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Observation Balloons

Ballooning can be made a very useful implement in warfare. All depends on the encouragement it receives.

John La Mountain

La Mountain had written in a letter to Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, Commander of the Department of Virginia for the Union in the summer of 1861, "I am well convinced in my mind that at an expense not to exceed eight or nine thousand dollars, I can build a balloon in a month's time, and with it shell, burn or destroy Norfolk or any city near our camps."

He was optimistic about the specific details, but accurate about the concept. Ballooning was to become a very useful implement in warfare, and John La Mountain was one of four men who introduced the new weapon in the field with the Union armies.

Observation balloons were not new to war when the Civil War broke out April 12, 1861. The French had used them successfully in campaigns against the Austrians at the end of the 18th century. During the intervening years, balloons had been considered for military use by U.S. forces at least twice, first in the Seminole War of 1840.

The Seminole Indians were to be deported from their homeland in Florida to a remote Western reservation. Masters of movement through Florida's swamps, they evaded troops under Col. John H. Sherburne for several years. But Sherburne conceived the idea of equipping his infantry with hot-air balloons for night observations when enemy campfires would be visible for long distances. By plotting and triangulation, the positions of the Seminoles could be determined. Sherburne unofficially wrote to balloonist Charles Durant, who offered to sell a new balloon for $900 and a used one for $600. That is as far as Sherburne got, because his official request for balloon support was rejected.

Within five years, the U.S. was at war with Mexico. Balloonist John Wise, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, wrote the War Department, suggesting that he be hired to make balloon observations of Mexico City and to bomb it, if that would help. He never received a reply.

When the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter by the forces of rebellion, starting the Civil War, the technology of balloon construction and operation was well established. Wise had set a world distance record July 1, 1859, flying from St. Louis to Jefferson County, New York, a distance of 809 miles, in 19 hours and 40 minutes. Wise made other contributions to the art. He invented the rip panel, for almost instantaneous deflation of the balloon after landing. He discovered that a ripped balloon envelope would billow to the top of its covering network of ropes, to serve as a rudimentary, but effective, parachute.

James Allen was the first balloonist to volunteer for service in the Civil War. One week after the capture of Ft. Sumter, he headed for Washington, D.C., with two balloons, offering his four years of experience to the Union. His first balloon was inflated June 9 from a gas main at Massachusetts Avenue and Third Street, hauled by a ground crew to Caton's Farm about one mile north of the Capitol building, and launched on a trial flight. The first attempt to use the balloon tactically was made July 9; Allen expected to observe rebel positions just outside Washington. The attempt failed; the balloon could not be fully inflated because of an inefficient gas generator.

But Lt. Henry L. Abbot, Topographical Engineers, was impressed. In his report, he wrote that balloons would be very useful in coming campaigns. He also singled out, at that early stage, the major factor that was to frustrate the balloon corps and its people: command and control. For all the time that balloons were in service with the Union armies, dedicated troops never were assigned. Instead, individual soldiers were temporarily detached from regular troops in the area. Their commanders objected, and kept the pressure on to get their men back as soon as possible. Further, there was no continuity of service under such an arrangement; ground crews never developed proficiency in operating and maintaining the balloons.

Allen got another chance when Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell's troops moved out in the first Manassas campaign in July 1861. Both balloons were inflated with coal gas at a plant in Alexandria, Virginia, the morning of.July 14. One burst; it was old and in poor condition. The second was man-handled along the road toward Falls Church, but a gusty and strengthening wind drove balloon and handling crew off the road and toward a canal. A telegraph pole impaled the balloon; it collapsed in a final sigh of gas, and ended Allen's early hopes of service to the Union cause.

The Topographic Engineers' office had enough faith to keep trying. On June 26 they telegraphed the experienced balloonist John Wise for an estimate of the cost and delivery date of a new balloon of 20,000 cubic feet capacity, made of the best Indian silk and with linen cordage. Wise replied that it would take two weeks and cost $850.

