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128
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
124
Chapter
IV.
Balloons
Made
Useful
in
Warfare.
Wars
of
the
French
Republic--Company
of
“Ballooneers”--
Battle
of
Fleurus--The
Balloons
of
Egypt--Napoleon--Modern
Services
War
in
Italy--War
in
America--Conclusion.
We
will
conclude
our
work
with
a
glance
at
aerostation
as
applied
to
warfare.
Scarcely
had
the
first
ascents
astonished
the
world,
than
the
more
adventurous
spirits
began
to
use
the
new
discovery
for
a
thousand
purposes
directly
useful
to
man.
The
first
point
of
view
in
which
aerostation
was
regarded,
was
in
that
of
its
practical
utility
If
one
refers
to
the
pre-occupations
of
the
time--to
the
great
events
then
occurring
in
the
history
of
France,
one
will
easily
understand
that
the
Committee
of
Public
Safety
soon
thought
of
employing
balloons
in
the
observation
of
the
forces
and
the
movements
of
hostile
troops.
In
1794,
the
idea
was
practically
carried
out,
and
the
French
armies
were
provided
with
two
companies
of
aeronauts.
The
command
of
one
of
these
companies
was
given
to
Captain
Coutelle,
a
young
physicist
of
great
talent,
who
rendered
memorable
services
at
the
battle
of
Fleurus.
The
balloons
were
not
thrown
free,
but
were
retained
attached
by
means
of
long
cords.
In
this
way
they
took
up,
so
to
speak,
aerial
posts
of
observation.
Placed
in
his
car,
the
captain
transmitted
his
instructions
to
his
men
below
by
means
of
coloured
flags.
Coutelle
has
left
us
a
lively
narrative
of
certain
incidents
connected
with
one
of
the
grand
days
of
the
old
Republic.
He
had
been
commissioned
by
the
Committee
of
Public
Safety
to
go
to
Maubeuge,
where
Jourdan’s
army
was
encamped,
and
to
offer
him
the
use
of
his
balloon.
The
representative
to
whom
the
young
doctor
presented
his
commission,
knew
nothing
about
balloons,
and
not
being
able
to
understand
the
order
of
the
Committee
of
Public
Safety,
it
suddenly
dawned
upon
him
that
Coutelle,
with
his
trumpery
forgery
about
balloons,
was
nothing
else
than
a
spy,
and
he
was
about
to
have
him
shot.
The
genuineness
of
the
order
from
the
Committee,
however,
was
proved,
and
Coutelle’s
case
was
listened
to.
“The
army
was
at
Beaumont,”
says
Coutelle,
“and
the
enemy,
placed
at
a
distance
of
only
three
miles,
could
attack
at
any
moment.
The
general
told
me
this
fact,
and
engaged
me
to
return
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