THE BEGINNING OFMILITARY BALLOONING.
M
MANY articles have appeared on this subject, but they are mostly concise compilations as to the dates of the employment of war balloons, and there is yet wanting a more simple and systematic arrangement of the order and particulars under which the respective balloons figured in early aëronautic history.
I have endeavoured to supply these requirements and to add a few practical and critical observations as to the merits and faults of the various equipments and plans from an aëronautic standpoint; as this kind of treatment may interest military aëronauts, and assist civilians who are studying the matter, and it may also prove more attractive to general readers who like to know what professional men have to say (in friendly rivalry) as to the ideas of naval and military officers, who have devoted attention to ballooning.
On the other hand military men, the young especially, who are apt to conclude that veterans know very little compared with modern tacticians, may find that in this speciality they are somewhat mistaken, and that ballooning is not to be “picked up,” so to speak, without having aregular and legitimate schooling in an art which so very few understand.
“One science only will one genius fit,So vast is art, so narrow human wit.”
“One science only will one genius fit,So vast is art, so narrow human wit.”
“One science only will one genius fit,
So vast is art, so narrow human wit.”
The inventive genius of the French may be traced no less than their intrepidity in their early efforts to apply the balloon to purposes of warfare.
In the year 1793, a scientific committee was formed in Paris with this object, when it was suggested that balloons should be used both for attack and defence, and for ascertaining the movement of armies in the field, and to get at the strength of fortified places.
Here was a clear and comprehensive plan for a new departure in military science which the leading nations of Europe have been slow in imitating.
A great deal of doubt and ridicule have been cast upon those (myself included), who, in different countries had the courage of their convictions to urge such a movement upon the attention of those in power.
Austria, whose forces first faced a war balloon at the battle of Fleurus, directed her government not to neglect a bird’s-eye view of the enemy.
Russia took up the idea pretty early.
Italy followed suit.
Germany was slow to move in the air, but has been steady and scientific in carrying out her projects.
Old England, proverbially averse to new fangled notions, resisted all overtures even from an experienced aëronaut for many years, pooh-poohing this kind of feather-brained mode of strategy as at that period imagined.
At last, after experiments had been made by Colonel Beaumont and myself at Aldershot and Woolwich, a balloon corps was formed and permitted to try their hand with calico balloons.
This new force, however, ignoring the first instructors most persistently, ventured to teach the British army without recognized balloonists to aid them; but one day, in an unfortunate hour, a war balloon, while taking a preliminary canter, not, of course, in an official capacity, dashed off on a dark December evening to sea, with an enterprising and much lamented member of Parliament, who knew no fear, but had a poor chance of being rescued from a watery grave.
Then, after this calamity, the British balloon force languished, but not for long, as war clouds were to be seen in the East, where military balloons should have been sent, particularly to Alexandria, but they were not, nor to other places in which Lord Wolseley has himself admitted that they might have proved very useful.
Our own progress at home and the activity displayed on the continent form an instructive contrast, but if we want to ascertain and compare the present with the past we must go back to the year 1793, and follow on chronologically.
The Committee of Public Safety (an excellent kind of committee for London adoption) gave their approval on condition that the gas should be prepared without using sulphuric acid, as sulphur could ill be spared on account of its being so much needed for the production of gunpowder.
Guyton de Morveau showed that water could be decomposed by being forced over red hot metal andborings in a retort, the oxygen being thus separated from the hydrogen which was alone required for an inflation.
Experiments at Meudon were instituted under the direction of Guyton de Morveau, Coutelle, and Conté. Their report led to the formation of a company to be named theAërostiers, who boasted a captain, a sergeant-major, one sergeant, two corporals, and twenty men.
Coutelle was captain, and the aërostiers went to Meudon to be practised in the aëronautic art. After the preliminary experiments Coutelle was sent off to General Jourdan at Maubeuge with material for the inflation, but he arrived at the moment when General Chasal was under arrest for being involved in a plot to deliver the place to the enemy. Jourdan threatened to shoot him as a spy, but he softened down, as De Fonvielle relates, when he saw that Coutelle was not in the least disconcerted, and ended by congratulating him on his zeal in the defence of his country.
The balloon corps contained in its ranks, as indeed some of the modern associations do, some rather singular individuals. We are told in “Adventures in the Air” of a priest of Montmorency, whom the Reign of Terror had driven to take refuge in the camp, but who only waited the advent of more peaceable times to resume his cassock.
We may also mention Selles de Beauchamp, who entered the corps under the name of Cavalier Albert, and who rose to the rank of officer, and left interesting memoirs on the experiences of military balloonists.
The father of Beauchamp, an officer in one of the royal regiments, was seriously wounded in Piedmont, where two of his brothers were killed; he retired, moreover, and diedin 1781, leaving a child six years old, who, two years later, lost his mother also. As an orphan of fortune, as soon as he was old enough, he was sent to the Harcourt College, where he was treated as a youth of quality.
His tutor adopted zealously the revolutionary cause, while Beauchamp stuck to the Court party. The latter, in attempting to leave the country, was arrested and sent to the army of the Loire, but rather than join it he engaged among the military balloonists, of whose life, but for him, we should have known nothing, for the memoirs of Coutelle, though very valuable from a scientific point of view, are too laconic, and enter into no details.
