Paratroopers in the Civil War?

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
Yesterday was the 216th anniversary of the first parachute jump from a balloon. On October 22 1797 Andre-Jacques Garnerin wearing a parachute jumped out of the gondola of a balloon. In 1783 Louis-Sabastien Lourmand had used a ridge parachute when he jumped off the Montpelier tower. So others can argue about who was the first one to use a parachute, my question is about the use a parachutes during the Civil War.

By the start of the Civil War the use of parachutes was well established but not too common. However, during the Civil War was there any practical military use for parachutes? Union balloons were large enough to carry a couple of men. Put on a tether a Union balloon could travel a short distance over the Confederate lines. But a couple of paratroopers landing that near the front lines would seem to have no real impact. Can anyone else see a practical use of paratroopers during the Civil War?
 
I think you nailed it. Given the odds they would face, it would be a suicide mission at best. Possibly late war period and a dozen of so balloons with soldiers armed with Henry rifles? but then again the only ammo would be the ammo you jumped in with. Interesting topic though.
 
Yesterday was the 216th anniversary of the first parachute jump from a balloon. On October 22 1797 Andre-Jacques Garnerin wearing a parachute jumped out of the gondola of a balloon. In 1783 Louis-Sabastien Lourmand had used a ridge parachute when he jumped off the Montpelier tower. So others can argue about who was the first one to use a parachute, my question is about the use a parachutes during the Civil War.

By the start of the Civil War the use of parachutes was well established but not too common. However, during the Civil War was there any practical military use for parachutes? Union balloons were large enough to carry a couple of men. Put on a tether a Union balloon could travel a short distance over the Confederate lines. But a couple of paratroopers landing that near the front lines would seem to have no real impact. Can anyone else see a practical use of paratroopers during the Civil War?
Airborne, maybe, but not parachute. Balloons could use men and equipment as ballast and deliver a squad behind an opponent and work on his logistics (bridges, rail lines, etc). But the men would be on their own once they were on the ground.
 
major bill, thanks for posting this OP. I find it to be very interesting, something which I will have to research much more into. I`m a former U. S. Army Paratrooper who was also Military Freefall qualified (HALO) and have numerous jumps from the C-130 Hercules, C-141 Starlifter, UH-1H Huey Helicopter, OV-10 Bronco, DHC-6 Twin Otter, Cessna 182 Skylane, CH-47 Chinook Helicopter and the Sikorsky Skycrane Helicopter (Base jump from box hanging beneath).

I remember being told in jump school at Fort Benning, Ga., several decades ago, that the first U. S. Army parachute jumps were made in 1930, at which time they were experimenting with the concept of parachuting three-man teams. That the first U. S. Airborne unit began as a test platoon formed from part of the 29th Infantry Regiment, in July 1940. The platoon leader was Lt. William Ryder who made the first jump on August 16, 1940 at Lawson Field, Fort Benning, Georgia from a B-18 Bomber. Which was soon followed by the first enlisted man to parachute, that being Pvt. William King. Our Airborne Units; the 11th, 13th, 17th, 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, became legendary during WWII, with "Death from above" becoming one of their mantras.

I know that Germany and Russia had Paratroopers as well by 1930 with some of the Russians jumping from planes into snowbanks without parachutes in some cases before and during WWII. It was said that Germans attempted this as well during WWII. To hear that there was some form of "Parachuting" during the American Civil War is interesting indeed.
 
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Balloon ascents were common at fairs and such by the Civil War. Occasionally this included a parachute jump from the balloon. Crowds were thrilled by this kind of thing.
 
Balloon ascents were common at fairs and such by the Civil War. Occasionally this included a parachute jump from the balloon. Crowds were thrilled by this kind of thing.

I was aware of "Ballooning" being used as lookouts and observation posts from both armies. I had not previously heard of men parachuting from those balloons until your OP. The Confederates also used crude variations of "tree-stands" which were placed in the tops of the trees and used as lookouts.

On 26 Mar 1863, in a letter written by Melvin Tibbetts of Company K, 15th Maine, he describes the extent of the Confederate fortifications, to include "tree-top lookouts", along Pensacola Bay:

“it seems as though there was no end to the rebels fortifying the shore for two or three miles are lined with sand batteries and back in the woods out of sight are mask(ed) batteries, and there are lots of seats made up in the tops of trees probably for lookouts.”

The 2nd Regiment Alabama Cavalry, as part of the Detachment of Observation in the Department of the Gulf, was tasked to scout and skirmish against Federal forces at Pensacola and throughout the Florida Panhandle from 8 May 1862 - 5 Apr 1863, at which time they received movement orders to northern Mississippi to oppose Grierson`s raid from Lagrange to Baton Rouge. For a year they had numerous advance camps throughout the Florida Panhandle from which they would patrol, scout and ambush Federal troops stationed at the 3 Forts located at Pensacola Bay and the Warrington Naval Yard.
 