Wise was appointed a balloonist in the Federal service .July 1, 1861. He was 53 years old, with more than a quarter-century of ballooning experience behind him. The balloon was finished July 16 and moved to Washington. Ordered to Centreville, Virginia, and duty with Gen. McDowell's headquarters, Wise and the inflated balloon started out in the early light of.July 21. He met Maj. Albert J. Myer, Signal Officer of the Army. and commander of the unit that would take the balloon to battle. Myer was impatient; he could hear the guns of battle ahead and, seeking faster transport, ordered that the balloon be moored to a wagon and towed by a team of horses. The hitch was made, and the horses were urged into a trot. Near Fairfax Courthouse, the inevitable happened. The balloon was snared by the thick foliage of the trees lining the road. Over Wise's objections, Myer ordered the wagon ahead. The balloon tore and collapsed, and the first Battle of Bull Run was fought without aerial reconnaissance.

Wise managed a first successful ascent July 24, at Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac from Washington. He saw some Confederate artillery about five miles distant, and spotted rebel reconnaissance parties out in front of the Union positions.

The following morning, while moving the inflated balloon from Arlington toward Ball's Cross Roads, the wind again ruined Wise's day. The handling lines were worn through by constant chafing against the telegraph wires along the route, and the balloon broke loose, headed south. It was brought down by gunfire from soldiers at Arlington, and landed in a pathetic pile of tangled cordage and torn cloth near Gen. Robert E. Lee's former home.

Wise urged the Army to buy transportable hydroyen generators, because moving an inflated balloon around the countryside was not practical. The suggestion was referred to a major with whom Wise had exchanged bitter words. The major killed the recommendation, and Wise resigned in frustration.

Enter John La Mountain, once an associate of Wise and partner with him in an attempted crossing of the Atlantic by balloon. He volunteered, twice: but no response came from the War Department. Instead, Gen. Butler, from his headquarters at Fortress Monroe, wrote and offered a job as an aerial observer. Butler's position on the coast of southern Virginia by Hampton Roads made him vulnerable to both land and sea assaults. He was receiving intelligence reports of enemy movements, but was unable to confirm any of them. Butler believed that balloon observations would help his situation.

La Mountain arrived at the site, unloaded his balloon, and made his first ascent July 25, 1861. Between then and August 10, he was aloft six times and filed detailed reports of each trip. He made a few errors and omissions, but the bulk of his reporting was accurate. More important, it was timely. He estimated troop numbers by counting tents and huts, and discovered some units not known to be in the area.

He was innovative: he attached one of his balloons to a windlass at the stern of an armed transport named Fanny, and on August 10 ascended to 2,000 feet to discover some previously undetected Confederate artillery. It was in a position to shell the Fortress, and the Union ships that lay in, or moved through, the roads.

August 10 was one of his most productive days. La Mountain went aloft five times, once as high as 3,500 feet, and including one night ascent. He made his first sketch in the air, instead of just taking notes. He discovered a rebel force of about 5,000 men to the northwest, another strong force to the northeast of the Fortress, and spotted two large men-of-war anchored off Norfolk. His sketch was copied, and Butler forwarded it and La Mountain's reconnaissance report, to Gen. Winfield Scott, commander of the Union armies.

La Mountain left temporarily on August 16 to get a larger balloon and his own gas generator. He left the letter quoted in part above with Gen. Butler, who passed it along with a strong endorsement to the War Department. Butler moved to another command, his successor was not told of La Mountain's service, and so when the aeronaut did return with his larger balloon, nobody was expecting him. Finally he was ordered to report to the Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. There his path crossed that of Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, and fireworks followed. Lowe was a civilian balloonist of fame when the war began. Lowe was 29 years old, and experienced as a balloonist.

Thaddeus Lowe's strange adventure began in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, on April 19, 1861, he was preparing to make a balloon flight to the East Coast: He had built his own balloon, which he called the Enterprise, for this flight. Thaddeus had a dream. He wanted to be the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon. But he knew he had to make a trial overland run first to test wind currents. That was why he was in Cincinnati.

The people of Cincinnati welcomed Thaddeus, and held a banquet in his honor. It was an exciting occasion, and there was much discussion not only about Thaddeus and his flight, but also about the growing problems between the North and the South. Why, just last week those Rebels had fired on the Union post at Fort Sumter in South Carolina! Surely that meant war! It would be interesting to see how the new president, Mr. Lincoln, would handle this!

