Balloons
Pictured above is a photograph taken in 1862 during the American Civil War. This is a prime example of one of the first uses of the camera to record historical events.In the picture you can see the balloon being inflated by the Union Army to spy on the confederate army. President Lincoln set up the Balloon Corps, as it was called, three months after the start of the war. He appointed aeronaut Thaddeus S. C. Lowe as the commander of the corps (Bauman). Lowe was an aeronautical scientist, and had flown many balloons before working for the Union Army. His tactic was to keep the balloon tethered to Union monitoring stations, and because the balloon was still connected, he could send messages through the use of a telegraph wire. The telegraph allowed the Union to instantaneously relay information to the army on the ground. Lowe also called for the making of carts that held helium gas inside, which could be transported to the desired location and used to fill up the balloons for the missions. This can be seen in the picture, as there are two carts being used to fill up the balloon. The Balloon Corps ultimately gave the Union the edge in the beginning of the war, and the advancements made by the north caused the south to try and replicate their success. They were much less successful than the north at using the air force to properly spy and get information for the army (Bauman).
Works Cited
Bauman, Richard. “Civil War Air Force.” Cricket, vol. 41, no. 2, Oct. 2013, pp. 34–38. EBSCOhost, proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=90418914&site=eds-live