Hot Air Balloons In The Civil War
by Robert Niepert

Who Flew First?.......Although history books credit Francois Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes with the first manned flight on November 21, 1783, there is speculation that there may have been many flights before theirs.  Studies show that the first flyers probably were members of the Nazcas Indian tribe in Peru.  The Indians may have flown what is referred to as a smoke balloon.  The next man off the ground is thought to have been Bartolomeu Laurenco de Gusmao and the flight supposedly took place in Portugal sometime in October 1709 but there is no recorded history of his flight.   Until solid proof is found and history is altered, we will subscribe to and agree with the historians who have confirmed evidence provided along with eye witness accounts of the famous event in November 1783 and award the honor of first balloon flight to de Rozier and d'Arlandes.

Types Of Balloons.......There are three basic types of hot air balloons.  The first used was the smoke balloon similar to the one pictured here on the left.  The smoke balloons operated on the same principal as hot air balloons but on a much more primitive level and although they were very dangerous and likely to fail, types of smoke balloons were still used into the early 1880's.  Another problem with the smoke type balloon was that the fabric easily caught fire from the ash and cinders created by the fire pit on the launching pad.  A little later on, the hot air balloon (about the same then as we know it now) came upon the scene.   Henry Cavendish discovered hydrogen gas (also known then as inflammable air) in 1766 and noting that it was seven times lighter than air, he started experiments with small model balloons.  Jacques Alexander Cesar Charles and Jean and Noel Robert went to work figuring out how to use the new hydrogen gas to lift a full size balloon with passengers.  All these balloons make use of vents to release the gas or hot air to descend and dropping ballast to ascend.  If a balloon is descending too quickly, ballast (such as sand bags) can also be jettisoned to slow the descent.  Little has changed in their design within the last 200 years.

Fast Forward.......Military use of hot air balloons was not an idea unique to the Civil War.  Years before the Civil War during a balloon exhibition, Benjamin Franklin told others of his idea to fly soldiers in hot air balloons into battle.  The French established a balloon corps during the French Revolution and even Denmark, Russia, and Austria did their best to use this "new" idea for military gain.  Use of the balloon was also proposed in the Seminole War but the idea never got off the ground.  John Wise wanted to use the gas balloon to drop bombs during the Mexican War.  It was Thaddeus T. Lowe (photo on right) who successfully demonstrated the usefulness of the balloon for military purposes as early as April 1861 but did not show the balloon to President Lincoln until June 17, 1861.  He drifted upwards to a height of 500 feet in a new balloon called Enterprise from the front yard of the White House.  The Enterprise spent the night there while President Lincoln pondered the usefulness of such a flying machine.  The next day after the President took a closer look at the balloon, he was convinced and authorized the formation of the Balloon Corps.  It was said by some that President Lincoln actually made an ascension with Lowe but this has never been confirmed.  Then finally on May 31, 1862 in yet another attempt to prove his balloon to other Federal officers, Lowe summoned his courage and ascended in the Union gas balloon, Intrepid.  His objective was to view the battle of Fair Oaks in Virginia.  This is said to have been the first military flight; but although the Federals like to take credit for the first war time flight. it is a fact that Confederate Captain John R. Bryan in a old dangerous smoke balloon beat them to the punch and had flown his inferior craft on April 13, 1862, to observe Union positions at Yorktown.  There were mentions of Confederate balloon activities as early as June 1861 but this activity has never been definitely documented.  These were the first uses of hot air balloons during a war in America.

