During his Civil War days, Lowe had met Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was at the time acting as a military observer of the war. General McClellan had put all balloon ride-alongs off limits, so Lowe sent von Zeppelin to Poolesville to visit his German assistant aeronaut John Steiner, who could entertain him in his own language. Von Zeppelin returned in the 1870s to interview Lowe on all of his aeronautic techniques. Count von Zeppelin later designed the dirigible aircraft that bore his name.