Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe (August 20, 1832 – January 16, 1913), also known as Professor TSC Lowe, was a scientist, dreamer, visionary, brilliant inventor and consummate showman. He also was a balloonist, soaring above the clouds in his hydrogen-gas-filled silk balloon suspended in a wicker basket. In 1861 at the beginning of the Civil War he figured that aerial reconnaissance via a manned balloon could be quite helpful in identifying enemy encampments and movements, and hopefully result in ending the Civil War more quickly…..with the primary goal of ultimately saving lives.
At the invitation of the then new director of the Smithsonian Institute, Thaddeus Lowe was invited to perform a demonstration on the National Mall where he tethered his balloon and ascended 500 feet into the air. Lowe also had a telegraph line attached to that tether. He sent a telegraph to President Abraham Lincoln from his balloon informing the President that he could see all the Union Army positions for 50 miles in every direction. Lincoln was more than intrigued and invited Lowe to spend the next day and night at White House so they could discuss his ideas. Convinced, President Lincoln formed the Balloon Core of the Union Army, which was the very first military aviation organization in American history. President Lincoln made Thaddeus Lowe the Chief Aeronaut of this new division of the Union Army. As a result, Pancho Barnes’ grandfather, Thaddeus Lowe, is considered the father of American military aviation, and the grandfather of the US Air Force and US Space Force.