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Can anyone else see a practical use of paratroopers during the Civil War?
No. The reason is, as you indicate, lack of a delivery system to enable large numbers of troops to be landed. Dropping one or two soldiers would be of little consequence.
Further, I don't recall any case where a tethered balloon used by either side actually crossed over into the other side's 'air space'. Their use was limited to obtaining a higher view of the battlefield, terrain and troop movements.
 
why do I suddenly recall images from a Steampunk Convention....? :nerd:

There had been a few experimental dirigibles by then :wink:

As @WJC said, a tethered balloon wouldn't be effective unless you had a strong wind and a long tether! Nor would it be very covert.

If wind and troop positions were right, we might imagine a "Grierson Raid" with free balloons passing over enemy territory and landing in one's own. Of course neither weather forecasting nor balloon piloting was very well developed.

All told, I expect there were easier ways to get a few men behind enemy lines.
 
There's a saying in the US Army, even today, and I bet it was around when the Civil War was on that killed the idea of paratroopers.

"But we've never done it that way before."

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that excuse as a reason not to try something new when in the military, I would have more than enough money to have someone else type my response here.
 
I was aware of "Ballooning" being used as lookouts and observation posts from both armies. I had not previously heard of men parachuting from those balloons until your OP. The Confederates also used crude variations of "tree-stands" which were placed in the tops of the trees and used as lookouts.

On 26 Mar 1863, in a letter written by Melvin Tibbetts of Company K, 15th Maine, he describes the extent of the Confederate fortifications, to include "tree-top lookouts", along Pensacola Bay:

“it seems as though there was no end to the rebels fortifying the shore for two or three miles are lined with sand batteries and back in the woods out of sight are mask(ed) batteries, and there are lots of seats made up in the tops of trees probably for lookouts.”

The 2nd Regiment Alabama Cavalry, as part of the Detachment of Observation in the Department of the Gulf, was tasked to scout and skirmish against Federal forces at Pensacola and throughout the Florida Panhandle from 8 May 1862 - 5 Apr 1863, at which time they received movement orders to northern Mississippi to oppose Grierson`s raid from Lagrange to Baton Rouge. For a year they had numerous advance camps throughout the Florida Panhandle from which they would patrol, scout and ambush Federal troops stationed at the 3 Forts located at Pensacola Bay and the Warrington Naval Yard.

I believe some balloons carried a parachute for emergency, but as far as I know no one used parachutes as an insertion tool. My posts questions if any use of parachute drops would have had any military value.

It was not until the middle of World War One that even airplanes had enough power to even consider airborne operation. One or two parachutist did not have a real practical use. Airborne operations had to wait until a squad or so could be dropped.
 
I understood what you were stating... that is why I phrased my comments in both posts #5 and #7 above as "men parachuting" during the Civil War as opposed to calling them "Paratroopers". There is a distinction to be drawn between a "Paratrooper" and a "Parachutist". The former references a conventional combat force delivered by a glider of some sort (planes, jets, helicopters, etc...) and the latter someone that just jumps from something and parachutes safely to the ground (base jumper). It was not until WWII that we had our first "U. S. Paratrooper`s" as a viable conventional combat force to be used to infiltrate an enemy position, being dropped behind enemy lines, as a part of large Mass Tactical Airborne Operations.

Regarding your question of if any use of parachute drops would have had any military value during the Civil War? I agree with what WJC in post #8 and Carronade in post #9 wrote above. Had dirigibles been much farther along by the Civil War they would have been a much better delivery system with which to infiltrate and insert combat forces behind enemy lines in greater numbers, enough so to actually have a positive effect on a given battle or campaign.
 
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I understood what you were stating... that is why I phrased my comments in both posts #5 and #7 above as "men parachuting" during the Civil War as opposed to calling them "Paratroopers". There is a distinction to be drawn between a "Paratrooper" and a "Parachutist". The former references a conventional combat force delivered by a glider of some sort (planes, jets, helicopters, etc...) and the latter someone that just jumps from something and parachutes safely to the ground (base jumper). It was not until WWII that we had our first "U. S. Paratrooper`s" as a viable conventional combat force to be used to infiltrate an enemy position, being dropped behind enemy lines, as a part of large Mass Tactical Airborne Operations.

Regarding your question of if any use of parachute drops would have had any military value during the Civil War? I agree with what WJC in post #8 and Carronade in post #9 wrote above. Had dirigibles been much farther along by the Civil War they would have been a much better delivery system with which to infiltrate and insert combat forces behind enemy lines in greater numbers, enough so to actually have a positive effect on a given battle or campaign.

