The wagons that generated the hydrogen gas Thaddeus Lowe used to inflate his observation balloons sit on the Mall near the unfinished U.S. Capitol—possibly during a demonstration for President Abraham Lincoln in June 1861. Lowe formed a civilian Balloon Corps that followed the Army of the Potomac from 1861 to mid-1863. The corps was most active during the Peninsula Campaign, when the Union army was under the command of Major General George McClellan. The balloons rose 1,000 feet above the ground and were held by a tether as the occupants made observations of Confederate lines and movements. The Confederates also employed balloons, although they lacked proper materials and were ineffective. Aerial observations carried obvious benefits, but the Balloon Corps languished in 1863. Lowe and the corps struggled with logistics, communications, and hostile military men who resented their civilian presence. When an officer slashed Lowe’s pay in April 1863, he resigned. By August, the corps was no longer.