To these various characters Coutelle added a certain number of mechanics, whose services were indispensable. His first lieutenant, Delaunay, was formerly a master mason, and proved useful in the construction of furnaces, for it required no less than 12,000 bricks to build the furnace for the manufacture of gas.
The process of inflation lasted from thirty-six to forty hours. I may here call attention to the decided improvement which appears to have been made in the generation and storage of hydrogen gas for the English balloon force. Compressed gas is now supplied at Chatham in metal receivers, which can be sent abroad, as it was to Suakim. This plan has its advantages and difficulties. It must be very expensive, and the weight of the cylinders is an objection where every ounce of impedimenta has to be sometimes thought of.
The French balloons were made of silk, and so efficiently varnished that they retained the gas for two to three months.
In this important element we are behind the French, as mere calico was the first fabric used in the construction of the Woolwich balloons, and though professional aëronauts for public ascents may sometimes resort to cotton balloons, still for military objects, silk, although the most costly, is, I should say, the lightest, strongest, tightest, and best.
We must allow for considerable exaggeration in the much vaunted holding powers of the original French balloons, and, for the matter of that, for the latest productions as well, both in England and on the continent. I must include the Channel balloonists.
It is all very well to talk and write about such a volatile substance as hydrogen, or even coal gas, remaining good for three months or a month. Aëronauts deny it.
Will a volume of the lightest known fluid be fit for much after being a fortnight or even a week in either a silk, skin, or so-called india-rubber envelopes.
Until ballooning is divested of much that is absurd, untruthful, and misleading, real progress will be slow.
The balloon “Entreprenant” which was sent to the army of the north was only twenty-seven feet in diameter, and its lifting power was 500 pounds. It was held fast by two ropes which were attached to some extra network at the equator; but considering that in those days the network did not cover much more than half of the balloon, we should not fail to notice that at present balloons are enveloped in much more extensive and elongated nets which protect the lower hemisphere, and prevent the escape of the balloon unless the network gives way. It isgenerally made of thicker cord below, so that this danger is more guarded against than it was in the year 1794.
The army of the Meuse-Sambre had the “Céleste” balloon, while the “Hercule” and “Intrepide” were sent to the Rhine-Moselle.
The recent Naval Jubilee Review reminds one how interesting it would be could the aërial fleet of the last century be inspected by the side of the latest style of war balloons that England has produced.
I am not at all sure that comparisons would be in our favour. Fancy the British army under an amateur!
On June 18th, when Coutelle reconnoitred the Austrian position, the enemy fired at his balloon as it was ascending and descending.
From Maubeuge it was taken to Charleroi, floating at such a height as to permit cavalry and other troops to pass beneath.
At the battle of Fleurus, in Belgium, on June 26th, 1794, two ascents were made, each of about four or five hours, notwithstanding a strong wind; the success of the French was said to be generally due to observations from this balloon, as all movements were reported.
The balloonists were again brought into requisition in the campaign of 1795. The “Entreprenant” withstood an amount of buffeting which would shatter a modern balloon to shreds; we are reminded of this by a high French authority, and I am not prepared to dispute this bold assertion, when we remember of what material some of the latest war balloons are composed.
The strain on Coutelle’s balloon was lessened byattaching the cable to horses and men, rather than to fixed objects.
Of course it was; there are secrets in every art, and I may here mention a case in point as to the danger of a too rigid holdfast, which happened to my large balloon, which I made at my own cost for The British Association Experiments, in the year 1862.
While the committee at Wolverhampton, which included Professor Tyndall, Lord Wrottesley, Dr. Lee, Mr. Glaisher, and others, were watching the inflation during a high wind, I left the grounds for a short time, the balloon being in charge of my assistants, who were manœuvring at the nozzle of the lower opening, as that is a part requiring much care, and will not admit, without great risk, of being held too fast; the late Colonel Sykes, M.P., considered that if a crow-bar were driven in the ground, and the cord were attached, it would prevent the men from being rolled over occasionally, and his idea was put to the test.
I was surprised to observe from a distance, that the balloon had been badly torn, and could not account for it until I returned and saw that the neck valve had been pulled completely away. Had it been kept as I left it, with a give and take movement to obviate a sudden snatch, the balloon would have escaped injury.
It is really astonishing how the same ideas occur to all amateurs and novices. Those who read much about aërostatics must have noticed that a strong resemblance in these notions is constantly to be observed; they one and all begin with the valve and have ever since I canremember. Green’s and Coxwell’s notions are pronounced old-fashioned and exploded.
They all want to try india-rubber and other complicated springs instead of the rat-trap principle, which is so very simple, and cannot well fail to act in all weathers, whereas india-rubber will relax in heat, and beadings and other additions will swell and contract in the framework, if of wood, according to atmospheric changes; but the plan, which experienced aëronauts know to be the safest, is almost sure to be cast aside until an accident, as I have already pointed out, induces beginners to fall back upon the approved plan.
Then again, the varnishes are wrong, Mr. A. or Mr. M. has a varnish which is perfectly impermeable, the old stories and new pretensions are reiterated, while the old stager knows very well that there are objections to most of the new fancies, and that the colours and oils he has used are like those of the old masters in painting, not so easily to be surpassed, particularly in the present day, when most pigments are so impure and adulterated.