Late that evening, while the banquet was still going on, Thaddeus was told that the winds were right and the weather was perfect for a balloon ascension. When he heard this news, Thaddeus decided to leave immediately. He ordered the balloon to be filled and began last-minute preparations. At three o'clock on the morning of April 20, Thaddeus stepped into the basket underneath the huge balloon and gave the signal to cast off. The Enterprise rose quickly into the sky. Thaddeus was on his way to the East Coast!

As the balloon sailed over the dark land, Thaddeus took instrument readings and made notes. The balloon rose to five thousand, ten thousand, fifteen thousand feet. He was almost three miles above the earth! He made same calculations and figured that he was traveling close to 100 miles per hour. He had never traveled that fast in a balloon before! On the horizon, Thaddeus saw the sky growing light. Morning was coming. Far in the distance Thaddeus could see the Blue Ridge Mountains. As his balloon drifted toward them, he realized that he was traveling more toward the southeast than true east. He recalled the talk he had heard about the war, and hoped he would have no problems when he landed.

The Enterprise climbed gracefully over the mountains. On the other side, Thaddeus passed over hills and farms and fields for several hours. Then, in the distance, he saw his goal. It was a great body of water - the Atlantic Ocean! Thaddeus was tempted to go on, to try to cross the Atlantic, but he knew he was not prepared for such a flight. He would have to end his journey here. He opened a valve to lower the altitude of his balloon, and caught a wind current that carried him back inland: Thaddeus looked for a place to set the balloon down, but most of the land below him was too marshy. Finally, he spotted a ridge up ahead. It seemed a good place to land, so he dropped his balloon toward the earth.

Even before he landed, a small crowd gathered. Many of the men carried guns. As Thaddeus landed, no one in the crowd made any effort to help him. The people in the crowd did not know what to think of this man who had dropped out of the sky. None of them had ever seen a balloon before.

Thaddeus landed in Pea Ridge, South Carolina. And since he was a northerner, he was made a prisoner of the Confederate States of America! All of Thaddeus' equipment, including the balloon and basket, was loaded into the wagon, and the long, rough trip to Unionville began. They arrived late in the evening. The planters decided to take Thaddeus to an inn for the night and guard him there.

Now Thaddeus might have been in very serious trouble, but luck was with him. (The abolitionist newspapers he was carrying with him didn't help his case.) The innkeeper had seen Thaddeus fly his balloons before and knew the young scientist. The next morning, after a long talk with the town leaders, Thaddeus was released and put on a train. A few days later, he was back in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Thaddeus Lowe went on to become involved with the Union Army. He convinced President Lincoln to allow him to act as a spy, using his balloon to carry him above enemy territory. He used a telegraph to communicate with Union forces on the ground. The Confederates were never able to shoot him down. Lowe was the first person in history to use aeronautics to determine the strength and position of enemy forces. Thaddeus Lowe also helped establish the First United States Balloon Corps. He never did make his journey across the Atlantic Ocean, but he was the first prisoner and one of the forgotten heroes of the Civil War.

- Robert Feeman

In Washington, on June 18, 1861, he demonstrated the use of captive balloons for observation and telegraphed a message from his Enterprise to the White House, relayed by the Alexandria office of the telegraph company. The next day, Lowe made ascensions from the White House lawn, watched by President Abraham Lincoln and Cabinet members.

Lincoln was fascinated, and wrote letters of introduction to Gen. Scott on Lowe's behalf. But he finally had to escort Lowe personally into the office of the crusty old general to persuade him to hire Lowe and his new-fangled contraption. Lowe began work on a 25,000 cubic foot balloon August 2, and started drawing a daily pay of $5, to be increased to $10 when the balloon was complete and operating.

The Union first flew August 29 outside Washington. On September 24, Lowe first directed artillery fire by Union batteries, advising them of the position of their shots around targets in the Falls Church area. The following day, the Army Quartermaster General ordered four more new balloons from Lowe, together with the gas generating plants necessary to inflate them.

By then both Lowe and La Mountain were aeronauts in the Army of the Potomac, and each was doing his best to minimize the skills and accomplishments of the other. The two rivals were called into a meeting with Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter, one of McClellan's staff officers and himself a balloon enthusiast. Porter suggested a truce in the best interests of the Union cause, and the two agreed to cooperate. La Mountain went on the payroll at the same $10 daily rate that Lowe was receiving.

