Published: November 08, 2008 09:41 pm      

Aerial surveillance: The Civil War version

On Dec. 14, 1861, J. R. Loughridge wrote to Felicia from his Confederate position 30 miles outside of Washington, “we could see them on the opposite side of the Potomac drilling, drumming, and sailing their little boats up and down the river – almost every day some of their number would go up in a balloon to (reconnoiter) our position….”

Hot air balloons were used for surveillance and reconnaissance during the American Civil War by both the Union and Confederate armies. What little success there was with the aviation program was had by the North. The Confederate Army, in 1862, launched a cotton envelope observation balloon under the direction of Captain John Randolph Bryan. On his second flight, Bryan was unwillingly set aloft when the ground tether was cut, and was almost shot down by his own troops. Handicapped by the Union blockade, the South did not have access to hydrogen as did the North, but used coal gas balloons instead. Next, the Confederates fielded a balloon made from sheets of colored silk patched together. That balloon gave rise to the legend that Southern women valiantly gave up their silk ball gowns to sew the balloon — though the story was not true. Another multi-colored, silk balloon was air tested, but both were captured, through strange twists of fate, by the Union.

The Union fared only slightly better. Though there were multiple “players” in the hot-air balloon game at the beginning of the war, Thaddeus Lowe had the most success. Part showman, and part aeronaut, Lowe had been flying hot-air balloons for some time when he met with President Lincoln and Treasury Secretary Chase on June 11, 1861. Wanting to do his part for the war effort, Lowe did his best to convince Lincoln, Chase, and Secretary of War Cameron that balloons could be used for discerning troop movements.

He and other hot-air balloonists were not always so successful in working with the front-line officers. However an early reconnaissance success in September 1861, led the Union government to pay for the construction of four balloons, bringing Lowe’s fleet to a total of seven. Most of his missions were completed while tethered with long cables — sometimes 5,000 feet high. Balloonist, and sometimes rival, John LaMountain actually made the first free balloon flight to gather intelligence in 1861. Lowe continued to provide important tactical reports for the Union and in 1863 even transmitted hourly reports on Confederate movements at Fredericksburg by telegraph tether cable.

Due to a change in military command, continued in-fighting amongst the competing balloonists, lack of funds, and lack of continued support, the balloon corps disbanded by August 1863, after only two years. While the Union high command saw their usefulness, many battle-hardened generals remained skeptical about the advantages of balloon reconnaissance. But often, observations made from the balloonists’ heights proved crucial to Union victories. And, their presence forced Confederate armies to conceal themselves as best they could. Precious time was lost when camp blackouts were required, guns were hidden, or dummy camps were created.

Military balloons would be used again some ten years later in the Franco-Prussian War in Europe. But it would be in the Spanish American War, some 35 years later, before an American balloon would be used in battle again.

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Holly Beasley Wait is the director of the Pearce Collections Museum at Navarro College