CHAPTER TWO

The Civil War and Beyond


Upon his return to Cincinnati, Lowe's hopes of finding financial support to continue on with his scientific exploits were dashed by the onset of the Civil War. Driven by his own feeling of patriotism, he realized that his services might be better utilized in service of the country. There weren't many who could put any value on ballooning as a military asset. It was more a showman's folly. Nonetheless, Secretary of the Treasury Samuel P. Chase discussed the plausibilty with the Secretary of War and agreed to an audience with President Lincoln.

Lowe, accompanied by Prof. Henry from the Smithsonian, met with President Lincoln on the grounds of the Columbia Armory in Washington, D.C., with his balloon The Enterprise, used in the South Carolina flight, at the ready. He ascended to 500 feet, and with wire in hand telegraphed a message to the ground below:

Balloon Enterprise in the Air

To His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States.

Dear Sir:

From this point of observation we command an extent of our country nearly fifty miles in diameter. I have the pleasure of sending you this first telegram ever dispatched from an aerial station, and acknowledging indebtedness to your encouragement for the opportunity of demonstrating the availability of the science of aeronautics in the service of the country. I am, Your Excellency's obedient servant,

T. S. C. Lowe

Within days Lowe was contracted to establish the U. S. Balloon Corps with himself as Chief Aeronaut. He built five balloons, his favorite being the Intrepid. In the next two years Lowe had made over 3,000 ascents using all methods of signaling from colored lanterns to semaphore. All his flights were done captive, that is, he was always tethered to ground crews so as not to fly free over enemy territory. Lowe's effectiveness as a spy in the sky was measured by the amount of enemy fire he drew. He even caught cannon balls in his basket. Invariably he was well out of range of musket fire. But whatever missed him fell on the Union Army, and his work went relatively as unpopular with the North as it did with the South. In his biography of Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sandberg referred to Lowe as the most shot-at man in the Civil War.

The balloons were filled with light coke gas which was a common lighting and heating fuel used in those communities where it was available. Balloons were filled in town and walked out to the field where they were loosed.

Lowe came up with a design using acid-safe containers loaded onto horse-drawn wagons. In the field he would fill the containers with sulfuric acid into which he would dump iron filings.

The resulting chemical reaction produced hydrogen gas which was collected into a box manifold and then piped to the balloons

Hydrogen gas has a 25% greater lift than coke gas. Thus the balloons filled faster, and since the whole process was carried out in the field, ascents were made quickly in reaction to any enemy troop activity.

The photo to the left side shows Prof. Lowe ascending to view the Battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia. Notice the ground crews belaying the balloon aloft. Gas was conserved by releasing only enough to make it easy to reel back down. Also note the sandbags on the ground used as mooring ballast.

Professor Lowe was even able to perform reconnaissance over the Potomac River, seen in the above right picture. He merely had a flat barge cleared of all its cargo and cabins and installed one of his hydrogen generator sets. His balloons were tethered to the craft as it floated down the river. Officially, Lowe is recognized as having formed the first United States Air Force 1. Unofficially, one could claim, he developed the first aircraft carrier.

During his war service Lowe was never awarded a commission though he constantly sought it. He remained a contractor at colonel's pay but politics kept him from becoming a comissioned military officer 2. His position as a civilian put him low on the priorities list, lent little credence to his ability to be militarily effective even though his work was appreciated by many of his commanders, and began to put a financial hardship on his family.

The Professor resigned in 1863 and returned to private life where he continued with his work in gases and patent inventions. He was very aware of the importance of hydrogen gas to contemporary living. He devised a process by which he improved the method of water gas production of continuous, high volumes of hydrogen. The process became equally popular in Europe. By 1870 he was installing gas plants all down the eastern seaboard building his fortunes in home heating and lighting as well as the many products that used hydrogen gas 3. Soon he was developing and patenting refrigeration, cold storage and ice making machines 4, such as that in the illustration to the right.

At one point he bought a shipping company with which, in conjunction with his cold storage units, he was transporting fresh fruit from New York to Texas, and fresh meat back. This was a first for many people to be eating fresh meats that were not packed in salt. The venture was a dramatic loss for Lowe who was not all that great at the shipping industry, but he took it all in cavalier stride. For him there were many more fortunes to be made.

None of his efforts ever went unrecognized. He received honors for achievement twice from The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, plus the Institute's Elliott Cresson Gold Medal in 1885, and later the coveted Grand Medal of Honor for the Invention Held to Be the Most Useful to Mankind, all for his water gas hydrogen process.

Note: Ballooning was a very costly enterprise for the Confederate Army to undertake (Lowe's balloons alone cost $200 apiece, wartime), though there are accounts of their attempt to balloon. The first of their balloons was flimsily built from varnished cotton and filled with hot air, a technique that was abandoned due to its lack of flight duration. The inexperienced aeroanaut-in-charge lost the balloon in a free flight excursion that barely missed landing in Union territory. Provisions for balloon silk were all but non-existant in the South. Realizing the effectiveness of Lowe's work, though, the Confedreacy built two balloon out of silk dress material. The first was captured by the crew of the Monitor before it was even flown. A second was built the same way and was usually gassed up in Richmond, VA. But in one instance there was no gas to be had, the balloon lay deflated at its mooring and was accidentally blown away into Union Army hands. It was divided up as souvenir pieces for congressmen and Prof. Lowe. More recent publications dispell as myth that these balloons were actually crafted from silk dresses given up by the ladies of the South. It is assured that "not a single Confederate belle was forced to sacrifice her Sunday best for the cause."

1. Lowe's granddaughter Florence was the famous aviatrix Pancho Barnes. She owned the bar and grill at the edge of Edward's Air Force Base, CA which the Air Force attempted to close down removing Barnes from the property. She filed suit claiming that for the fact that her grandfather founded the US Air Force, she was entitled to the property. The courts found in her favor and restored her to the properties with punitive remuneration.

2.Professor Lowe's military career was fraught with controversy and conflicts of personalities. His military pay was tantamount to that of a colonel at $10 gold a day. When his command was assigned to that of one particular captain who had no appreciation for his work, his pay was cut dramatically. Finding little support from any of the upper commands, he resigned in March of 1863. The Balloon Corps all but disintegrated after that.

3. Lowe patented many inventions and devices for heating and refrigeration. He also discovered a light emitting source by placing a platinum mantle over a Bunsen burner. A man by the name of Coleman later perfected the process for lanterns.

4. Ammonia has long been an important gas for refrigeration. It's compound requires high volumes of hydrogen.

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