Talk:John Wise (balloonist)

message: In an earlier account of this article there was a remark made that on July 25, 1861, John Wise fired the first shot on Confederates from a balloon.The account was so proposterous I removed it and replaced it with the acoount I have been able to verify through Civil War records and other published accounts of the Union Army Balloon Corps.
There is no place in general Civil War history that says shots were made on Confederates from Union Army balloons. Wise, as was Thaddeus Lowe, was a civilian contrator, and his firing on the enemy would have been a strict illegal act of land warfare. There is no way that an un-uniformed civilian would be allowed to take up arms against a uniformed army on behalf of the Union Army. It was bad enough that the men of the Union Army Balloon Corps were operating as spies (un-uniformed, non-military, uncommissioned aerial observers) which carried a stiff penalty should they have been captured. Wise's career with the Union Army ended faster than it started with the failure of being able to field his one and only balloon at the battle of First Bull Run. Lowe was put into service in Wise's stead. The only other balloon operator at the time was John LaMountain who was under separate contract at Fort Monroe. He is accreditted with having made the first report of useful military intelligence derived from aerial observation. His career was ended when General McClellan ousted him in Feb 1862. (Read Lowe's Report Part I to the Secretary of War, 1863 which tells the account with Wise.)--Magi Media (talk) 04:57, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: More suspect accounts

message: I have found a book that tells about the 1800km trip from StLouis to Henderson, saying that Wise and LaMountain were accompanied by O.Gager. I haven't been able to find more information about this. Might be worth to check. --Mezod (talk) 15:37, 30 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: O. Gager

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thread_title:  External links modified