Posted on 09/05/2021 7:53:22 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
WASHINGTON, Wednesday, Sept. 4.
The proclamation of Gen. FREMONT is still the subject of much comment. The Government had not given instructions for any such declaration' nor was it known here that such was to be made. But, nevertheless, there is not one member of the Cabinet who does not approve and sustain the principles declared by Gen. FREMONT.
Gov. GAMBLE, of Missouri, is here to remonstrate against the extension of Martial Law over the entire State, and to speak for the restoration of the Provisional Government, of which he is the Chief Executive, but he will be unable to induce any change. The President is determined to induce energy and firmness in commanders by sustaining them in such measures as they may deem necessary to insure success, and he will take no step backward.
The report of the death of JEFF. DAVIS is received again to-day, and generally credited -- not so much because of positive information, as because those here who are acquainted with him have for a long time entertained expectations of his breaking down under the excitement and responsibilities he has been called to endure, since he became the chief traitor of the rebellious States.
The rebels have availed themselves of the supposed advantages to be derived from balloon observations. Their balloons can be seen in the rear of their advanced works every calm day.
THURLOW WEED arrived at Washington, to-day, accompanied by Gov. MORGAN. There is more trouble, or clashing between the State and General Governments, about the volunteers. The men generally prefer to enter directly the service of the United States, in preference to going through the State mill, subjected to the treatment of Militia Quartermasters, and the circumlocution of the State routine.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: May 2025.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.
Posting history, in reverse order
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The Great Rebellion: Reported Death of Jeff. Davis – 2-3
From Gen. Fremont’s Column – 3
The Sea-Coast of Virginia and North Carolina – 3-4
Operations of the Fleet – 4
Editorial: The Hatteras Expedition Spreading Terror at the South – 4-5
Editorial: The Death of Jefferson Davis – 5
Editorial: The Projected Naval Expeditions-Three Points We Must Have – 5-6
The Public Feeling of the War – 6
A Pleasant Vocabulary – 6
Work for the Detective Police – 6
The State Clothing Contracts – 6
Collector’s Sale of Unclaimed Merchandise – 6
Credulity of the Croakers – 6
Important from Fort Monroe – 6
More of your anti-southern propaganda - no thanks
Democrats were just as insane in 1861 as in 2021.
Your drivel again - no thanks
I “get” it — you love insane Democrats, hate the truth, no help for that.
I find the early use of aerial reconnaissance fascinating. There's a good summary at "Today I Found Out: The North's Air Force During the American Civil War." I've always wondered how they generated gas for those balloons -- it wasn't like you could just go purchase bottles of compressed hydrogen.
The idea to use balloons was the brainchild of Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, and Joseph Henry, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. They suggested that the military should create the balloon corps under the command of Thaddeus Lowe to do some “aerial reconnaissance” for the Union.The idea wasn’t totally new. The French first used balloons in 1794 to observe Dutch and French movements during the Battle of Fleurus.
On June 17, 1861, Lowe demonstrated his balloon in front of President Abraham Lincoln. He went up to the lofty height of 500 feet and flew the balloon the short distance between the Washington Mall to where the National Air and Space Museum now stands. Lincoln had doubtless seen hot air balloons do such things at fairs for years; what made this journey special was that the balloon was hooked up to a cable that linked an air bound Lowe to the War Department. Lowe took a telegrapher and a lightweight telegraph set with him in the balloon’s basket, and he delivered reports to the White House via the War Department. He could see 25 miles in every direction, and was able to report on what he was seeing in the military camps below.
In the first air-to-ground communication in America, Lowe sent the following telegram to Lincoln from his balloon: “The city, with its girdle of encampments, presents a superb scene…”
Soon after, Lincoln wrote to General Winfield Scott about Lowe’s abilities. However, when Lowe presented himself to the general, he found that Scott was less than impressed. Lincoln ultimately had to personally intervene to get the general to accept Lowe into the ranks. Convinced that balloons could provide a critical advantage on the battlefield, Lincoln gave the War Department the go-ahead to establish the Union Balloon Corps. It stood up four months later, providing the United States’ first “air force” and delivering the nation’s first aerial reconnaissance capability. Some of the most important generals of the war loved the balloons and appreciated their value in what they could deliver. They found it genuinely useful in supporting what they were doing.