Thirdly, the grapnels are all wrong, but if the ropes and balloon equipments of early days were to be put side by side with many of the accessories of modern appliances, I believe the balance would be in favour of the experts of the last generation.
In 1796, the “Intrepide” was sent to the army of the Danube; a fifth balloon was prepared for the army of Italy, but for some reason it was never sent out.
In the year 1798, Napoleon took a balloon equipment to Egypt, but unfortunately for the French, the Englishmanaged to capture the ship which contained the apparatus.
After this, the aërostiers seem to have gradually died out of notice, and the balloons were sold in 1804.
It was said that the dissolution of the corps was due more immediately to the displeasure of Napoleon at the performance of a balloon which ascended at his coronation, with a large crown suspended beneath it, which travelled all the way to Rome, and deposited part of the crown on the tomb of Nero.
After the Peace of Amiens was concluded in March 1802, military aëronauts were less heard of, while professional and scientific air explorers came more prominently into notice.
In 1812, the Russians constructed a huge balloon at Moscow, which was to hover over the French army and rain forth shells and explosives, but their expectations rose higher than their balloons, which refused to move off the ground.
The French soldiers found this in the Castle of Voronzoff bearing many thousand pounds of gunpowder, which were to have been launched upon them.
General Count Philip de Segur says:—“This prodigious balloon was constructed by command of Alexander, not far from Moscow, under the direction of a German artificer.”
In 1815 a balloon reconnaissance was made at Antwerp, and in 1826 the subject was again mooted by the French, and a balloon was sent to Algiers, but it was never disembarked.
The Russians are said to have tried experiments at Sebastopol in 1854.
The French again used balloons in the Italian campaign of 1859; they employed the civilian aëronaut Godard, and a useful ascent was made the day before Solferino in a fire balloon.
When the Civil War in America broke out several balloons were used in the operations. On October 4th, 1861, an aëronaut named La Montaine ascended from McClellan’s camp on the Potomac; he was enabled to make observation of their position and movements, and afterwards returned to his own lines and communicated results which were declared to be of the utmost importance.
Later on the Federals instituted a regular balloon corps, of which Colonel Beaumont, R.E., wrote an interesting account in the Royal Engineer Papers. The balloons were of two sizes, one of 13,000 cubic feet capacity, the other double that size, but the large size was found most suitable, a fact which our military balloonists should not overlook in their desire to possess very light and small balloons for easy transport.
The American balloons were made of the best silk, the upper part being composed of three or four thicknesses; this was capable of retaining sufficient gas for an ascent a fortnight after inflation, a statement which can more readily be credited than the French accounts about preserving it forthree months.
Hydrogen was used for inflation, and generated in the old-fashioned way with scrap iron and sulphuric acid.
In this chapter of facts and dates I have drawn freely onthe exhaustive work called “Astra Castra,” by Lieutenant Hatton Turnor, formerly of the 60th Rifles; also from the indefatigable gleanings and able lecture by Lieutenant Baden-Powell of the Scots Guards.
De Fonvielle’s “Adventures in the Air” have furnished valuable information and incidents worth mentioning; Lieutenant Baden-Powell has so cleverly compressed his matter that for the sake of brevity I am induced at times to quote literally.
Two of the American balloons and two generators were taken each on a four horsed waggon, with one two horsed acid cart.
Earthworks could be distinguished at a distance of five miles, while the piquets and supports of the enemy were distinctly seen. A telegraphic wire was sometimes attached to the balloon, so that the aëronaut could at once communicate with the general, or even, as was done one time, to the Government at Washington. Some photographs were also taken of the enemy’s position.
The aëronaut and the general each had maps similarly divided into small squares, which were numbered, whereby the communications were simplified.
The “Times” correspondent said of the battle of Chickahominy: “During the whole of the engagement, Professor Lowe’s balloon hovered over the Federal lines at an altitude of 2,000 feet, and maintained successful telegraphic communication with General McClellan’s head-quarters.”
In an attack on Mississippi Island, No. 10, Engineer Aëronaut Allan, ascended and directed the artillery fire, communicating the effect of each shot.
In July 1862, the first military balloon experiments in England took place at Aldershot, and, as I had the honour of accomplishing them, I will leave Lieut. Baden-Powell to allude to the events in his own words.
“The aëronaut, Mr. Coxwell, was employed to bring one of his balloons which was filled at the gas-works, and made several captive ascents, the highest being 2,200 feet. Colonel Beaumont said that no large movement of troops could take place within a radius of ten miles without being seen. Later on, more experiments were made, a one-inch rope being used as cable.
“When the war between France and Germany broke out, Mr. Coxwell went to manage some war balloons for the Germans. He formed two companies (two officers and forty-two men) at Cologne, and his assistant went on to Strasbourg, but that town capitulated before much service was rendered.”
During the siege of Paris, balloons, it will be remembered, were made use of in a more regular and extensive manner, and with most important results.
At first, two old balloons were anchored at Montmartre and Montsouris, as observatories, to watch the Prussians. They apparently accomplished but little, although one or two new ideas were introduced. The messages from the balloons were put in a little box which was attached to the cable by a ring, so that the observations were delivered straight to those who held the rope.
Every twenty-four hours, six ascents were made, four by day, and two by night, the latter to observe the camp fires, etc., and it was proposed to use a search electric light.
