Snapshots of the Past

The army balloon at rest, (Prof. Lowe's) opposite Fredericksburg – Historic Print

The army balloon at rest, (Prof. Lowe's) opposite Fredericksburg, 1863 Feb. 5. — historic drawing
The army balloon at rest, (Prof. Lowe's) opposite Fredericksburg, 1863 Feb. 5.. Historic drawing from the Historic Print Archive collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: The army balloon at rest, (Prof. Lowe's) opposite Fredericksburg, preserved in this historic drawing. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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The army balloon at rest, (Prof. Lowe's) opposite Fredericksburg

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Drawn on February 5, 1863, this sketch shows Professor Thaddeus Lowe's army balloon resting on the ground across the river from Fredericksburg, Virginia. Lowe ran the Union Army's balloon service, which used tethered gas balloons to observe Confederate positions and report troop movements back to commanders. The town had been the scene of a major Union defeat in December 1862, and the Army of the Potomac remained camped nearby through that winter. The drawing is one of many in a Civil War collection given to the Library of Congress by J.P. Morgan in 1919, and it offers a rare view of this early use of aircraft in warfare.

Created / published1863 Feb. 5.
Medium1 drawing.
GenreDrawings American 1860-1870.
NotesGift, J.P. Morgan, 1919 (DLC/PP-1919:R1.1.69) Forms part of: Civil War drawing collection.
SubjectsBalloons (Aircraft)--1860-1870.United States--Virginia--Fredericksburg
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,148 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-151830

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