Civil War Aeronautics

[Whiterook]

In 1860, Thaddeus Lowe, balloonist and magician, went to the White House and offered President Abraham Lincoln his balloon, the Enterprise, to provide Union commanders with battlefield reports. Lincoln accepted and later formed the Army Aeronautic Corps, but the swaying of the balloons, the cameras’ slow speed and Rebel fire made clear photography difficult. Still, it was America’s entry into an air corps.

[Hagen]

The first Enterprise! I knew they used balloons you just never hear that much about them.