When the Parisians found themselves cut off from all communication with the outer world, balloons were naturally suggested as a means of escape.
Several experienced aëronauts were in Paris as well as a few balloons.
The first aëronaut, Duruof, left in a leaky machine, which owing to its imperfect condition, was sent up like a projectile, as we are informed by De Fonvielle. It described a parabola like that of a bombshell, and by sacrificing seven hundredweight of ballast, the descent took place nineteen miles from the Place St. Pierre, in the department of Eure, not far from the Prussians, but still beyond their range.
The “Ville de Florence” took, by way of trial, the first pigeons intended for return with despatches. Paris learned, with as much satisfaction as if it had been a victory, the return of the first aërial messenger.
Louis Godard had two small balloons, neither sufficient for the purpose of escape, but he fixed one below the other, and made a very successful voyage in the “Etats-Unis.”
The last ready made balloon was the “Céleste,” which was the first to take post cards.
The Government then ordered a number of new balloons to be at once constructed, they were turned out at the chief railway stations, which for the time being were no longer used as such.
The balloons were made of strong cambric, oiled, and of about 70,000 cubic feet capacity; they were filled with coal gas, and could carry a load of 2,000 pounds, including 600 pounds of ballast and 1,000 pounds of despatches.
The first of these bore Gambetta, he was accompaniedby his intimate friend, M. Spuller. The political results of this voyage are well known.
One balloon travelled to Norway. Many were fired at, but few injured. Three balloons fell into the hands of the enemy near Paris, and two in Germany. Two were lost at sea, each manned by a sailor.
The average distance travelled, was about 180 miles, and the speed varied from seven to fifty miles an hour, and in one instance, eighty miles.
During four months, sixty-six balloons left Paris, of which fifty-four were specially made by the administration of posts and telegraphs.
One hundred-and-sixty persons were carried over the Prussian lines.
Nine tons of despatches, or 3,000,000 letters were successfully conveyed to their destinations. 360 pigeons were taken up, of which, however, only fifty-seven returned to Paris, these conveyed, as Lieut. Baden-Powell reminds us, 100,000 messages.
Wilfrid de Fonvielle gives us a vivid and thrilling account of how he left Paris in a balloon.
The members of the scientific commission, he informs us, conceived the idea of sending off balloons by night. He took his departure on the 20th of November; he was apprehensive, owing to the weather, of some crushing catastrophe.
“The ‘Egalité’ began to show its graceful form and bright colours. The sun was shining on the golden sphere, which the wind was gracefully oscillating. I was looking on the clouds, which had a direction incliningsomewhere towards Prussian soil, when I heard people shouting.
“A large hole had been made by the copper end of the pipe in the graceful fabric. It was too late to think of mending it, and of ascending afterwards before sunset.”
On the following morning the weather was horrid. After many delays, owing to this cause, De Fonvielle and his companions started. They saw desolated fields, disappearing one after another. He recognized different parts where he had wandered during so many happy years. Twice the Seine was crossed, that noble Seine! where German horses will never drink! and he could see distinctly where his old balloon had been taken by German hands.
He was looking at that spot when the first shot was heard, but the balloon was more than 5,000 feet high. In less than two hours they reached Louvain.
A few days after this successful journey, another nocturnal balloon went up on a moonless night. A brave sailor, named Prince, was the sole occupant of the car.
Next day, at dawn, some fishermen on the north coast of Scotland, saw a globe disappear towards the west and sink in the ocean. A poor mother and two sisters bewailed the loss of the unfortunate waif.
In June 1871, the English Government appointed a committee, consisting of Colonel Beaumont, R.E., Lieut. Grover, R.E., and Sir F. Abel, to enquire into the use of balloons for warfare, and as Lieut. Baden-Powell, in his lecture at the Royal United Service Institution, wentinto the dates and progress made in military ballooning, I shall regard him as a reliable authority in these matters.
In April 1879, the English Government instituted an official balloon committee, consisting of Colonel Noble, R.E., Sir F. Abel, and Captain Lee, R.E., with whom was associated Captain Elsdale, R.E., and Captain Templer, of the Middlesex Militia, the last mentioned having had considerable experience in ballooning.
Experiments were conducted at Woolwich, and four balloons were made by the Royal Engineers of specially woven finecalico, varnished.
A portable furnace and boiler for the manufacture of hydrogen gas was devised similar in principle to the one used by the French in 1793,but the apparatus did not prove satisfactory.
And who could expect that a mere imitation after the lapse of eighty-six years, would do much good or credit to the British army. Had a competent man been appointed consulting aëronaut, he would have pointed out that the use of bricks, tiles, and red hot turnings, was resorted to in France as a necessity when sulphur and sulphuric acid were scarce, but as none of the above named officers had ever ascended with me, or had my instructions, I could only note, with regret, what appeared to be a useless expenditure of money and time, and as to proper and suitable material. I had in my store rooms at Seaford, Sussex, a large quantity of stout, pure silk, made expressly for balloons, and could have turned out for Government, a typical war balloon, which would have been creditableto our country, and been in every way preferable tocalico.
A few days after the first experiment, an unforeseen adventure happened as one of the war balloons was being towed, attached to a cart.
The cable snapped and the balloon disappeared in the clouds!
