Wonderful Balloon Ascents/Part 3/Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV.
BALLOONS MADE USEFUL IN WARFARE.
Wars of the French Republic—Company of "Ballooneers"—Battle of Fleurus—The Balloons of Egypt—Napoleon—Modern Services War in Italy—War in America—Ballooning during the French War—M. Duruof—M. Nadar—De Groof, the "Flying Man"—Monsieur and Madame Duruof—Conclusion.
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We will conclude our work with a glance at aerostation as applied to warfare. Scarcely had the first ascents astonished the world, than the more adventurous spirits began to use the new discovery for a thousand purposes directly useful to man. The first point of view in which aerostation was regarded, was in that of its practical utility. If one refers to the pre-occupations of the time—to the great events then occurring in the history of France, one will easily understand that the Committee of Public Safety soon thought of employing balloons in the observation of the forces and the movements of hostile troops. In 1794, the idea was practically carried out, and the French armies were provided with two companies of aeronauts. The command of one of these companies was given to Captain Coutelle, a young physicist of great talent, who rendered memorable services at the battle of Fleurus. The balloons were not thrown free, but were retained attached by means of long cords. In this way they took up, so to speak, aerial posts of observation. Placed in his car, the captain transmitted his instructions to his men below by means of coloured flags. Coutelle has left us a lively narrative of certain incidents connected with one of the grand days of the old Republic. He had been commissioned by the Committee of Public Safety to go to Maubeuge, where Jourdan's army was encamped, and to offer him the use of his balloon. The representative to whom the young doctor presented his commission, knew nothing about balloons, and not being able to understand the order of the Committee of Public Safety, it suddenly dawned upon him that Coutelle, with his trumpery forgery about balloons, was nothing else than a spy, and he was about to have him shot. The genuineness of the order from the Committee, however, was proved, and Coutelle's case was listened to.
"The army was at Beaumont," says Coutelle, "and the enemy, placed at a distance of only three miles, could attack at any moment. The general told me this fact, and engaged me to return and communicate it to the Committee. This I did. The Commission then felt the necessity of making an experiment with a balloon that could raise two persons, and the minister placed at my service the garden and the little mansion of Meudon. Many of the members of the Commission came to witness the first ascent of a balloon held in hand, like a kite, by means of two cords. The Commissioners ordered me to place myself in the car, and instructed me as to a number of signals which I must repeat, and observations which I must make. I raised myself to the full length of the cord, a height of 1,500 feet, and at this height, with the help of a glass, I could distinctly see the seven bends of the river Seine. On returning to the earth, I received the compliments of the Commission.
"Arrived at Maubeuge, my first care was to find a suitable spot to erect my furnace, and to make every preparation for the arrival of my balloon from Meudon. Each day my observations contained something new either in the 
EMPLOYMENT OF A BALLOON AT THE BATTLE OF FLEURUS.
"Generally the soldiers of the enemy, all who saw the observer watching them and taking notes, came to the idea that they could do nothing without being seen. Our soldiers were of the same opinion, and consequently they regarded us with great admiration and trust. On the heavy marches they brought us prepared food and wine, which my men were hardly able to get for themselves, so closely did they require to attend to the ropes. We were encamped upon the banks of the Rhine at Manheim when our general sent me to the opposite bank to parley. As soon as the Austrian officers were made aware that I commanded the balloon, I was overwhelmed with questions and compliments.
"What causes an impression which, till one is accustomed to it, is very alarming, is the noise which the balloon makes when it is struck by successive gales of wind. When the wind has passed, the balloon, which has been pressed into a concave form by the wind, suddenly resumes its globular form with a loud noise heard at a great distance. The silk of the balloon would often burst in a case of this kind, were it not for the restraining power of the network."
After the days of Coutelle we do not read that balloons were made much use of in warfare. The only ascent in the Egypt campaign was that of a tricolor balloon thrown up to commemorate a fete. That Napoleon knew full well the value of the scientific discoveries of his time is clear from the following conversation with a learned Mohammedan, which took place in the great pyramid of Cheops:—
Mussamed. "Noble successor of Alexander, honour to shine invincible arms, and to the unexpected lightning with which your warriors are furnished."
Bonaparte. "Do you believe that that lightning is the work of the children of men? Allah has placed it in our hands by means of the genius of war."
Mussamed. "We recognised by your arms that it is Allah that has sent you—the Delta and all the neighbouring countries are full of thy miracles. But would you be a conqueror if Allah did not permit you?"
Bonaparte. "A celestial body will point by my orders to the dwelling of the clouds, and lightning will descend towards the earth, along a rod of metal from which I can call it forth."
Napoleon did not favour the use of balloons in war. Perhaps it was because he himself had such a splendid genius for war that he depended alone upon himself, and scorned assistance. Perhaps it was because if balloons were discovered to be of real utility, his enemies might make use of them as well as himself, and France retain no special advantage in them. But however this may be, on his return from Egypt he sold the balloon of Fleurus to Robertson. The company of ballooneers was dissolved, and the balloons themselves disappeared in smoke.
