Union Troops Transferring Hydrogen Gas From the Balloon Constitution to the Balloon Intrepid in Fair Oaks, Virginia (1862)

Union troops transferring hydrogen gas from the balloon Constitution to the balloon Intrepid in Fair Oaks, Virginia, May 1862. Animated stereoscopic photographs.

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First Photograph of a Manned Balloon in Flight? (1859)

A Thaddeus Lowe balloon named United States aloft at the corner of 6th Avenue and 59th Street, New York City, 1859. The balloon looks as though it is rising out of a temporary stadium with wooden bleachers. The address seems to put the event in Central Park or adjacent to it. The man that is visible in the balloon's basket might be Thaddeus Lowe himself. This is the earliest photograph that I have come across that undisputedly shows a balloon in flight. Animated stereoview.

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Union Army Balloon Corps

Thaddeus Lowe and members of the Union Army Balloon Corps with a balloon named Intrepid, Gaines’ Mill, Virginia, 1862. The man sitting at the table in front of it is operating a telegraph machine.

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