This week marks the sesquicentennial of the Seven Days’ Campaign. As such, we thought we would bring you this image of the Intrepid—one of the Union Army Balloon Corps’ aerial reconnaissance balloons.
As you may know, the Intrepid was one of the Balloon Corps’ larger balloons, allowing it to ascend to higher elevations and to lift larger loads. During the Battle of Fair Oaks, Chief Aeronaut Thaddeus Lowe manned the Intrepid to provide Union Army General Samuel P. Heintzelman with invaluable intelligence on Confederate movements.
For more information on the role of Civil War ballooning during the Seven Days’ Campaign, please read Dr. James L. Green’s piece for the Civil War Trust. We also recommend you check out Craig Swain’s article, “The Seven Days’ by Markers.”
Image Credit: Library of Congress.
