Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
Thaddeus S. C. Lowe was an aero inventor best known for his involvement with the Union Army Balloon Corps in the American Civil War. After his death in 1913 he was posthumously granted Patent US-1913-1061484 (filed in 1910) for an elaborate LTA airship.
On 18 June 1861, from Washington, Lowe deployed the Enterprise, an LTA vessel connected by telegraph wires to an Alexandria station which relayed messages to the White House. From the air Lowe sent this telegram to the President:[1][2]
Sir: This point of observation commands an area nearly 50 miles in diameter. The city, with its girdle of encampments, presents a superb scene. I have the pleasure in sending you this first dispatch ever telegraphed from an aerial station, and in acknowledging indebtedness for your encouragement, for the opportunity of demonstrating the availability of the science of aeronautics, in the military service of the country. T.S.C. Lowe.
Publications by or about Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
- Lowe, 1859, The airship City of New York; a full description of the airship and the apparatus to be employed in the aerial voyage to Europe; with a historical sketch of the art of ballooning, and the aeronaut's address to the public (Simple title: The airship City of New York; a full description of the airship and the apparatus to be employed in the aerial voyage to Europe; with a historical sketch of the art of ballooning, and the aeronaut's address to the public)
- Publication 7734, 1861, Attempt to cross the Atlantic by aeronautic machinery, a Petition from the citizens of Philadelphia (Simple title: Attempt to cross the Atlantic by aeronautic machinery, a Petition from the citizens of Philadelphia, Journal: Report of the Smithsonian Institution)
- Rhees, 1898, Reminiscences of ballooning in the Civil War. Relates the experiments of Thaddeus S. C. Lowe (Simple title: Reminiscences of ballooning in the Civil War. Relates the experiments of Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, Journal: Chautauquan)
- Lowe, 1907, A balloon trip from Cincinnati, Ohio, to South Carolina, in April 1861 (Simple title: A balloon trip from Cincinnati, Ohio, to South Carolina, in April 1861, Journal: Nav. The Air)
- Ludlow Hammer Post, 1907, Navigating the air; a scientific statement of the progress of aeronautical science (Simple title: Navigating the air; a scientific statement of the progress of aeronautical science up to the present time)
References
- ↑ Randers-Pehrson, 1944, p. 308.
- ↑ "Balloon Reconnoisance and Aerial Telegraph." Scientific American Vol. IV. No. 26, 29 June 1861, p. 409.