In addition to his captive flights, La Mountain began a series of free-balloon missions. He would ascend to a level above the reach of enemy ground fire, drift over their lines and positions behind the lines, and then ascend to a higher altitude to catch the prevailing winds blowing back toward the Union positions. He did this four times between October 4 and December 10, 1861, soaring once as high as 18,000 feet to find the wind that would return him to safety.

La Mountain's daring flights forced the development and use of camouflage techniques by the Confederates. Their commanders grasped the deep meaning of the sinister sphere overhead, and began to take pains to hide troop movements and campsites from airborne eyes.

By November, Lowe's four new balloons were ready, and waiting with Union in Washington for orders. These arrived and Lowe, with his troop of aeronauts, joined McClellan's forces along the Potomac. His work was of particular value during the Peninsular Campaign. In Intrepid, Washington, and Constitution he made a series of ascensions to ascertain Confederate troop dispositions and movements, direct artillery fire by means of telegraphic equipment in his basket, and chart the Rebel lines by camera, creating a mosaic map.

Late in 1861, contemporary history recorded the first use of an aircraft carrier, specifically built for the mission. One of Lowe's aeronauts, William Paullin, was in charge of the balloon Constitution, and attached to Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker's corps near Washington. Paullin operated occasionally from the flat deck of the remodeled coal barge, George Washington Parke Custis. She had been modified for balloon operations, and carried the balloon, its windlass and restraining lines, the gas generator, spare parts and materials. The 112-foot long vessel usually was towed by a steam tug, but for operations in shallow water she was supplied with long poles and oars.

The new year saw two smaller balloons added to the force, now totaling seven: Union, Intrepid, Constitution, Washington, United States, Eagle and Excelsior. Lowe's corps now included Paullin; James Allen, the first balloonist with the Union forces and his brother, Ezra; John B. Starkweather; John H. Steiner (who was to write from his remote station with the Army of the Mississippi: ". . . the officers here are as dum as a set of asses . . no one seems to know any thing abought this thing . . . "); Ebenezer Seaver; John R. Dickinson; and Jacob C. Freno, who turned out to be a throughly unsavory character, a gambler on the side, and - when dismissed - a saboteur.

Lowe had all the balloons and La Mountain was fuming. His own Atlantic was aging and too small; his larger Saratoga had broken loose and disappeared on a southern heading. Two of Lowe's balloons were stored in Washington, and La Mountain decided to ask for one to be released to him. Unfortunately, he accompanied his request with a denunciation of Lowe. It took three months of angry exchanges before Lowe was able to counter La Mountain's charges successfully. On February 19, 1862, orders came from Gen. McClellan, discharging La Mountain.

Generals Stoneman, Heintzelman, and Porter joined Lowe in his aerial expeditions and gained intelligence of value. Lowe discovered the evacuation of Yorktown by night observation and sent down tactical information affecting the Battle of Fair Oaks. In one of the first demonstrations of antiaircraft fire, Rebel troops used twelve guns to try and bring Lowe down. Bursting shells sent splinters through his balloon's rigging, but did not touch the passengers or the balloon itself.

The Confederates had one balloon, a patchwork affair of many colors put together from donated silk dresses. The only gas for inflation was in Richmond, and the balloon was filled there, then attached to a locomotive that ran it down the York River Railroad to any desired point. One day, the Rebel balloon was attached to a steamer in the James River when the tide went out, leaving the ship high and dry on a bar. Yankee troops captured the balloon. General Longstreet, bemoaning the loss of the last silk dress in the Confederacy, called it the meanest trick of the war.

David A. Anderton. The Army's Balloons and Dirigibles. The History of the U.S. Air Force. Crescent Books. 1981.

Balloons at War Gasbags, Flying Bombs & Cold War Secrets, Christopher. For the first time, all the uses of balloons at war are contained in a single volume. You'll read of the first "air force" founded by Napoleon Bonaparte; the American Civil, Franco-Prussian and First World Wars' extensive use of balloons; and the Second World War's new and imaginative uses of balloons, which included dropping bombs, destroying enemy aircraft, espionage and other clandestine operations; and more.

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