Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1884-11-20
UP IN A BALLOON.
How Fftz John Porter Made an As
censiOn During the War.

How Fitz John Porter Made an As
censiOn During the War.
Ben: Perley Poore, in the course Of his
"reminiscences, published in the Boston
Budget, says:
President Lincoln was much inter
ested in the account of per1lous bal
loon ascension by General Fitz John Por-
ter on the 11th Of April, 1862, near
Yorktown, Va. About o'clock in the
morning he stepped into the car of Pro-
fessor loves balloon to 60 up and make
reconnaissance, then to be pulled down
to terra frma. He supposed that the
usual number Of ropes were attached to
it, whereas there was only one, and a
place in this, it was afterward ascer-
tanned, had been burned by vitriol, used
in generating the gas. Taking bis seat
in the car, unaccompanied by any one,
the rope was let out to nearly its full
length-the length was about 900 yards
when suddenly snap went the cord
and up went the balloon. This was an
unexpected part of the programme. The
men below looked up with astonishment,
and the general looked down with equal
bewilderment.
"Open the valve" shouted one of the
men below
'1'll manage it" responded the gen
eral.
Up went the balloon, higher, higher.
It rose with great rapidity. Its huge
form lessened as it mounted into the re-
gions of the upper air. 1t became a
speck in the sky. The wind was taking
it in the direction Of the enemy's terri
tory. By this time every staff officer and
hundreds of others were looking at the
moving speck. 1t is impossible to de-
scribe the anxiety felt and expressed for
the fate of him, the central object Of
thought, in that far-away moving speck,
every moment becoming less visible. 1t
seemed to move toward the Union army,
and the countenances there frightened
with hope. 1t passed over the heads
of the Union men. Soon it be-
gan to descend, but with rapidity that
aroused renewed apprehension. Quickly
squad Of cavalry plunged spurs into
their horses and dashed away in the
direction of the descending balloon.
The rest Of the story is as received
from the generals own lips. While the
rope was being p'isayged out he adjusted
his glass in readiness for his proposed
view of the enemy's territory. A sud
den bound Of the balloon told him in {
moment that the rope had given way
He dropped the glass, heard the call
''open the valve" made the respons'
given above, and set about looking foi
the valve. He was sensible of being
fiighty, (the general loves pun as vel
as the next one but was not at all ner
vous. He saw the wind had taken hin
over the line of the Confederate intreneh
lnents. Having no wish to drop il
among them, he let the valve take care
of itself, and proceeded to take advan
tage Of his position to note the aspeci
Of objects below. Crowds Of soldiers
rushed from the woods, and he heard
their shouts distinctly. Luckily he was
above the reach Of their bullets, so ht
was not afraid on this score.
i The map OF the country was distinct
| ly discernible He saw Yorktown and
its works, York river and its windings
and Norfolk and its smoky chimneys.
counter current Of air struck the bal.
loon, and its course was reversed. 1t
retreat was rapid. lie opened the valve
the gas escaped, and down he came. He
could not say how fast he came down,
but it was with rapidity he would moi
care to have repeated. The car struck
the top of a shelter tent, under which
luckily, no one happened to be at tht
time, knocked the tent into pi, and lef
him enveloped in mass Of collapsed OF
silk. He crawled out and found himsel
in the middle of camp. not one hun
dred yards from General McClellan's
headquarters.