Mike Boehme, director of the Virginia Aviation Museum said, "This was the first time that opposing air forces were facing each other."
Today, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), a nonprofit group devoted to saving battlefields, is seeking to save the ground where the Union balloons were launched. Little of the original Gaines Mill Battlefield has been preserved, but the 285-acre slice of it the group wants to save includes the ravine that shielded the balloons from Confederate fire.
Gaines Mill was one of the biggest and bloodiest battles where Confederate General Robert E. Lee recorded his first victory on June 27, 1862, which led to the Seven Days battles which turned away Union forces trying to capture Richmond.
The CWPT's Rob Shenk was attending a Civil War ballooning presentation when he realized that the launch site was part of the land the group was about to save.
Until the war, balloons were mostly a fair attraction. Come the war, New Englander Thaddeus Lowe became the Father of military aerial reconnaissance by dazzling President Lincoln with the balloon possibilities.
There Is No Place Like Home. --Old B-R'er
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
Showing posts with label SevenDays battles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SevenDays battles. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The Civil War's "Kitty Hawk" Moment-- Part 1
From the Nov. 27th Goldsboro News-Argus "Nonprofit aims to preserve Civil War's 'Kitty Hawk' moment" by AP.
It happened June 27, 1862, at the Civil War Battle of Gaines' Mill, part of the Seven Days Battles, when both Union and Confederate aeronauts took to the skies simultaneously for the first time.
Two Union balloons, the Washington and Intrepid were launched and their Confederate enemy balloon, the Gazelle, also took to the skies. All were up there to observe enemy movements from 1,000 feet high.
"You had the Confederate balloon up and the Union balloons up, all trying to exploit the advantages of being above and over the battlefield and providing tactical information to their respective generals," says Mike Boehne, director of the Virginia Aviation Museum.
Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon. --Old B-Runner
It happened June 27, 1862, at the Civil War Battle of Gaines' Mill, part of the Seven Days Battles, when both Union and Confederate aeronauts took to the skies simultaneously for the first time.
Two Union balloons, the Washington and Intrepid were launched and their Confederate enemy balloon, the Gazelle, also took to the skies. All were up there to observe enemy movements from 1,000 feet high.
"You had the Confederate balloon up and the Union balloons up, all trying to exploit the advantages of being above and over the battlefield and providing tactical information to their respective generals," says Mike Boehne, director of the Virginia Aviation Museum.
Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon. --Old B-Runner
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