Seizing The Highest Ground:The Union Army Balloon Corps

A Capstone Paper byKevin S. Gould

Advisor, David J. UlbrichJune 17, 2014

Figure 1. Lowe in 1859.Source: Haydon, Military Ballooning, Plate XXXIV.

Figure 2. John La MountainSource: Haydon, Military Ballooning,

Plate X

Figure 3. Cyrus Ballou Comstock during the Civil War.

Source: Civil War Generals in Black and White,

http://generalsandbrevets.com/c/.

Thaddeus Lowe in 1859

Source: Haydon, Military Ballooning, Plate XIII.

Cyrus Comstock in 1895

Figure 10. Balloon-Boat, G.W. Parke Custis, with Balloon Washington at Budd's

Ferry, Maryland. 

Source: Haydon, Military Ballooning, Plate XXVII.

Thaddeus Lowe in 1859

Source: Haydon, Military Ballooning, Plate XIII.

Figure 5. Scale Drawing of Generator and Cooler, Drawn by J.M. Bancroft, January, 1862.

Source: Haydon, Military Ballooning, Plate XXIII.

Figure 6. Scale Drawings of Generator and Purifier, Drawn by J.M. Bancroft, January, 1862.

Source: Haydon, Military Ballooning, Plate XXIV.

Figure 7. Lowe’s hydrogen gas generators in 1861.Source: National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/photogallery/ncr/park/cwdw/

Figure 11. Lowe observes at Fair Oaks, 31 May 1862.

Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division,

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpb.01560.

Figure 12. Fair Oaks, Virginia. Prof. Thaddeus S. Lowe replenishing the Intrepid from the Constitution, 31 May 1862.

Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division,

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpb.01562.

Map 2. The Battle of Seven Pines/Fair Oaks, 31 May – 1 June 1862Showing Lowe’s line of sight at both balloon stations to D.H.

Hill’s Division. 

Source: United States Military Academy at West Point Department of History,

American Civil War,http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/American%20Civil

%20War.aspx.

Figure 9. Balloon Eagle during a storm, from a war correspondent’s drawing.

 Source: Haydon, Military Ballooning, Plate XLV.

Figure 10. Hydrogen generators with cooler and purifier

Source: Smithsonian Institution.

Thaddeus Lowe afterThe Peninsula Campaign

Source: Smithsonian Institutionhttp://airandspace.si.edu/blogmedia/balloon1.jpg

Andrew A. Humphreys

The heaviest camps seem to be along the banks this side of the  James River and a little to the left of Richmond; the next heaviest are to the right of Richmond on the road from Mechanicsville: there are also several smaller on the first heights opposite Mechanicsville, and several batteries stationed there, some of which I saw put in position while in the balloon, besides those fired at me.

Lowe to McClellan27 May 1862 

There were no vessels or encampments of any kind either at York or BackRivers or at New Market Bridge. On a branch of James River, about 5 miles from NewportNews, is a large encampment of the enemy, form 150 to 200 tents, also anencampment in the rear of the Pig Point batteries of from 40 to 50 tents.At Norfolk two large ships of war are lying at bent &c. No operations at Tanner'sCreek. I illustrate what I saw by the accompanying hasty diagram. The gunswhich I discovered in a previous ascension proved to be only heavy fieldpieces mounted on carriages. Along the coast below Sewell's Point no batteriesor enemy were visible.

La Mountain to Butler, 1 OR 4, 601, 10 August 1861

Map 3. Fredericksburg Campaign. 

Source: United States Military Academy at West Point Department of History,

American Civil War, http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/American%20Civil

%20War.aspx.

Map 4. Chancellorsville Campaign.

Source: United States Military Academy at West Point Department of History,

American Civil War, http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/American%20Civil

%20War.aspx.  

Figure 4. Lowe's military balloon near Gaines’ Mill, Virginia, May 1862.Lowe stands to the right with his hand on the envelope.

Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division,http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.33091.

Areas for Further Study

• Biography of Cyrus Comstock

• Professionalization of Intelligence

• Military Technology in the Civil War

• Adaptation of Technology to Tactics in the ACW

• From the Halls of Montezuma to the Lab of Joseph Henry: The Mexican War's Influence on Military Technology, 1846-1861.

