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 the sending up of unmanned balloons (ballons sondes) equipped with automatic recording instruments, and (q.v.) have also been employed for similar meteorological purposes. (See also .)

The balloon had not been discovered very long before it received a military status, and soon after the beginning of the French revolutionary war an aeronautic school was founded at Meudon, in charge of Guyton de Morveau, the chemist, and Colonel J. M. J. Coutelle (1748–1835). Four balloons were constructed for the armies of the north, of the Sambre and Meuse, of the Rhine and Moselle, and of Egypt. In June 1794 Coutelle ascended with the adjutant and general to reconnoitre the hostile army just before the battle of Fleurus, and two reconnaissances were made, each occupying four hours. It is generally stated that it was to the information so gained that the French victory was due. The balloon corps was in constant requisition during the campaign, but it does not appear that, with the exception of the reconnaissances just mentioned, any great advantages resulted, except in a moral point of view. But even this was of importance, as the enemy were much disconcerted at having their movements so completely watched, while the French were correspondingly elated at the superior information it was believed they were gaining. An attempt was made to revive the use of balloons in the African campaign of 1830, but no opportunity occurred in which they could be employed. It is said that in 1849 a reconnoitring balloon was sent up from before Venice, as also were small balloons loaded with bombs to be exploded by time-fuses. In the French campaign against Italy in 1859 the French had recourse to the use of balloons, but this time there was not any aerostatic corps, and their management was entrusted to the brothers Godard. Several reconnaissances were made, and one of especial interest the day before the battle of Solferino. No information of much importance seems, however, to have been gained thereby. In the American Civil War (1861) balloons were a good deal used by the Federals. There was a regular balloon staff attached to McClellan’s army, with a captain, an assistant-captain and about 50 non-commissioned officers and privates. The apparatus consisted of two generators, drawn by four horses each; two balloons, drawn by four horses each, and an acid-cart, drawn by two horses. The two balloons used contained about 13,000 and 26,000 ft. of gas, and the inflation usually occupied about three hours. (See Royal Engineers’ Papers, vol. xii.) By their aid useful information was gained about the enemy round Richmond and in other places, but eventually difficulties of transport and the topography of the theatre of war made ballooning impracticable; and little was heard of it after the first two years of the war.

The balloon proved itself very valuable during the siege of Paris (1870–71). It was by it alone that communication was kept up between the besieged city and the external world, as the balloons carried away from Paris the pigeons which afterwards brought back to it the news of the provinces. The total number of balloons that ascended from Paris during the siege, conveying persons and despatches, was sixty-four—the first having started on the 23rd of September 1870, and the last on the 28th of January 1871. Gambetta effected his escape from Paris, on the 7th of October, in the balloon “Armand-Barbes,” an event which doubtless led to the prolongation of the war. Of the sixty-four balloons only two were never heard of; they were blown out to sea. One of the most remarkable voyages was that of the “Ville d'Orleans,” which, leaving Paris at eleven o'clock on the 21st of November, descended fifteen hours afterwards near Christiania, having crossed the North Sea. Several of the balloons on their descent were taken by the Prussians, and a good many were fired at while in the air. The average size of the balloons was from 2000 to 2050 metres, or from 70,000 to 72,000 cub. ft. The above facts are extracted from Les Ballons du siège de Paris, a sheet published by Bulla and Sons, Paris, and compiled by the brothers Tissandier, well-known French aeronauts, which gives the name, size and times of ascent and descent of every balloon that left Paris, with the names of the aeronaut and generally also of the passengers, the weight of despatches, the number of pigeons, &c. Only those balloons, however, are noticed in which some person ascended. The balloons were manufactured and despatched (generally from the platforms of the Orleans or the Northern railway) under the direction of the Post Office. The aeronauts employed were mostly sailors, who did their work very well. No use whatever was made in the war of balloons for purposes of reconnaissance.

Ballooning, however, as a recognized military science, only dates back to about the year 1883 or 1884, when most of the powers organized regular balloon establishments. In 1884–85 the French found balloons very useful during their campaign in Tongking; and the British government also despatched balloons with the Bechuanaland expedition, and also with that to Suakin in those years. During the latter campaign several ascents were made in the presence of the enemy, on whom it was said that a great moral effect was produced. The employment of balloons has been common in nearly all modern wars.