In August 1861, the first army balloon was constructed and named The Union. The balloon depended on tapping into Washington D.C.’s natural gas lines, so it wasn’t able to go very far. However, the next month Lowe was able to take his balloon up to 1,000 feet and spy on the Confederate troops residing at Fall’s Church, VA. With his direction, Union troops were able to accurately aim at enemy troops without actually seeing them. This was a military first, and the success resulted in the establishment of the Balloon Corps.
The first order of business was to hire more aeronauts. Around October 1861, a number of balloons were tethered along the Potomac River. From their vantage point, the people manning the balloons were able to see any Confederate activity up to a day’s march away, giving the Union time to prepare a plan of defence.
After a short period of time, balloon technology advanced. Lowe himself invented a way to make gas portable: a wooden tank lined with copper, set up on a wagon that also carried water, iron, and sulfuric acid. Combined, these wagons produced hydrogen gas which lifted the balloons up. The army had twelve wagons built to aid the balloons in long-distance missions. Each of them weighed 1000 pounds.
Throughout 1862, Lowe continued to go on reconnaissance missions, noting on maps where Confederate troops were located. When he travelled at night, he would count campfires. It wasn’t all good news, though. The Confederate troops quickly caught on to what was happening and started shooting at the balloons with guns and cannons. Luckily for the people in the balloons, it was pretty difficult for soldiers on the ground to actually hit them—and it was easy for the soldiers in the balloon to gun down anyone who took a shot.
When shooting failed, the Confederates learned how to cloak their positions with camouflage and blackouts, making Lowe’s job more difficult. If Confederates made fewer fires, then Lowe’s estimates of their forces would be low, and the Union troops would underestimate the South’s strength. They would also paint fake cannons black and set them up around camp, so that if a balloon happened to fly over while it was still light, the North would think that they had too many resources to chance a fight. These fake cannons were called “Quaker guns” because they were, like the pacifist Quakers, completely harmless in war.
The South did set out to copy the balloons’ success at one point, but they lacked the technology and resources required to make their balloons practical. The first Confederate balloon was difficult to control, as it was made out of varnished cotton and kept aloft with hot air. The balloonist did manage to draw a map of Union positions around Yorktown despite the difficulties, however. A second attempt was less successful. A balloon made of silk (said to have been sewn from the gowns of Southern Belles) was tied to a tugboat and dragged along the James River before the tugboat crashed and Union troops took control of the balloon.
But the Balloon Corps operated for just two years before it was disbanded in 1863, the victim of bureaucracy as well as logistics. It was run by a civilian organization that wasn’t able to work smoothly with the Army. Further complicating things was the fact that the balloons required extensive logistical support to move and inflate, and an entire company of Soldiers to operate. The Union Balloon Corps met its demise before the end of the Civil War. With a switch of command in 1863, funding was cut to the program which meant that the balloonist could no longer continue staying aloft. On top of that, Lowe himself was accused of “financial impropriety” and forced to resign. Lowe had become the driving force behind the entire campaign, and without him to advocate for the corps, it disbanded.
Below: View of one of Thaddeus S.C. Lowe's aerial reconnaissance balloons in a field during the Battle of Fair Oaks, 31 May and 1 June 1862.
Professor Thaddeus Lowe...
Thanks for the great lesson, Professor POF. I linked it to my Twitter feed so the American Civil War nuts I associate with there can enjoy it as well.
Bkmk
Glad you liked it! The early ISR field is fascinating.
Cool.
Who invented the hot air balloon?
The French?
5.56mm
Hi.
You do know this is a history class, right?
The syllabus is there for all to see.
The propaganda from the NYT is pertinent, but their chronological reporting of events is more important to this particular history class.
The illustrations in Harper’s Weekly are great.
5.56mm
Another dimwit ill-equipped to differentiate between “anti-Southern” (whatever that is) and anti-confederate.
Yawn
Yawn
“You do know this is a history class, right?”
History written by the North.
Possibly the Confederacy would have done better in the war if Davis had died early in the conflict but there is no way to know.
"Propaganda" here is clearly labeled as editorial opinion.
And I would invite you to notice on page 4 the NY Times reprinted in whole, an article from the Confederate Petersburg Express dated Sept 2, describing events at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.
What news organization today reprints entire articles from their opponents?
Hi.
I’m sure you know that there were War Department editors/censors assigned to the Times, right?
5.56mm
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