Leigh Cole
Private
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2016
- Location
- Monroe, MI
from thread https://civilwartalk.com/threads/balloon-corps.25952/
Well, he wasn't the first to get sent up in a balloon, but he was the first to truly be successful with it, surely. As a side note, the maps he drew are at the Monroe Historical Museum. This is an excerpt from an article by Thom Hatch in the Civil War Essential Curriculum:
"In the spring of 1862, during the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, Custer was assigned duty under Brigadier General William Farrar “Baldy” Smith as a military observer from a hot-air balloon. Custer usually ascended at night to a height of 1,000 feet for his reconnaissance. With field glasses, map, and compass, he would note gun emplacements, count enemy campfires, plot the number of white tents, and sketch their locations in his notebook. On the night of May 4 he noticed that the Confederates had possibly departed their position. He and another officer reconnoitered the area and confirmed the pullout. On balloon duty, Custer had been afforded the opportunity to view the American landscape in a manner few of his generation had ever experienced."
Custer noted he was not fond of the height or the balloon, but he did his job as ordered. One of America's first aerial observers indeed!
Custer noted he was not fond of the height or the balloon, but he did his job as ordered. One of America's first aerial observers indeed!
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