The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-24

gotl,er, therefore took out my hcte-boo
md made II rough diagram slo wing t TN
fivers the roads and creeks, nnd inarR pil,
whore tho different bodies Of the enelny's
troops were upon this little imp, using t,ltl
the Initial 4 for Infantry, e. for cavalry,
IA foti artillery, and ,SV' for wagon trains
and i marked down about the number. 81
troops that estimated at each po,llh , 7.
Now,(tf1is was hot such TN easy tlllhg to
do, M we tt1iay ut first suppose, Tor ,tne
4y,,rio,,s currents Of air made my lDnilooil
spin aud revolre like d top (qnlS very
much slow cry so that ! must needs Will
for IN whole revolution TO Occurspeiofe =
my sketch 5of any pnfttiicsu "
spot Finally I gave, the signal to loW W.
tho balloon, hut hn1d had \ begun tne
descent when I saw tlint the enemy had
prepared to give mo d very warn, recep-l
ition as soon as / came within range. Tor,
they had run oilt d n,mberS Of other bat
tories. and stood by their guns preparing "
for firing ana aiming them nt the spot Y
must pass on my why to terra ftrn. =
therefore gave tho signal, 'fnstcr-.faster.S
ana the men at the windlass put iortn !,
their best efforts, working lin trelnSs anu
as fast as they could. However, ~ seemed y
al too slow to inc, for WIS sspoli ilgulll
in tho danger zone, nnu the enemy q u Wis
opened on me. firing this time NV lnat-
steres, four ana six at q time. and hlinng
tho uir with shells ana bullets, and how, /,
escaped I do not know, for some sot 'thair
shells passed very close to "A IA B !,
a5 CAME DOWN IN SAFETY e,
4"Howevcr, after what soorled Atp me an
nre, the balloon wis finally wound down. i
md stepped out Of my 3bn Hket once more
upon Mother Earth. Mounting my horse lf'
rode 10 General Johnstoit's head q Y
to mako my report. The General !llsNtenea
g,ntently stt5 what iI told him, md asked
very pnrticularly as to the position OF the
oifreront branches OF the service, and ~
to their numbers, and spreading out h1s
map 9ol, the table. made me show MN
where tho different bodies Of troops, ar;
itillcry and $50 on, wore posted! NVhen9l}
had finished my report the General co m 4
plinented me lby saying 4 had done f very y
we'll indeed. 8Thereforc, at leaving = fl 70.
that my experiences were. "a thing or the
past, and requested tho General ato tusalgl'S
mo to the same duties WhicfhHl Shau sl ~
formed before n hnd Ejoined him.
"'My deni. sir replied the General, Il
fenr you forget tina you are the only ieS-;
.pcrlenced ueronaut that \ have With my
army, and you will please hold yourself
in readiness. as we may wish you 10 allltuso
another ascension at any time!, ~ N1eltS
.complimcnted, but was not elated. VI
.4.Ihat evening the whole balloon force!
was ordered to move TO another point
some whore nearer Yorktown, as the flien-3
eral did not think 1t safe that the balloon
should go up from the same place !agallfss
Also, an arrangement was made for In
creaslng tho speed In hauling down tho
balloon. This was that six artillery horses
were hitched to the end of the rope winch
passed through the windass. and upon Inc
signal to lower tho balloon they were trid 4
den up the road at a full agallop, Whlcn;
brought tho balloon down lnucha more
quickly. In "a day oratwo after q second
ascent was made, at Athe Generals 3ortlers.t
which was much like Sthe first one, fputs
with somewhat less strepid ation by g General
Johnston's only perienced aer (, y,
fellow-soldiers Balloon Bryan and VINO
WIS suspected ,by theultof having "a sore " /
loose someySlore onstacoo,,nt of his mao
trips in the air. General Johnston 3re-E
oeived the second report about rs the tdid,
the first but still refused ito discharge i1Eae
from tho balloon service, ibut ordered me
to hold myself in4rendlness
5iS "A TRIP by NIGHT.
"a few nights later Il made another
md, i am glad to say, any last ascension
which came nenr being my last trip ~,
anything Jul II tStai1 P1pSSSNN1 ~
that occurrence. ~
9.tone night, just before the army fell
ba elk from Yorktown and fought the bat
tie OF williamsburg (Which was tho 18th
of May. S62) the balloon squad was
walked Zip one night with orders from
General u ohnston to fire up the balloon
and mako q raoonno isnnce tns soon .ns pos I
sible. The courier who brought the order
mo privately that information
had been received ut hendquartersS>l rom re,
some OF the scouts that the enemy was IN
motion, and that General Johnston was!
very anxious to ascertain in what direc-t
ton the move was to be made, and!
whether their troops wore advancing upon
more than on point. 1t was at this time
near tho full moon. and the nights were
as bright almost as day. AS soon, there 4
fore, ,ns the balloon was inflated Jumped
into my 5bask ct, feeling quito at ease, rs ! !
had already ma dc two inscensions. and as
this was to he a night trip. 4 had but
little fear of discovery and OF being 1ired
on, especially as the&eneiny We're now AZ
motion. and when marching could not 50
well arrange for this artillery service. i
but there was "a still greater danger upon
which i had never calculated. The Com
tolerate troops. almost TO "a man, had
r1e%ar seen a balloon, and each time that
i was sent up they crowded around the
balloon squad to watch this novel per-
formanoe, and amused themselves by
making many and varied iremarl.:s8
which Were not Very complimentary
upon the whole business md myself IN
particular. an this occasion the bal-
loon, shining in the bright dlrclight, at
traoted q larger ,ctoWd than usual. and 4
tho crew in charge had great difficulty
In keeping them back out Of their way,
so they could properly perform thelrE
work I therefore entered the basket
and gave the signal to rise, feeling, as.
j have said, unusually comfortable and
/ had assembled about two hundred feet
when. MI at once, without any warming,
the balloon was jerked upward MS by.
some great force for about two miles, 80
it seemed ia me, \ WAS ibreathless apd
gasp,ng, and trembling like a leaf from
fenr without knowing what had hap