The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-15
IN A RUNAWAY BALLOON.
GEN. FITz-JoHN PoRTER's SUDDEN
FLIGH HIT INTO SPACE.

FLIS III INIU bE5Cb.
An Incident mt the siege eT Yorktown-Tho
Railoon Cast Loose by n Plot and Carried
Over the Confederate ~Camp-An illustration
or she Danger OF BaiiooninE In war Ttne-.
1T always seems TO me that Andree's Arctic
balloon voyage hadn't even one chance in a
thousand Of escaping disaster. said Gen. Fitz-
John Porter to n SCN reporter. 'Thirty.lve
years ago I developed tho use OF captive balloons
for war purposes. and have since been a close
observer OF experiments in neronautics. The
science has not yet reached a point to warrant
the hope that balloons may be controlled in
navigating space around the North Pole. Evils
lurk above. below and all around.
My experience with a runaway balloon at
Yorktown has in 1t q lesson to acronnuts who
ascend upon the borders OF dangerous territory.
At Yorktown we were In close contact with the
enemy. My runaway balloon might simply
have carried me TO the rear OF our own army.
where | would have been in no danger beyond
that which contronts any amateur who attempts
to make a descent. Carried in a contrary dircc-
ton. I was In danger OF falling into the encmy's
lines. and perhaps my descent might have been
fastened and made fatal by the shots OF reckless
fellows. who would consider the aerial voyager
fair game.
MY balloon had tantalized the Confederates
for many days. They saw that 1t was doing
some very valuable spy work, and tried In every
way to bring 1t down. ! was wholly unprepared
for a fight into space, and 1t was a wonder that.
under the circumstances, l gained control OF
myself and of the machine. and made the ascent
q valuable one from "a military point OF view.
The accident to my safety ropes was q most ex-
traordinary one. In fact. that part Of the affair
was no accident at all; 1t was the result OF q
plot. The accident lay in the fact that l came
near briDu the victim NJ tho plnt instead ~
member OF the balloon corps.
II made the ascent just at the time by special
direction OF Gen. Mcclellan. who wished me to
take some observations of affairs inside the Con
federatc lines, with a view to ordering an imme-
date attack. This was wholly unexpected by
the balloon corps. It seems that a certain men,
Der OF the corps was a new arrival in the camp,
and as he ranked a little above some OF The old
hands, they were Jealous OF him. and made up
their minds that the best way TO get rid OF him
was to have an accident HAPPEN to the balloon
under hi, management. They deliberately re-
they applied acid which cut the strands almost
in two. The moment the balloon assembled far
parted, and the airship with its occupant, who
happened to be myself. leaped into space.
entered the basket hastily. not noticing that
there was only one SAFETY rope, and ordered the
was sweeping the field with it. unconscious OF
what was takins place with the balloon, until
f ii ,nyse't hyins Upward Tar DE, eeyonn the usual
balloon was running, away. AT first l was I'M
certain what to do. because IT was a new situa.
aeronaut. had accompanied me. and | had left
the management of the balloon to others.
the basket to be a valve rope. I a,tempted to
pull it and let myself down. it did not work.
s sisaPs f o9t Of the EhSpSS a ssses and s ln bee f fhai Nib
better success. / noticed that l was ascending
through a stratum OF escaping gas.
" knew that | had control NJ tho balloon and
sion; l had my glass with me and swept the
to mn Rich mptn a.c DOWN l towspd fo aR 'n Md RGntn i ans
Norfolk. ! saw the fleets in the harbor, | saw the
around Richmond, with their flags hyins. Be-
meath me WINS Yorktown. and the horses in the
soldiers were moving masses OF little specIs.
My second startling sensation was when l
I dropped in a current Of air which swept me
over the enemy camps. That meant capture.
the loss OF the balloon. and the failure of the ex.
petition. For the moment | was unconscious OF
everything except that ! wished to get the bal
loon again under control and back into the cur.
rent OF air which l passed through further down
that was blowing in a contrary direction. One
thing ! did notice. and that was that the Con.
federatc soldiers were running out OF their
camps and cheering in the expectation, prob
ably; that would descend among them.
"Confederates have since told me that they
were highly excited over the actions OF the bal.
loon. II had been their custom whenever |
assembled the length OF the safety ropes to try
even al times tried rifle cannon when il
assembled slowly. But on this occasion its APP
pearanCe was a complete surprise. When they
first saw it II had mounted high above their
heads They made no attempt TO shoot at it.
The current | was in was rapidly bearing me
west, far into the enemy's territory, and l
pulled the valve until the balloon sank into a
with ali my strength and felt the balloon sink.
ing rapidly. AS the gas left the silk bag the
WITH the he't air 2yS Ssns ena f it! fhi e s Sshs OF P 1he shois
machine to sway and made me very dizzy and
uncomfortable. As soon as | found my course
ined the camp where thought I would fall. I
saw the STARS and Stripes there and that reas-
surcd me. then gave all my attention to per
Al flrst Thought I was about to be caught in
long lines OF stacked bayonets. / did not relish
being impaled upon them. and, gave the valve
= tent. was in the camp Of the hc'S seven3y y GSoa
Pennsylvania, Baxter's Zouaves; The men had
been excited spectators of the flight of the bal
loon. but they all supposed that its occupant
was Prof. Lowe. l wore no insignia of rank. /
did not undeceive them. They told me that
cction Of the Confederate camps a body OF our
cavalry had taken the field and ridden out with
the intention OF charging into the enemy's lines
to recover, the runaway.
I had landed more than a mile from head
Ing S'a and sh aPp p ns'e the fbs Balloon 1i t Borrowed dD a RRooffsse,
and rode TO Gen. McClellan's headquarters.
sound. He said that when he saw the balloon
speeding through the air toward Dixie, he had
begun to speculate upon whom he should ap-
point in my place as director OF the siege OF
Yorktown. for my troops were already in close
c%ontac; with the enemy. ard engaged in very
difficult operations under my personal direction.
have never been able to determine. l circled
around, above our own camps. over Yorktown,
and the Confederate camps, moving back and
forth some distance. Al the time l estimated I
was ! 500 feet above the ground at the highest
point. may have been. further than that. I
know the entire peninsula. from 20 TO 50 miles
in length and 80 to 40 in breadth. appeared to
be- no larger than n mans hand. Our own camp.
some miles in extent and holding from 1000 10
$1,000 boys in blue, seemed no larger than q ten
cent piece