In October, one of the balloons was tried free at a review on Woolwich Common, but the wind was unfavourable.
The next year, the “Crusader” figured at the Brighton volunteer review, successfully.
In September 1880, a whole company of Engineers (the 24th) went for instruction in ballooning to Aldershot, and many experiments were made.
English military ballooning, as I have pointed out received a sudden check when the “Saladin” was lost in the year 1881.
If we turn to the French, we read quite a different story. They established, in 1872, another aëronautical school. An annual grant of £10,000 was made, since then, the establishment has increased.
Their balloons are spherical, ten metres in diameter, made of the best silk, and covered with a varnish which renders them so gas-tight, that they can remain inflated for a month. So they assert.
Twenty out of forty balloons had already been made.
For captive ascents a kite screen is used. I suggested something of this kind twenty-six years since, but I have now a more simple and safer plan, with others for signalling etc., should they ever be enquired after or wanted.
If there is one branch of modern strategy which is likely to be watched with keen interest during the next Continental war it will be that of military ballooning. For some time we have heard of such wonderful preparations in this line on the other side of the Channel that the public, both at home and abroad, will be moved by anxious expectancy to take note whether the steering gas bags and air torpedoes revolutionize warfare by developing a more easy way of striking hostile forces, namely, from a vertical position, in which they are so frequently vulnerable. The aims of those who would merely employ balloons to see what is going on behind the hills, and how their opponents are disposed, seem insufficient to satisfy the ambition of foreign engineers. A Frenchman has supplied the Russians with an air torpedo that can be directed, so we are told, with the accuracy of a submarine machine. It is to take up eight hundredweight of dynamite, which can be discharged on the heads, and on the magazines and fortresses of their foes, so as to make short work with them by blowing them up sky-high without subjecting the attacking party to risk, owing to the remarkable guiding power of their aërial cruiser, which is to strike and glide away with marvellous rapidity, either as it emerges from the clouds, or springs unseen above the smoke of battle, to let fall its destructive cargo when least expected. All this sounds very terrific and smart in theory, but the question is, can it be done with the tact and certainty which we are asked to believe? From an aërostatic standpoint such an enterprise wouldentirely depend upon aërial navigation having been solved. Certain inventors avow, and perhaps imagine, that this consummation has been settled already by those preliminary canters near Paris of which we heard so much two years since. Now, it is not for me, or any other practical man, to say that the pretensions put forth for “the conquest of the air” are visionary; but this I do say, that the alleged movements of the cigar-shaped balloons have not warranted us in concluding that the art of steering and propelling has been satisfactorily mastered. Had it been otherwise, how is it that so magnificent an achievement has not been forthwith applied to the more noble and remunerative arts of peace and commerce, instead of being shelved for the horrors of war? The moment air ships can be directed, the probability is they will be seized upon immediately to bring about results far more creditable than the annihilation of our fellow creatures.
Secondly. A bombardment from above might, and possibly would, involve a contest in the air. If these agents are available for attack they may be constructed for defensive objects, for retaliation, and for reprisals. One may swoop down like a hawk, but another may rise up like a rocket and bring down its adversary like the stick. And how about the latest arms of precision, chain-shot, and shrapnel? A gas-inflated observatory can often be kept well in the rear in a more secure captive state, but if these flying torpedoes are going in for close quarters, as they must to “spot” their victims, the hazards will be so great that pressed men, rather than volunteers, will have to be forced into the empyrean; and, so far as my experiencegoes among officers, soldiers, and civilians, I never yet noticed any exuberant bellicose tendency, or display of pugnacity, while exploring in mid-air.
I once took up a gentleman who was said to be very daring, and among his accomplishments was a proficiency with the gloves; a friend of his who was with us thought fit in a moment of pardonable elation to indulge in playful sparring with the reputed amateur boxer. I was rather surprised to notice that he evinced an apparent distaste, and even incompetency, for this sort of thing when aloft. It certainly might have been that the narrow confines of a wicker basket were not sufficiently capacious for manœuvring, or that a passing nervousness took all the fight out of him. He protested against his friend’s familiarity, while casting an appealing glance at me. “Recollect,” he cried, “where we are;” but on reachingterra firmaI observed that his facial expression was decidedly more combative, and that he was quite ready then for a friendly exchange of taps; this, with other incidents I could mention, has led me to conclude that the upper air is not altogether suitable or provocative for belligerent performances.
By way of illustration, I may state that Green more than forty years since was engaged to attend with one of his balloons at a park down in Staffordshire, where there was to be an experiment with dropping shells from a battery affixed to the hoop, but no one was to go up, and the aëronaut’s services were only required for the preparatory work, as the long range committee preferred to manage matters themselves, so far as the adjustment and dischargeof the petards went. They selected a central spot in a wood as the area for their intended demolishment, but on setting the balloon free they neglected Green’s hint to look out for a veering current, in case they had not provided a remedy, as he had, if his services had been retained for the most critical part of the undertaking. Well, the experimentalists disregarded the expert, but when the missiles were discharged they flew bang at friendly spectators instead of the camping ground of an ideal enemy, thus causing a helter-skelter stampede, including a bevy of policemen—in short, the whole affair was a fiasco; and it might have been so easily prevented, as Green’s foresight had led him to think of a compensating plan to cause the balloon to go straight in the desired course; but the enthusiasts did not believe that a past master was necessary for aëronautic transactions, and it will not be surprising if some of the military adventurers to whom we have been referring find themselves similarly situated.
