As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
In civil war, it is anything but civil. This is lost on those in power in they think that all their minions are sucking clit like good little pervs, but in reality, Benedict Arnold, proved that he liked English clit better than American.
What this has to do with balloons as secret weapons?
Read on.
Thaddeus Lowe was a self taught inventor and scientist. No degrees, nothing about qualifications. He just built hydrogen balloons like the Hindenberg, and the military thought this was a grand secret weapon.
So the year was 1862 AD in the year of our Lord. McClellan had finally taken to the field in Virginia, in a red mud rasputitsa to take on the Confederates where George Washington had cornered the British at Yorktown.
Thaddeus Lowe appeared here with his balloons and was taking reading daily. The balloons were popular in V Corps commander, General Fitz John Porter was personally going aloft and scanning the Confederate positions. The Confederates flocked out to see the balloons flying, but were soon ordered to get out of sight as their leaders knew they were being counted and their positions plotted.
This had been going on for awhile, when one morning, Fitz John Porter got into the balloon car alone, and up he went. He kept going up as first one rope broke holding the balloon and soon the second one broke.
The wind was not of favor for the General as he soon was drifting toward the Confederate lines in his Hindenberg bomb. Things became more jepordous when he soon found bullets blowing by him in the car and had him ducking for cover.
Not having any idea what to do as balloons were not meant to fly, only to be hoisted up and down, he started dropping his sandbag ballasts. No reports of his killing any Confederates with his sandbag bombs.
Losing all that weight, and Fitz John Porter shot up to the nether sphere like a rocket. Being out of range of Confederate cannon and rifles, Porter soon found a new situation as the winds aloft were blowing him back to his lines very fast. The problem being is what lay beyond his lines in the Atlantic Ocean, a place he did not want to end up.
Porter's new idea was to climb up and pull the rope that would open a vent which would release the hydrogen. The vent was a bit sticky and when it came loose it really came loose and down came Porter like a rock. Fortunately he did not end up flying to the ground, unfortunately he hit on his side on the side of the car which damaged him as all rib injuries do
Hanging there for awhile, he recovered, and noted that his beautiful balloon was going quite limp. The ground was coming up very fast as he was not descending, but plunging from the sky.
The rope to close the vent was now out of reach. (I did not quite comprehend why a safety valve rope was located outside the car and you had to climb at 2000 feet above the ground to that rope....OUTSIDE THE CAR. Seems a bit risky to me.
As the ground closer, Fitz John Porter had another idea. This idea was to jump out of the falling balloon, and into a tree. Again fortunately like a Bugs Bunny cartoon, the General jumped from the balloon at the opportune time, hit the tree, and somehow hung up with an arm and leg in the tree.
The General's adventures were not over though, as the balloon collapsed upon him, and all he was left to breathe was hydrogen so he was suffocating in the top of the tree.
Help arrived, the General was pealed out from under the balloon and he survived.
It was soon speculated as Thaddeus Lowe appeared on the scene, seeing his balloon flying around loose, that what had happened, was the refueling wagon had acid in the process and when the ropes touched the acid, they were burned through, hence the balloon broke free.
As Fitz John Porter had an interest in this, he investigated the events himself. There was a bit more to this than accidental touching of acid. The story was instead that a certain Captain who often preceded the General up in the balloon, had a situation with an enlisted man. The enlisted man, not liking being berated by the Captain, rubbed acid on the ropes, and concluded that he was going to fly his nemesis to some other place than the Union which would solve the nemesis problem.
The records do not show any disciplinary action directed toward the acidic enlisted man
Those in power, always think they can enforce loyalty, but always forget like a divorce that civil war is treachery on both sides.
Nuff Said
Jul 9, 2021 ... ... Lyrics: Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon? Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon? We could float among the stars ...
agtG
