.aspx "Conner Prairie Balloon Experience")
Lafayette, Ind., 1859. Credit: Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society
Balloons during the American Civil War
Balloons during the American Civil War
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
People quickly recognized uses for balloons in war. Thaddeus Lowe was the most successful aeronaut who spied on Confederate troop movements during the Civil War. John Wise also offered his services to the Union during the war, but his first attempt to launch at the First Battle of Bull Run met with an untimely end when the balloon became snagged in trees on its way to the battlefield.
Lowe was able to use his balloon to do aerial reconnaissance during the Peninsula Campaign of 1862. He used signal flags and a telegraph to relay information to the ground. The Balloon Corps was disbanded in the early summer of 1863 as the costs and logistics of maintaining the balloons proved too expensive and difficult for battlefield use.