Last year I read that two intrepid Frenchmen made a trip to our shores from Cherbourg, and threw down as they passed some yachts near the coast a number of cork balls painted white, just, sportively of course, to see how they would act as the lightest and most harmless of grenades, without, as we may charitably conclude, any ulterior designs such as the First Napoleon is credited with when the aërial flotilla at Boulogne was talked about. But, really, in the present day, when the blowing up of ironclads is a recognized feature of warfare, and when torpedo boats can dive and make straightway at a man-of-war to strike below the belt, it is time to be on thequivive, and though aëronauts may feel no great alarm about an unexpected visit from a torpedo fleet, knowing, as they do, that the air is more than eight hundred times lighter than water, and that the difficulties to be first surmounted are proportionately great, still, there is no denying that the route overhead is open to all nations, and that a scare, lest any unwelcome guests should arrive, has actually been felt as to the possibility of their turning up from beneath the Channel. We know that John Bull and all true Britons would rather face an adversary from above, than if he were to crawl and pounce upon us from below.
But at present we need not quake as to the high or subway route.
One of the latest and most interesting phases of this subject relates to Lord Wolseley’s maiden ascent from the grounds at Lidsing, near Chatham, and to various active preparations on the Continent which have a character of their own, and are essentially dissimilar to the experiments in Great Britain.
An illustrious man undergoing his initiation in the balloon car, forms an event which is not of every day occurrence, and must prove very encouraging to the intrepid engineer officers, and also to the general public, who like to see the leading authority go now and again to the front for the sake of thoroughly inspecting, and of obtaining some practical acquaintance with any new branch of science which may be on trial.
The General’s declaration that “he believedhimselfin novelties,” must have produced conflicting opinions in the minds of many more conservative brother officers; but what must have been the effect of the next assertion? namely, “the more novelties the better.”
Lord Wolseley believed in what Napoleon said: “You must change your tactics frequently.”
The first impression made by his ascent of 500 feet, elicited the General’s approval.
In the course of a conversation with one of his staff, Lord Wolseley stated that “had he been able to employ balloons in the earlier stages of the Soudan campaign, the affair would not have lasted as many months as it did years.”
We get therefore a very high testimony as to the value of the balloon for military objects, and as the exploits of our war balloons do not amount, at present, to anything particularly noteworthy, the General’s encouraging remarks will have an excellent effect, it may fairly be presumed.
The most recent effort in this line, near Dover, was not successful.
The balloon “Sentinel” was filled and essayed to watch the volunteers, but was forced to retire with the most eccentric capers—owing to the freaks of rude Boreas, which was, after all, merely imparting useful instruction, though not particularly pleasing, probably, to the officer who occupied the seat of honour.
It is, doubtless, a matter to rejoice over, that he was not blown out over the adjacent coast line; had he been driven away down Channel in a small skin balloon under theinfluence of a north-easterly wind, he might have touched the extreme corner of the French coast, or been sent down betwixt the Channel Islands.
Happily, however, there was no fresh fatality to lament over, and the instructions imparted by the clerk of the weather as to the impracticability of captive ascents during strong winds will not be lost, and may prove of the greatest importance, so that it is well worth while referring to it as a warning for future caution.
As the writer of this book holds it to be his province, and his duty as a practical man to review both sides of public opinion respecting his speciality, he considers it right to state, that the representatives of the press, like the representatives of our constituencies in parliament, do not all take one and the same view about military ballooning; neither do superior officers or the rank-and-file, who, in these advanced days are quite capable of drawing their own conclusions.
A paragraph which I read in the Court Society Review, was to this effect.
“I have very little faith in military balloons for the purposes of observation. In the Soudan no atmospheric conditions, and many were tried, were found to be suitable, for even when the air was dead-still, and brilliantly clear, the balloon waggled to such an extent as to make telescopic observation impossible, or, at any rate, practically useless. At the Easter Monday fight, an infinitely more futile attempt was made to employ the balloon in a stiffish breeze, and the result was, of course, as worthless as the experiment was dangerous.
“All the same, for signalling, especially at night, captive balloons might be made of immense use.”
Secondly, we have another rather discouraging experience, which ought not to be forgotten or omitted in these pages.
It is in McClellan’s own story, about their doings on April 11th, 1862, and is rather amusing than complimentary to the cause I have so long advocated.
“I am just recovering,” the writer observes, “from a terrible scare. Early this morning I was awakened by a despatch from Fitz-John’s head-quarters, stating that Fitz had made an ascension in the balloon this morning, and that it had broken away and come to the ground some three miles south-west, which would be within the enemy’s lines.
“You can imagine how I felt. I at once sent off to the various pickets to find out what they knew, and tried to do something to save him, but the order had no sooner gone, than in walks Fitz, just as cool as usual. He had luckily come down near my own camp, after actually passing over that of the enemy.
“You may rest assured of one thing,” was the remark: “you won’t catch me in the confounded balloon, nor will I allow any other General in it.”
On the converse side, it should be mentioned that in a telegram received at Washington during the Civil War, it was stated, “that all the information received fromballoons, deserters, prisoners, &c., agrees in the statement that the mass of the rebel troops were still in the immediate vicinity of Richmond, ready to defend it.”