During the war in America, the rôle which the balloon played was a more important one. The Government of the United States conferred the title of aeronautic engineer upon Mr. Allan, of Rhode Island, who originated the idea of communicating by a telegraphic wire from the balloon to the camp. The first telegraphic message which was transmitted from the aerial regions is that of Professor Love, at Washington, to the President of the United States. The following is this despatch:—
"Sir,—The point of observation commands an extent of nearly fifty miles in diameter. The city, with its girdle of encampments, presents a superb scene. I have great pleasure in sending you this despatch—the first that has been telegraphed from an aerial station—and to know that I should be so much encouraged, from having given the first proof that the aeronautic science can render great assistance in these countries."
In the month of September, 1861, one of the most hardy aeronauts (La Mountain) furnished important information to General M'Clellan. The balloon of La Mountain, which arose from the northern camp upon the Potomac, passed above Washington. La Mountain then cut the cord that connected his balloon with the earth, and rising rapidly to the height of a mile and a half, he found himself directly above his enemies' lines. There he was able to observe perfectly their position and their movements. He then threw over ballast, and ascended to the height of three miles. At this height he encountered a current which carried him in the direction of Maryland, where he descended in safety. General M'Clellan was so much satisfied with the observations taken in the balloon, that, at his request, the order was given to the War Department to construct four new balloons.
In a preceding page, we have already mentioned that the French were the first to apply balloons to practical use for the purposes of warfare. This was in 1794. The experience then gained fully demonstrated the great utility of aeronautics; and in the disastrous Franco-Prussian War, 1870−72, balloons again played an important part—notably during the siege of Paris. When the German lines had gradually encompassed the French capital, balloon communication was organised between it and Tours, the seat of the Government, for the conveyance of despatches, and, subject to certain conditions, private correspondence. In September, 1870, the French Post Office authorities announced that they would dispatch balloons with letters as regularly as the weather would permit, beginning from the 28th of that month. M. Jules Duruof, one of the aeronauts who guided these balloons, gave an account of his adventures on a certain occasion, which will be read with interest. He "left the Place Saint Pierre Montmartre at eight in the morning of September 23rd. A strong east wind was blowing. He rose to the height of 3,000 yards, and was then driven in the direction of the Arc de Triomphe. Going still westward, he perceived the Prussians in clusters like bees below him, and, with a telescope, could distinctly see them pointing cannon at him. He saw the balls ascend almost perpendicularly into the air, exhaust their impetus, and then fall to the ground. Some of the balls arrived high enough to make the balloon vibrate perceptibly. Infantry fired at him with their rifles almost all the way from Paris to Mantes, but he was entirely out of their range. He distinctly saw the Prussian army in the valley of the Seine, in seven lines, flanked by cavalry. After a voyage of about three-quarters of an hour, he judged that he must have got far enough to come down in safety, and, by a curious coincidence, he descended in the park of a château near Evreux, belonging to Admiral Roncière La Noury, afterwards in command of the sailors who manned the forts of Paris. M. Duruof was furnished with an authority from the Postmaster-General, and had orders to give his despatches to nobody but a Prefect or a General, and to destroy them rather than let them fall into the hands of any other person." He was fortunately enabled to take them on to Tours. Sometimes, however, the balloons descended inopportunely among the Germans, and when they contained official despatches this was a serious misfortune to the French.
Paris was formally invested on the 25th of September, 1870, and after that balloons and carrier-pigeons became the sole means of communication between the unfortunate city and the outside world. So thoroughly, however, were the two methods worked, that the authorities of Paris and Tours contrived to keep each other fully informed of everything that was being designed or accomplished. Balloons left and entered the beleagured city almost daily; and in addition to the mails being transmitted with surprising regularity, many persons escaped from the horrors of the siege by means of them. Several aeronauts met with startling adventures, but for exciting and perilous incidents none can compare with one which befell M. Nadar. He left Tours for Paris, in his balloon the "Intrépide," one morning in October, 1870, at six o'clock. At eleven he was in view of the capital, and while floating about 3,000 mètres above Fort Charenton, a second balloon was observed on the horizon. M. Nadar at once displayed the French flag, and the other balloon responded by exhibiting the same colours. Gradually the two balloons approached one another, being drawn in the same direction by the same current of air. When they were only a short distance apart, several explosions were heard. The strange aeronaut continued to fire upon M. Nadar's balloon, which began to descend rapidly. The French flag had by this time been taken in by the other balloon, and the Prussian colours were exhibited instead. Those who were watching the affair from the French fort below, and who now saw the character and object of the pursuer, cried out that Nadar was lost. But they were mistaken. He had scrambled from the car up the network of the balloon, on the first shot from the enemy, apparently to stop a fissure; he now descended as the balloon righted itself, and on a quantity of ballast being thrown out, again rose high into the air. Shots were then fired in rapid succession from the "Intrépide" into the Prussian balloon, which suddenly fell to the earth with headlong rapidity. On reaching the ground, a detachment of Uhlans, who had watched the combat from the plain, picked up the aeronaut, and bore him to the Prussian outposts. M. Nadar then descended in safety at Charenton.
