Union+army+balloon+corps

=Union Army Balloon Corps=


 * an HMS American Cultures Collaborative Production**

The [|Union Army Balloon Corps] was a branch of the Federal Army established by [|Thaddeus S. C. Lowe], a hot air balloonist who was working to make a transatlantic trip by balloon at the time. He decided to meet with Lincoln to share his knowledge of balloons with him, hoping that the balloons would be of use in the war. On a mid-July day, Lowe performed his balloon demonstration in front of the White House, and was chosen to be chief of the balloon corps. Lowe set different balloons up in locations such as Harper's Ferry, Fort Monroe, and Washington D.C. During the war, the balloon could be "flown" two ways-- free flight, where the balloon can go in any direction the pilot wants it to or captive, where the balloon is restrained by tethers. The purpose of the balloons was to spy on the Confederates. After seeing the success of the use of the Union's hot air balloons, the Confederates began to use balloons flown by Captain John Brian. These strange yet interesting tools of war were surprisingly helpful to both the Union and Confederacy in the Civil War.

Online Credit:
 * Wikipedia, Union Army Balloon Corps []


 * Wikipedia, Union Army Balloon Corps []