• Contractors in the American Civil War

• Roles of Civilians in Military Organizations

• Reputation and Honor in the Civil War North

• Evolution of Military Cartography

• Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and the Increasing Speed of War

• OODA on the Peninsula: The Decision Making Cycles of Johnston, Lee, and McClellan

Reviewers

Jim Gourley is the author of Faster: Demystifying the Secrets of Triathlon Speed and the upcoming The Race Within: The Story of the Ultraman Triathlon. He is a regular contributor to Tom Ricks' blog "The Best Defense." Jim is a 2002 graduate of the US Air Force Academy where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Astornautical Engineering and a commission as an infantry officer in the United States Army. Jim served as an infantry platoon leader in Iraq in 2003-04 and as an intelligence officer, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle detachment commander, and infantry brigade intelligence collection manager in 2005-06 with this author.

Michael E. Krivdo is the US Army Special Operations Command deputy command historian for Special Forces history. He earned his Ph.D from Texas A&M University under Dr Joseph G. Dawson, III with the dissertation, "What are Marines for?" The United States Marine Corps in the Civil War Era in 2011. His research interest is modern American military and naval history, focusing on the development of the Marine Corps. Michael received his commission through the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program in 1984 and retired in 2004.

Kevin Gould is an Army HUMINT chief warrant officer. He has served in Iraq as a senior interrogator and HUMINT operations manager for the 187th Infantry Regiment; HUMINT policy officer for XVIII Airborne Corps; interrogation policy officer for Joint Special Operations Command and the HUMINT staff officer for US Army Special Operations Command. Kevin has published articles on military history in various encyclopedias and book reviews in numerous journals. Kevin looks forward to an encore career beginning in October.

Scott Gaitley is the Group Historian for the 960th Cyberspace Operations Group headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and former command historian for the 931st Air Refueling Wing, Wichita, Kansas and historian with the Afghan Study Team, US Army Combat Studies Institute. He is a 2012 graduate of Norwich University’s Master of Arts in Military History program. Scott’s essay, “Ambushing the Taliban, A US Platoon in the Korengal Valley” appears in Vanguard of Valor, Small Unit Actions in Afghanistan (Combat Studies Institute, 2012).

Reviewers

Jim Gourley is the author of Faster: Demystifying the Secrets of Triathlon Speed and the upcoming The Race Within: The Story of the Ultraman Triathlon. He is a regular contributor to Tom Ricks' blog "The Best Defense." Jim is a 2002 graduate of the US Air Force Academy where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Astornautical Engineering and a commission as an infantry officer in the United States Army. Jim served as an infantry platoon leader in Iraq in 2003-04 and as an intelligence officer, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle detachment commander, and infantry brigade intelligence collection manager in 2005-06 with this author.

Michael E. Krivdo is the US Army Special Operations Command deputy command historian for Special Forces history. He earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University under Dr. Joseph G. Dawson, III with the dissertation, "What are Marines for?" The United States Marine Corps in the Civil War Era in 2011. His research interest is modern American military and naval history, focusing on the development of the Marine Corps. Michael received his commission through the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program in 1984 and retired in 2004.

Kevin Gould is an Army HUMINT chief warrant officer. He has served in Iraq as a senior interrogator and HUMINT operations manager for the 187th Infantry Regiment; HUMINT policy officer for XVIII Airborne Corps; interrogation policy officer for Joint Special Operations Command and the HUMINT staff officer for US Army Special Operations Command. Kevin has published articles on military history in various encyclopedias and book reviews in numerous journals. Kevin looks forward to an encore career beginning in October.

Scott Gaitley is the Group Historian for the 960th Cyberspace Operations Group headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Lockland and former command historian for the 931st Air Refueling Wing, Wichita, Kansas and historian with the Afghan Study Team, US Army Combat Studies Institute. He is a 2012 graduate of Norwich University’s Master of Arts in Military History program. Scott’s essay, “Ambushing the Taliban, A US Platoon in the Korengal Valley” appears in Vanguard of Valor, Small Unit Actions in Afghanistan (Combat Studies Institute, 2012).