5 
EARLY BALLOONING 
In the year 1783, Benjamin Franklin, the American Ambassador to 
France, was chosen to serve on a committee of the French Academy of 
Science that had been appointed to witness a most unusual event. On 
November 21 of that year, the committee was present in the gardens of 
the Chateau de la Muette, near Paris, to see the first aeronauts, the 
Marquis d' Arlandes and Pilatre de Rosier, take their positions in the 
gallery of a Montgolfier, or hot air balloon (Figure 3). In the early 
afternoon, the ropes were cast off and their huge balloon rose and 
sailed majestically over the roofs of Paris (Figure 4). Thirty minutes 
later, having accomplished the first manned aerial reconnaissance voyage 
2 
in history, the voyagers returned safely to the ground. When asked 
what possible useful application could be found for such activities, Mr. 
Franklin is reported to have replied, 
3 
"C'est 1'enfant qui vient de naitre?" 
The French were quick to seize upon the military potential of aerial 
transport, and, at the battle of Fleurus in 1794, they were the first to 
4 
use the balloon for military reconnaissance. Capt. Coutelle, a young 
French physicist of great talent, rendered memorable service during the 
battle. Using a captive balloon, he took up his aerial post of observa 
tion and transmitted instructions to the men below by means of colored 
flags (Figure 5). Napoleon Bonaparte later established a balloon corps 
to serve with his armies. 
The first successful manned balloon flight in American was made on 
January 9, 1793, by Jean Pierre Blanchard, a pioneering French balloonist