As a pioneer myself in the service of military ballooning, I heartily wish that something more had been carried out in the decidedly important neighbourhood of Suakim.
I was constantly suggesting plans; among others, to take out an apparatus and holder for the generation of coal gas, feeling persuaded that at a short notice, an enterprising private firm would have sent out an equipment with the necessary men and coals, to generate gas on the old quick and cheap plan, in addition to the compressed hydrogen system. There are, certainly, some advantages in employing the lighter gas, but several counter and compensating results might be adduced on the other side, one of which is, that in a hot climate, pure hydrogen will escape quicker than the denser production, and, I have no hesitation in saying, that a small skin balloon behaves itself in a breeze with an infinitely less steady action, than a more enlarged surface with greater vertical power imparted to it, which is one out of many of those secrets of success, which men of long experience are well aware of, and I do believe that a certain amount of co-operation between civilian experts, and the military engineers would be attended with good results.
I am not referring particularly to the English school of balloonists, but to foreign corps as well.
It is a regrettable fact that one cannot perceive in the whole list of balloon transactions in warfare, either at home or abroad, any deeds that are at present conspicuously worth chronicling. The splendid exodus of hastily organised balloonists, chiefly sailors, who went outof Paris during the Franco-German War, can scarcely be called military ballooning.
There was no strategy, exceptional skill, or discoveries to mark and dignify their departure or descent; only a most valuable and timely postal and parcels delivery transmission.
This was excellent auxiliary aid, and altogethersui generis, but it was not manœuvring with the enemy or rendering fresh intelligence which could not be gained by ordinary scouts, I mean in a strictly military sense. The winged messengers (pigeons) were certainly helped in their work by having a lift up on their outward journey; but what we should like to hear of, when balloons show up in war time, is that something important has been seen and reported which would have escaped notice but for the argus-eyed aëronauts.
A considerable amount of bewilderment, as we have said, accompanies a novice’s first glance of the earth’s surface, when villages, fields, towns and fortresses, are seen under a new aspect, with minimised proportions reduced to the model size, and seen from above instead of horizontally.
It requires a trained observer to make heads, tails, and relative proportions out of the new map, and if any altitude has to be attained, very small machines will not do, they may be light and of little capacity, but they are unable to offer a powerful upward tug, which is indispensable for steadying the balloon when telescopic observations have to be made.
The action of diminutive machines of this kind may notinaptly be compared to the jerking, fitful movement, of certain small birds, such as a tomtit, or a titlark, as contrasted with the soaring power of an eagle, or the steadied poise of a hawk.
The balloon, under which Lord Wolseley took a bird’s-eye view, is described as “a magnificent spic and span new aërial machine, constructed of the new preparation ofbullock’s skin, and capable of containing 10,000 feet of compressed gas,” by which is meant, I presume, 10,000 feet of hydrogen gas that has been compressed and subsequently liberated into the said balloon.
If I were questioned as to the value of this kind of material for the objects intended by the designers, I should, certainly, not speak disparagingly of it, because I think that skin may be very good in its way, but I believe that a certain quality of silk, all things considered, is more reliable, and if it is heavier than skin, it is more readily repaired in case of fracture, and would better resist the shrivelling effects of a hot atmosphere, and of sudden gusts of wind. Silk is also less tempting to the gnawing of insects.
If it is supposed that the use of skin is a new adaptation, I can remove any false impression of that sort by stating that half a century since, I saw and handled a huge balloon composed of similar animal substance, which was called Egg’s folly. The gunmaker had built an enormous fish shaped affair, and it had, fish like, an air bladder to assist it in rising and descending. I was asked to buy the lot which had been laid by for some years, but it was not to my taste; later on, however, after Mr. Barnum had brought over the dwarf, Tom Thumb, to this country, an exhibition wasgot up at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, and Mr. C. Green was asked to provide a suitable balloon to take up Tom Thumb for a captive ascent.
The air bladder then cropped up, as it would lift fifty or sixty pounds when filled with ordinary gas, and I well remember witnessing the ascent, and shaking hands with the occupant of the little car.
I was informed afterwards by the veteran himself, that Captain Currie, who was a frequent voyager at that time, wished to train and lose weight, so that the skin balloon would take him up, if filled with hydrogen instead of coal gas.
I do not think the trial came off, but I can vouch for it, that the so-called bullock’s skin is by no means a novel departure.
We thus learn that history repeats itself, even in an art which is practically little more than a century old.
If we turn from the balloon force at home, and direct a glance towards the continent, as much difference is to be observed in their aërostatic pretensions, as there is between our small and compact army, when compared with the millions of bayonets (and good ones no doubt) that are ready to do battle whenever the dogs of war shall be let loose for slaughter.
In England, preference is shown for exceedingly small bullock’s skin balloons.
In France they are cigar or cannon shaped, with steering power and propelling machinery attached. I am referring, now, to the war balloons at Meudon.
Germany inclines to medium sized spherical balloons,composed of silk by preference—and I think they are right—to the calico or muslin balloons in store at Chatham or Lidsing.
Russia, if we may believe newspaper accounts, is provided with an air torpedo, besides Montgolfier, and gas balloons. The torpedo air ship can take up eight hundredweight of dynamite, the application of which I have already pictured.