The Confederate Balloons........The call went out from Gen. Joseph Johnston for a soldier "well acquainted with the country who could correctly estimate the number and character of enemy troops."   Capt. John R. Bryan heard the call and being disinterested with his present assignment in the attorney general's office, answered that same call.  When the Captain found out what he had volunteered for, he related to friends "My ardor to go on special service had been much cooled at the bare thought of being suspended in mid-air by what appeared to me as a mere thread under a hot air balloon."   Never the less, Bryan could not go back on his word and soon became the commander of the Confederate balloon service.  In addition to his new command, he also got a new name.  His men were soon calling him "Balloon Bryan".  Bryan had a close call while observing the Union army at Yorktown when he was fired upon by a Confederate artillery battery.  This incident upset him so much that he requested a discharge from the balloon service.  General Joseph E. Johnston denied the request, saying: "My dear sir, I fear you forget that you are the only experienced aeronaut I have with my army."  Capt. Bryan was doomed to see his service in the balloon corps to its end.  As in most cases during the War Between the States, the Confederacy was at a great technological and material disadvantage.  Try as they might, they were able to put only two balloons into action.  These balloons were not the sleek gas filled type used by the Union army but were as Capt. Bryan said, "nothing but a big cotton bag coated over so as to make it air tight and intended to be inflated with hot air, as gas was a thing not to be had in those places."  In reality, both balloons were made of silk dresses donated by the local southern women.  General Longstreet described it as "a great patchwork ship of many varied hues".  Apparently neither Confederate balloon had an official name.
  The Confederacy started their balloon program using hot air but that soon proved to be inefficient and they too found that gas was the best way to fly the new apparatus.  Due to limited resources, the Confederates had to inflate their balloon in the city where gas was available.  The balloon would be tied into a gas main specifically for that purpose and inflated. The balloon would then be towed by men on tether lines, railroad locomotive or barge to the desired launching site.  The Confederate Balloon Corps didn't last long.  Their silk dress balloon was being transported in a deflated state aboard the CSS Teaser when it ran aground on July 4, 1862 and was captured by Union naval forces.  The second balloon remained in service until the summer of 1863 when it was lost during the siege of Charleston.

Federal Balloons..........Although others in the Union army were skeptical of the use of this new instrument of reconnaissance, Gen. McClellan did not need to be convinced of its usefulness.  He stood firmly behind the new technology and was a staunch supporter of the observation balloons.  McClellan urged commanders to make use of them but few did.  When in use, the balloons were tethered and ascended to between 300 and 500 feet above the battlefield to ascertain the enemy's position and numbers.  Attempts by the Confederates to shoot down the balloons with everything from a pistol to a cannon were never successful.  The photo at left shows the Union balloon Intrepid.
  Smoke and hot air balloons had too many drawbacks and it was realized early on that gas inflation was by far the best way to launch the balloons.  Gas was plentiful in the city but after inflation the transportation of the balloons from the city to the battlefields was too dangerous and time consuming.  Thaddeus Lowe set out to invent a portable gas generating device that could be used anywhere.  What he came up with was a lined wooden tank mounted on a wagon filled with some water and iron filings.  This combination yielded hydrogen gas when doused with sulfuric acid.  The horse drawn wagons were large and rectangular in shape and weighed about 1,000 pounds each.  A total of twelve of these wagons were built to service the balloons.  Notice the large hoses attached from both wagons (photo below right) to the box like device lying on the ground between the two hydrogen gas wagons.  That apparatus was used to cool and purify the gas after it left the wagon's chamber and before it was pumped into the balloon's bag.  The gas passed through copper pipes, then through water and then purified by passage through lime.  Two inflating wagons were required for each balloon.  The balloons stayed out in the field for approximately two months use and were then replaced with a recently refurbished balloon.  The chemicals required for each two month excursion were: 100 carboys of sulphuric acid (weighing 16,000 pounds) and 20 barrels of iron turnings (weighing about 10,000 pounds) not to mention the water needed.  The chemicals used to create the inflating gas cost $350.00 per month but at last the balloons could move with the army.  The first balloon bought by the Federal army for military use cost $850.00 and was made of raw India silk.  This balloon was built by John Wise of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Wise was sponsored by Major Hartman Bache who was the grandson of Benjamin Franklin.  Try as they might, they met with problem after problem and in a desperate attempt to put the balloon into service at Bull Run, they met with disaster.  The balloon was ruined beyond repair during transportation.  Wise gave up and resigned amid sharp criticism.  He received no pay, rations or lodging.  Under Lowe's supervision, the Federals started building a fleet of successful balloons.  They were not cheap but they did work.  Each small balloon cost $1,200.00 and the larger ones $1,500.00 each.  The largest balloon, the Enterprise, required 20,000 cubic feet of gas to inflate.  The most well know balloon, the Intrepid, was 38 feet wide and 45 feet high and required at least three hours to inflate.  The inflating wagons and their men and horses tied up a lot of Federal resources. 

