The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-09-16
THE YANKEE BALLOON.
AN ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE ONE
USED AT YORKTOWN,

Shooting Mt the Balloon with Long Range
RIaSs-LIght ARTILLERY, Shot and Shell
Gen. Fltr John POrtSrs Trlp-An At
tempt
Amatter which greatly exercised the
ContedeTates during the early part OF tho
war was the use OF balloons by the Fed
erals to spy at our position At York
town, where almost daily RScensons were
made, our camps, batteries, field works
Rnd'Rll detenseS were plain TO the vision
Of the occupants OF the balloon, and II
was also quite easy TO form q reliable eStt'
mate Of our numbers,
These balloon Rscensions excited us
more than all the outpost attacks, ind It
was officially determined to put o
stop to them at whatever cost, The
longest range rifles In the south were sent
for, and they were put into tho hands
OF ContederAtes noted for their marks
mAnShip, but although the balloon
seemed to DO within easy range, 1t was too
far away for any rifle to do execution from
our outposts Light artillery was then
hAphkAb lAtN HlnII hnlAk ENth pAbN NhA
shell, but somehow the target could not
be struck, We finally opened upon 1t
with any and every piece OF ordnance
which could be brought to bear, but while
we threw shot far beyond 1t, and nppar-
emily close to It, we could not even
Tighten the men In the basket, Between
our Outposts aud those of the Federal was
half milo of neutral territory, One
dark night thlrty-aYs Confederate sharp
shooters, each armed with the heaviest
riflo known to our southern hr-'' -, were
sent out to creep as far across the neutral
ground as possible, find hiding places,an
TO open on the balloon next morning, The
result was disastrous 10 us, Ten OF tho
men were captured before the balloon az
cended, and the rest OF us had hardly
opened fire when q heavy force hunted us
out q. killed or captured allbut six,
Rewards were then offered for tho des.
truCtion Of the balloon In the
Federal camp, and l was one
Of five who undertook the task,
! was promised $1,000 In gold and
commission as second lieutenant II sue
cesded, and ] presume the same promise
was made to the others, We left scpar-
ately and by different routes, each one be-
ing told TO make arrangements to suit
himself, Twas nearly thlrty.sIx hours
getting In the rear Of the Federal army
and when entered the camps 1t was as u
peddler Of tobacco and notions, who would
have been In the ranks, but for his lame
ness.
FITz JOHN PoRTER's TRIP.
1t was nearly week after ! left the
Confederate camp before reached the VI
clnity where Lowe made his asCensiOns,
and 1t was thcn to discover thatthe great
est precautions were taken to guard
against what had been sent to effect.
Sentlnels were stationed about the place
In such number that IL was useless to
hope that might pass them, and what
made the matter worse was the fact that
two of our spies had been captured and
held on suspicion. Nothing but fire would
answer our purpose, Rents could DO
mended and holes patched, and while 1t
was likely that balloon could be mado
in q couple OF weeks, the interval would
permit the Confederates to make many
changes.
On the day that Fltz John Porter made
his ascension and tho rope broke aud
lot the balloon float away, was within
rifle shot OF the ascension. As he tlOated
away over our camp 1t seemed as II aCCl.
dent had sealed the fate OF the balloon
and given us distinguished prisoner,
but change OF wind occurred and back
came the mir ship TO drop to the ground
almost at my feet. 1 was one Of
tho fifteen or twenty men who seized the
basket and held 1t to the earth while POr-
tor stepped out. had matches, and
had only to strike light to destroy tho
balloon at fash. meant to take every
risk, but as ! drcw match from my
pocket, having filed pipe already In my
mouth az an excuse, big sergeant who
stood beside mo seized mo by tho neck,
and shouted at met
"You Internal IDIOT but do you want to
fire the balloonP
I did, but he had deprived me Of the op.
portuuity. Some OF tho men laughed.
Some said ought to DO kicked out OF
camp, aud prudence whispered to me to
take myself OIL while had tho chance.
Only two OF us out OF the five got back to
our regiments. What became OF tho
others was mystery We were never able
to clear up. 0thOr plans to destroy the
balloon were projected, but 1t made only
two or three more ascension. The trouble
Of initiating and caring for It, added to the
peril Of those who assembled, induced tho
military authorities to abandon the enter
prisV.-"Ex.C Confederate" In Detroit FREQ
Press.