The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-09-19
up 1S5A BALLOON.
General Portsr's Periions Ascension b ar.
3tfu2e&{; Ing the Rebellion. 4tti

| Z
PsrIey'i "Reminiscences.
!. President Lincoln was much interested
in the account Of a perilous balloon ascen-
sion by General Filz John Porter on the
18th Of April, 1852, near Yorktown, Va.
About 6 o'clock In The morning he stepped
into the car Of Prof. loves balloon to go
UP and make reconnaissance, then he
pulled back 10 terra tirma. be supposed
the usual number Of ropes we're attached
to 1t, whereas there was only one, and u
place in this, rs was afterward ascertaincd,
had been burned by vitrol, used in gene.
rating gas Taking his scat iii the car, till.
accompanied by any one, the rope was let
out nearly to its full lengtii-tlte length
was about 900 yards.-when suddenly snap
went tho cord and up went the balloon.
This was an unexpected purt Of tho pro.
grammc. The men below looked tip with
establishment, und the General looked
| down with equal bcwildcrmcnt. +4gi
"Open the valve" shouted one OF the
men below. 81,
an manage IT, responded the General
Up went the balloon, higher, higher
1t rose Will, great rapidity. It's huge form
!esscnedas ii mounted into tho regions OF
the upper mir. II became spcck in the
sky. The wind WIS taking It III the direc.
ton of tho enen,y's territory. BY this
time every staff officer and hundreds Of
Others were looking 1T tho moving speck,
every moment becoming less visible. It
seemed 10 move toward tho Union army,
and countenances there frightened with
hn,,n T. ,>opr,,i p,nr t1,n hand, ~ khn
Union men. Soon II began to descend,
but with mpidity that aroused renewed
apprehension. Quickly II squad Of caval-
~ plunged spurs into their horses and
dasted away in tho direction Of tho dc
scending balloon. The rest Of the story Is
us received from the Generals own tips.
While tho rope was being played out he
adjusted his glass in readiness for the pro.
posed view oil the encmy's territory. A
sudden bound OF the balloon told him in
II moment that the rope had given
way. Ifc dropped tic glass, heard the
call, "Open tho valve" madethe response
given above, and sat about looking
ior the valve. lIc was sensible OF being
iiighty (thc General loves pun us well as
the next one but was not ut all nervous.
Hc saw the wind had taken him over the I
line Of the rebel entertainments. Having
no wish to drop in among them, he lot the |
valve take care ofitself, and proceeded to
take advantage OF his position TO note the
aspect OF the rebel objects below. Crowds
OF soldiers rushed from, tho woods, and |
he heard their shouts distinctly. Luckily,
he was above the reach Of their bullets, so
he was not afraid on this score. The map
OF the country WIS distinctly disccrniblc.
He saw Yorktown md its works, York
river and its windings, and Norfolk and
its smoking chimncys. A counter current
Of air struck the balloon, and its course
was reversed. Its retreat from over rebel
dom was rapid. lie opened the valve, the
gus escaped, and down he came. He could
not say how f,st he came down, but it
was with rapidty he would not care to
have repeated. The car struck the top OF
Il shelter tent, under which, luckily, no
one happened to be at the time, knocked
the tent into pi, md left him cnvelopcd
in mass Of collapsed oil silk. lie crawl
ed out, and found himself in the middle
Of 4 camp, not 100 yards from General
headquarters.