I remember a previous thread about the viability of dirigibles for scouting; the resolution seemed to be they lacked range, control and altitude. But that was a different thread.

But Paratroopers? Brings a new meaning to the troops suffering from 'dropsy' ...
 
If wind and troop positions were right, we might imagine a "Grierson Raid" with free balloons passing over enemy territory and landing in one's own. Of course neither weather forecasting nor balloon piloting was very well developed.
Add to that that it was a difficult project to field even the number of ballons that were used.
 
I remember a previous thread about the viability of dirigibles for scouting; the resolution seemed to be they lacked range, control and altitude. But that was a different thread.

But Paratroopers? Brings a new meaning to the troops suffering from 'dropsy' ...

I believe that the first dirigible was built in 1854, so by the American Civil War (1861-1865) the technology was still very early regarding their capability. Range, control and altitude, as you referenced above in post #13, were all problems that could severely lead to a lethal outcome for the crew of a dirigible, especially if directly over the enemies position when one or all three of those issues may occur. I can only imagine the "makeshift" parachute which may have been used during this time, of which major bill was speaking, it had to be very crude at best. Even during WWII the malfunction rate for parachutes was extremely high regarding the T-5 and T-7 canopies. This later led to the anti-inversion net being placed at the base of the main canopy of the T-10 model to make sure that it did not invert or cigarette roll upon deployment and opening. During my years as a U. S. Army Paratrooper, I have made numerous jumps using the T-10, MC1-1B and 9 Cell Ram-Air canopies, and have experienced malfunctions regarding them all, forcing me to cut away my main canopy and deploy my reserve.
 
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Parachuting men in ones and twos during the ACW would have served no practical purpose even if it had been found technically feasible. Even in WWII, the only practical use for parachuting ones and twos was inserting agents into occupied Europe to link up with resistance groups. Even then, the Office of Strategic Services normally inserted at least three agents (code named Jedburgh teams) at a time, sometimes more. But these were long range insertions, not jumping just barely into enemy territory.

There were better ways to infiltrate spies in the ACW.
 
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No command and control as the parachutists are scattered by the wind and drift. Normandy was bad enough.
 
Can anyone else see a practical use of paratroopers during the Civil War?

As the resident Balloon Guy (and former U.S. Army Paratrooper) it's time I chimed in. The simple answer given the technology of the time is NO, there is/was no practical use of paratroopers during the Civil War.

The two largest Union Balloons were 32,000 cubic feet of volume and could only carry 4 to 5 people aloft . . . and would have to be significantly larger to carry a squad behind enemy lines as @Robin Lesjovitch suggests. The Confederate Balloon "Gazelle" was half the size of the Union's smallest balloon at 7,500 cubic feet of volume. It leaked like a sieve and could only carry 1 person aloft for a short period.

While the length of each of the Union Balloon tether lines was about one mile long, the highest recorded tether during the Civil War was +- 3,000 feet (0.56 mile). With favorable winds the balloon would have to be very close to the front lines in order to drop troops behind them. As 'Civilian Contractors' the Aeronauts would be shot on sight and not given POW status so they preferred to make their observations near the Commanders' HQs so information collected and reported could be timely and actionable.

@WJC Fitz John Porter convinced the Union Aeronaut James Allen to allow him to go aloft solo near Yorktown early on a morning of April 1862. As it was only going to be a "quick ascent" they violated Lowe's minimum 3 point tether requirement and only used 1. Unfortunately one or more drops of acid used in making hydrogen got on that line causing it to break when tension occurred. Porter 'free flew' over Confederate lines but coastal winds brought him back over Union territory as the balloon descended.

@Carronade I respectfully disagree: Gas Balloons had been around for 78 years prior to the Civil War and the basic skills of piloting them are similar to this very day (I have 1,600 Lighter Than Air Hours and 34 gas flights in my log book and am the co-pilot for the winning team of the 2006 Americas Challenges Gas Balloon Race flying from Albuquerque, NM to Citra, FL; 1,478 miles in 60h45min). As Lowe and the Aerounauts he hired to operate the Union Balloons were experienced, I'd argue piloting was very well developed - just prior to the war Lowe flew 900+- miles from Cincinnati, OH to Unionville, SC on April 20, 1861 where he was captured and detained not once but three times as a Yankee Spy as he made his way back north. Unfortunately for the Confederates, they did not have trained Aeronauts to operate either of their balloons.

@major bill and @2nd Alabama Cavalry: NO Balloon carried a parachute aloft nor did anyone jump from a balloon operated by either side during the Civil War.

@2nd Alabama Cavalry: U.S. Army Captain Albert Berry made the first American parachute jump from an airplane at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri on March 1, 1912.

Respectfully Submitted,

TSC Lowe, Aeronaut
 
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