Civil War observation balloon being inflated in a grassy field – Antique Wall Art
(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
Step back in time with Civil War observation balloon being inflated in a grassy field, a historic image rich in period detail. It is part of the Snapshots of the Past archive, gathered over 25 years of research.
Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Civil War observation balloon being inflated in a grassy field
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Here a crew works to fill a Civil War observation balloon in an open grassy field, with the bulky gas envelope and its handling lines spread across the ground. Union forces used balloons like this from 1861 onward, most famously under Thaddeus Lowe, whose aerial reconnaissance helped direct artillery and scout Confederate positions during the Peninsula Campaign. Inflation was a slow, improvised process, often carried out with hydrogen generated on site, so the scene shows the logistics as much as the aircraft itself. The picture is worth a closer look for its record of an early, experimental use of aviation in warfare.
| Original scan | 2,542 × 2,400 px · prints to 8 × 8 in at 300 dpi |
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| Reference | 01562aProf. Thaddeus S. Lowe |
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Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
