While updating my biography of Mathew Brady, I discovered an interesting tidbit. During the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, Major General George B. McClellan sent Professor Thaddeus Lowe up into the sky in his hot-air balloon to spy on the Confederates. One of his generals, General Fritz John Porter, occasionally accompanied Lowe.

One day, Porter decided to go up in a balloon by himself. As he ascended into the sky, the balloon cable broke. The runaway balloon moved away quickly and floated over the Confederate line. Sharpshooters were preparing to fire on him. Mercifully, the wind shifted and pulled Porter back over the Union lines before the Confederates could shoot him down.

When Porter finally got the balloon under control, it made a dramatic descent and struck a Union tent when it landed. As Porter emerged unhurt from under the numerous folds of the balloon, he was greeted by cheering soldiers and a military band.

General McClellan, aware of General Porter’s adventure, wrote to his wife, “You may rest assured of one thing – you won’t catch me in the confounded balloon.”

 

Source: G. Allen Forster, The Eyes and Ears of the Civil War.