The problem of flying through the air on wings has yet to be solved. A daring but fatal attempt to do so occurred in London, in 1874. M. de Groof, a native of Belgium, who had constructed an intricate and elaborate machine for the purpose, undertook to fly from a balloon in the air to the ground. At a preliminary trial, he is said to have performed the feat with comparative success; but the real attempt led to the death of the unfortunate adventurer. On the evening of July 9th, the apparatus of M. de Groof was attached to the car of a balloon, which ascended from Cremorne Gardens, and the "Flying Man," as he designated himself, took his place upon it. On reaching an altitude of about half a mile, the balloon was allowed to descend to within 300 feet from the ground, when the machine of De Groof was detached from it, while over a street in Chelsea. Instead, however, of inflating with the pressure of the air, and bearing its inventor in safety to the earth, it collapsed, and turning round, fell to the ground with a crash, carrying its unfortunate occupant with it: the latter was picked up dead. The aeronaut, whose balloon bore M. de Groof from the ground on this occasion, had a very narrow escape from death. After parting from the apparatus, the balloon bore away in a north-easterly direction. On reaching the ground, the balloonist (Mr. Simmons) found himself on the track of a railway, and a train rapidly approaching! By the presence of mind, however, and almost superhuman exertions of the driver and guards, the train was brought to a stand-still in time to avert a second fatality.
The last balloon voyage of exceptional interest which our space will permit us to mention is that of M. Jules Duruof, whose stirring adventure between Paris and Tours we have already detailed. The ascent took place at Calais on the evening of August 31st, 1874, and the aeronaut was accompanied by his wife. It is no part of our duty to narrate the circumstances under which the ascent took place; suffice it to say that the intrepid aeronauts went up against their own will, and with a full conviction that it was almost certain death to do so. Their escape was marvellous. On ascending, they found the wind blowing in a north-easterly direction, and the balloon was driven across the sea towards England. As night approached, M. Duruof attempted to attract the attention of some of the vessels beneath him, but for some time without effect. At length they were descried by the crew of a fishing smack—the Grand Charter, of Grimsby. The story of the rescue cannot be told better than by M. Duruof himself:—" The sea was very rough indeed. I opened the valve and descended until the ropes were trailing in the water, and in an instant we were past the vessel. The crew of the smack, however, launched the boat, and two men rowed it towards us. It was then six o'clock, and seeing the good-will of the fishermen to come and help us, I resolved to stop the speed of the balloon by springing the valve until the car filled with water, and thus give more resistance to the progress of the balloon. However, when I turned round, I could not see the vessel. From time to time tremendous waves broke over the balloon, covering us with water; but still the balloon resisted, and my fear then was that the balloon might burst, in which case we should assuredly been lost. At seven o'clock we again sighted the smack on the horizon, and saw that she was pursuing us, and by degrees we noticed that she came closer to us. The cold was very severe, and our limbs were becoming benumbed. Our strength was failing us, and the hope of being overtaken by the smack was the only thing that gave strength to our arms to hold on by. My wife's limbs were benumbed, and at each jerk of the balloon she became weaker and weaker. The smack continued to approach us, and was now within 500 mètres. I pointed it out to my wife, and it renewed her courage. What was more tiring: was being obliged to hold her in my arms. The smack was then very near us, and I raised myself on the ropes and saluted our rescuers. They saw us and launched their boat, being 200 mètres ahead of us. The small boat was manned by the master (William Oxley) and the mate (James Bascombe). They came nearer to the car, and took hold of the rope. At this time their boat was nearly sinking, on account of the strong jerks of the balloon, but they did not lose courage, and taking hold of my wife's hand, who was like a corpse, dragged her as best they could into their boat. I saw the danger they were in, and I began to cut the ropes that were following the balloon. I had cut the greater part of them when I was dashed against the boat, and I let myself fall into it. I, like my wife, lay helpless in the bottom of the boat. The men let go the ropes of the car, and the balloon rushed off with a mighty speed towards Norway."
The daring aeronaut and his brave wife were conveyed to the smack by their gallant rescuers, and were landed safely at Grimsby. So little effect had their perilous adventure upon them, however, that M. Duruof made an ascent, at which his wife was also present, at the Crystal Palace on September 14th. The balloon was picked up a few days afterwards on the coast of Norway.
If this volume of "The Library of Wonders" had not had for its single object "balloons and their history," we would have devoted a chapter to the numerous attempts
made to steer balloons. We shall only say here that aerial navigation should be divided into two kinds—with balloons, and without balloons. In the first case, it is limited to the study of aerial currents, and to the art of rising to those currents which suit the direction of the voyage undertaken. The balloon is not the master of the atmosphere; on the contrary, it is its powerless slave. In the second case, the
discovery of Montgolfier is useless; and the question is, to find out a new machine capable of flying in the air, and at the same time heavier than the air. Birds are, without doubt, the best models to study. But with what force shall we replace life? The air-boat of M. Pline seems to us one of the best ideas; but the working of it presents many
difficulties. Let us find a motive power at once light and powerful (aluminium and electricity, for example), and we will have definitively conquered the empire of the air.
Cassell, Fetter & Galpin, Belle Sauvage Works, London, E.C.