Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861].

About this Item

Title: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861].
Author: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Publication: New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press; 1953.
Rights/Permissions: The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes, with permission from their copyright holder. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.
Link to this Item: http://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln4
Cite this Item: "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln4. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 19, 2025.

Pages

To Winfield Scott1Jump to section

Will Lieut. Genl. Scott please see Professor Lowe, once more about his balloon? A Lincoln

July 25, 1861.

Annotation

[1] ALS, DNM-Lowe Collection. On June 18, 1861, Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe of Cincinnati, Ohio, had demonstrated the practicability of using his balloon for purposes of military observation, by taking up a telegraph wire and sending the president the ``first telegram ever dispatched from an aerial station.'' Although Lincoln saw General Scott about the balloon immediately thereafter, the general was not enthusiastic, and Lincoln's note was written more than a month later. Lowe was later employed by General McClellan to make balloon observations of enemy activity.

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