men
to a height of about 500 or 600 feet.

When used in the field the balloon is generally inflated at the base, to
be towed or carried forward by a squad of men while floating in the air,
perhaps at a height of 10 feet. A dozen men will suffice for this duty
as a rule, and in calm weather little difficulty is encountered in
moving from point to point. This method possesses many advantages.
The balloon can be inflated with greater ease at the base, where it is
immune from interference by hostile fire. Moreover, the facilities for
obtaining the requisite inflating agent--hydrogen or coal gas--are more
convenient at such a point. If the base be far removed from the spot at
which it is desired to operate the balloon, the latter is inflated at a
convenient point nearer the requisite position, advantage being taken of
the protective covering offered by a copse or other natural obstacle.

As is well known, balloons played an important part during the siege
of Paris in 1870-1, not only in connection with daring attempts to
communicate with the outer world, but in reconnoitring the German
positions around the beleaguered city. But this was not the first
military application of the aerial vessel; it was used by the French
against the Austrians in the battle of Fleurus, and also during the
American Civil War. These operations, however, were of a sporadic
character; they were not part and parcel of an organised military
section.

It is not generally known that the British War office virtually
pioneered the military use of balloons, and subsequently the methods
perfected in Britain became recognised as a kind of "standard" and
were adopted generally by the Powers with such modifications as local
exigencies seemed to demand.

The British military balloon department was inaugurated at Chatham under
Captain Templer in 1879. It was devoted essentially to the employment
of captive balloons in war, and in 1880 a company of the Royal Engineers
was detailed to the care of this work in the field. Six years previously
the French military department had adopted the captive balloon under
Colonel Laussedat, who was assisted among others by the well-known
Captain Renard. Germany was somewhat later in the field; the military
value of captive balloons was not appreciated and taken into serious
consideration here until 1884. But although British efforts were
preceded by the French the latter did not develop the idea upon accepted
military lin