An American novelty consists of an electro dynamic air ship, in the form of a cigar cut lengthways, which presents a flat underside, and a rounded upper; it is constructed of seven independent cells, which are divided longitudinally, making fourteen separate compartments in all.
Among the attractions proposed for the Paris exhibition of 1889, is a captive balloon, having a capacity of 1,800,000 cubic feet, which will take up one hundred passengers.
Then comes the most wonderful invention of all, a balloon which is to surpass in speed the Flying Scotchman. The German Government is stated to have purchased this monster for a million marks, and the constructor is to have a handsome pension for life. I do not believe it!
Now, if these formidable rivals are bent on mischief, and find an opportunity of indulging their destructive propensities, there will be lively and sensational diversions overhead, no less than frightful work beneath, particularly if the torpedoes act their part as expected.
Many scientific men, and all the professional aëronauts, with whom I am acquainted, regard this tall talk, not altogether in a literal and serious light, but as a scare and exchange of swagger between those powers who desire tobe thought most efficient in modern appliances for warfare. Be that as it may, there can be no doubt that vast sums of money have been expended, and extensive preparations made, in aërostatic material.
There is something about all this boasting and threatening which is calculated to disturb the serenity of susceptible persons, when they read of hundreds of pounds of dynamite and chemical compounds being cast down upon contending armies, and about forts blown up, especially when it is remembered that no shields or ramparts are ever raised, or dreamt of, to resist a vertical onslaught from the regions above. This mode of attack would, to all intents and purposes, prove a novelty, and the question is, whether the lieutenants of our far seeing general, who approves of new tactics, are prepared to resist this kind of thing should a detachment of air torpedoes swarm like wasps or locusts upon our numerically small army, or should they even seek out our tiny war balloons and demolish them with a fell swoop of explosives.
The bare idea of such an ignominious extinction brings us to the vital question of how such intruders could be sent to the right about, or brought low by arms of precision.
Lieutenant B. Baden-Powell, in his able lecture at the Royal United Service Institution, took the danger into consideration; not I think under any apprehension about the descent of dynamite shells, but simply of the customary missiles which are discharged from cannon and small arms. We may infer that air torpedoes and such like were not dreaded.
Mr. Baden-Powell starts from an apt and thrilling commencement when he says—
“First then, the chance of being wrecked by shots from the enemy.
“It must be remembered,” he goes on to say, “that the balloon would generally be some way behind the first line, and that the enemy would hardly, especially during the heat of battle, pay much attention to it. It is well to remember that if only hit by a few bullets it would not be much damaged, and could be quickly repaired. Both at Frankfort and at Frankenthal the balloons were penetrated by bullets, at the latter place by nine, but the balloon remained up three-quarters of an hour after. In some experiments made at Tours, a balloon was penetrated by bullets at 1,000 yards, but the escape of gas was very slow, and the balloon remained up some time longer.
“Secondly—and now comes a case in point which should not be lightly passed over, it is this—
“In 1880 the Siege Operations’ Committee made an experiment at Dungeness with rather more disastrous results for the balloon. An eight-inch howitzer was directed on a captive balloon 2,000 yards off, and 800 feet high. The first shot was unsuccessful, the exact range not being known. The second shell, however, burst just in front of the balloon and tore it open. But even then it took fifteen minutes to descend, so that the aëronauts would have been safe.” Later tests have also taken place.
Many persons would think, and as many more might argue with some show of common sense on their side, that the actual safety of a party of balloonists after theirmachine had been torn open by a shell from an eight-inch howitzer was perilous in the extreme; but the lecturer had no such fears probably, as he went on with unmoved visage, I daresay, to remark that “bullets made of spongy platinum had been suggested as a means of igniting the hydrogen in a balloon by mere contact.”
But these stirring and well nigh nerve-testing quotations need not be dwelt upon to any further extent, they suffice to show that the risks, without taking into consideration the doings of those horrid torpedoes, have been fairly weighed.
If the dynamiters put in an appearance, and manage by skilful steering to be in at close quarters, then all I have to say is Heaven help those who may be in their power.
While contemplating this all important phase of aërostatics, I sometimes wonder whether these and other equally important ideas have ever entered into the fertile brains of those, whose province it is to lead and direct the military balloon tactics. There are, I have no hesitation in saying, at this critical period of our national history, uses for balloons even in this country, considering its position and possible surroundings, which I could point out if they would be listened to, and which at no distant period may be found unprovided for when most needed.
I recollect when first I talked over with Major Grover, R.E., who went up with me, my plan for using small and large balloons for destructive purposes, I had such a friendly but scathing glance that I at once interpreted his meaning to the effect that “anything of that sort would not be countenanced at head-quarters.”
Well, I have lived to draw attention to the very suggestions which were lightly esteemed a quarter of a century since, but I will not allude to any fresh conceptions at the present time.
Sir Edward Birkbeck, M.P., has done useful service in narrating not long since his experiences with me in the year 1862. Observations for military purposes were gone into, and our ascent made in the presence of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sutherland was narrated with spirit. Instructive comments followed, and war balloons were referred to which have since been spoken of in a pleasing letter, wherein Sir Edward gave evidence that he still has a taste for scientific ballooning.