Lowe couldn’t get through the gatekeepers to see Gen. Scott. He went back to President Lincoln and President Lincoln actually escorted him, knocked the door down and said, ‘Gen. Scott, you will use the balloons,’” Knapp said.

Bill Percival came to the event with his wife Jamie and said he wasn’t surprised at Lowe’s woes with the feds.

“Nothing has changed much. He tried to sell an idea to the government and the government wasn’t moving. Didn’t like new things,” Percival said.

The North eventually contracted to have seven balloons built and flew more than 3,000 missions.

The South had two balloons that flew less than 10 times, Knapp said.

Balloons were initially used for reconnaissance, but later came to be used more actively.

While the south used volunteer observers, the North had professional balloonists who went aloft to help artillery units hit what they were aiming at.

“It was the first air-to-ground directed artillery fire,” said Knapp a professional balloon pilot.“With the balloons in the air you could say, ‘You’re long. You’re short. You’re left. You’re right.’ It was real-time intelligence that could be put together by military leaders.”

It was dangerous work, Knapp said.

“The balloons were the most shot at than any of the units in the military even though they weren’t in the military. They were civilian contractors, for want of a better term,” Knapp said.