The Balloon Crews........The Union men assigned to the Balloon Corps were quite proud of them and decorated the balloon baskets and bags with patriotic scenes.  The Constitution had a large painting of George Washington while the balloon called Union had an eagle and the American flag on it.  The Intrepid had its name printed in large letters on its bag, others were decorated with red, white and blue bunting.  The Corps paid well also.  The average daily wage of the common infantryman was 50 cents a day, in the Corps Lowe was paid $10.00 a day and his primary aeronaut team were paid between $3.75 and $5.75 per day.  One of the main factors for the discrepancy of pay was due to the fact that Lowe and his aeronauts were civilians.  The Federal Balloon Corps, under Lowe's supervision, by January 1862 had seven balloons in regular service.  Each balloon required a crew of 30 to 50 men to transport, operate and maintain it.  The Corps had over 1,000 enlisted men, officers and civilians busy flying and repairing its balloons.  Although the corps were made up of civilian supervisors, the ground crews were enlisted soldiers.  The only difference in the Balloon Corps soldier's uniform and the regular infantry soldier's were their caps.  The military and civilian men assigned to the Balloon Corps had two special insignias of metal in the shape of a balloon; one with the letters B C on it, the other featured the letters A D for Aeronautic Department.  These insignia were not officially sanctioned and soon they were discarded.

Balloon Bombs.......The Balloon Corps was formed strictly for reconnaissance but it didn't take long for someone to come up with a plan to use the balloons for offensive military operations.  Although none of the balloon bombs were used during the Civil War, a patent for an unmanned aerial bomber balloon was issued to Charles Perley of New York City in February 1863.  His idea featured a bomb placed in the basket of a hot air balloon.  The drawing at right,  from the U.S. Patent Office, shows this device.  Figure one exhibits the bomb in the basket and Figure two shows the bomb falling out from the bottom of the basket.  The mechanism contained a timer that would trip a hammer on a cylinder which would eject a hinge pin.  As the pin ejected, it also ignited the bomb's fuse.  At this point, the hinged bottom of the basket would open and release the bomb.  There were several major problems with the balloon bomb.  The biggest and most important problem was that the weapon could only be used when the wind was blowing in the direction of the enemy.  Adjustments could be made to compensate for wind currents if the crew was fast enough and able to maneuver around the field freely to gain a favorable position to launch the balloon.  For the best accuracy, it was recommended that the balloon detail send up several small test balloons or gas bags to check the speed and direction of the wind so the timing device could be correctly set.  Charles Perley's new idea was never taken seriously and therefore was not implemented.

The Corps Disbanded.....From the beginning, the Union Balloon Corps had its problems.  No one knew exactly what branch of the service to assign them to.  At first they were in the Corps of Topographical Engineers and the aeronauts drew detailed maps and sketches of enemy positions but then soon they employed a telegraph system to relay their information to commanders on the ground.  The Topographical Engineers decided that because the flyers were using a telegraph system they could be rid of the burden of the balloons by reassigning them to the Military-Telegraph Corps.  Still later when they acquired their own telegraph train, they were reassigned to the Quartermaster's Department then later to the Corps of Engineers.  Lastly, Hooker assigned the balloons to the Signal Corps who had neither the men nor  the money to operate and fund the program so the Corps were disbanded.  Military conservatism and interdepartmental rivalries doomed what could have been a useful military tool and by the Summer of 1863, the balloons were gone.

That's A First.........The Balloon Corps pioneered many military actions and ideas that we consider quite common today. They invented the first "aircraft carriers" when a converted coal barge, the USS George Washington Parke Custis, towed and launched balloons from its deck and the armed transport, Fanny, towed inflated balloons into battle.  When Capt. E.P. Alexander's Confederate artillery battery fired on a Federal balloon in August, 1861 they became the first "anti-aircraft" battery in history and Lowe became the first aircraft to receive their "anti-aircraft" fire from the ground.  When the Confederates under General Beauregard knew that Union balloons were in the area, they kept campfires to a minimum and lights dimmed thus practicing the first "blackouts" under military conditions.  The balloons also became the first "aerial spotters" for artillery in September 1861 near Washington's Chain Bridge.  Other firsts that we consider commonplace in wars today could have been established but were not followed through with, included the suggestion of aerial photography, aerial bombing and troop transport among others.

References:
Aviation History
Time Life Books
War, Terrible War
U.S. Patent Office
America's Civil War
Library Of Congress
Forward To Richmond
The National Archives
The Library Of Congress
The Army Historical Foundation
Arms And Equipment OF The Civil War
The Civil War Strange And Fascinating Facts
Lord's Civil War Encyclopedia Volumes I and II