French Aerostatic Corps
Encyclopedia
The French Aerostatic Corps or Company of Aeronauts was the world's first air force
, founded in 1794 to use balloons
, primarily for reconnaissance
.
, and in 1793 the Committee of Public Safety
began testing their potential. Initial tests of airship
designs proved unsatisfactory. However, experiments conducted near the Tuileries from September to October 1793 to produce the required hydrogen
without the use of sulphuric acid, which was in short supply, were successful, producing more than 20 cubic metres. As a result, the Committee determined to use this technique to float tethered balloons.
At the end of October 1793, chemist Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle
and his assistant, the engineer Nicolas Lhomond, were sent to join the Army of the North, with 50,000 livre
to acquire equipment. They were given a letter from Lazare Carnot
commending them to General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
and representative Ernest Dominique François Joseph Duquesnoy
, which informed them that "Citizen Coutelle is not a charlatan". However, on arrival, Jourdan ridiculed the project, ordering Coutelle back to Paris
, with the message that an Austrian attack was imminent, and a battalion was required, not a balloon.
, where the Aerostatic Development Centre was founded. Nicolas-Jacques Conté
led the research, refining balloon shapes and materials, and also improving the hydrogen production
process. This culminated in a series of ascensions, viewed by leading figures on the Committee, who passed an Act creating the Aerostatic Corps on 2 April 1794. The corps consisted of a captain and a lieutenant, a sergeant-major and sergeant, two corporals and twenty privates. All these men were required to have skills relevant to ballooning, such as chemistry
or carpentry
. The Act creating the corps envisaged three roles: reconnaissance, signalling and the distribution of propaganda
. Coutelle was created captain, and Lhomond lieutenant.
, then extracting hydrogen. The first military use of the balloon was on 2 June, when it was used for reconnaissance during an enemy bombardment. On 22 June, the corps received orders to move the balloon to the plain of Fleurus, in front of the Austrian troops at Charleroi
. This was achieved by twenty soldiers who dragged the inflated balloon across thirty miles of ground. For the three following days, an officer ascended to make further observations. On 26 June, the Battle of Fleurus
was fought, and the balloon remained afloat for nine hours, during which Coutelle and Antoine Morlot
took notes on the movements of the Austrian Army, dropping them to the ground for collection by the French Army, and also signalled messages using semaphore
.
The French won the Battle of Fleurus, but reports of the usefulness of the balloon corps varied. Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau
, who had been present throughout the battle, strongly supported it, but Jourdan believed that it had contributed little. Guyton had already supervised the construction at Meudon of the Martial, a cylindrical balloon, which was supplied to the corps soon after the battle, but it proved too unstable for use. The corps followed the Army of the North into Belgium and was present at battles in Liege
and Brussels
, although they did not see action. With winter approaching, they constructed a balloon depot at Borcette near Aachen
.
.jpg)
On 23 June, an Act creating a second aerostatic company had been passed, to be trained at Meudon by Conté. It was provided with two new balloons, Hercule and L'Intrépide
, and in March 1795 it was attached to the Army of the Rhine. Coutelle was recalled in order to head the new company, Lhomond being promoted to captain of the first company, while Conté remained at Meudon. In October, he was made head of a new school of ballooning, where replacement soldiers for the two companies were trained.
The second company conducted ascensions at the Battle of Mainz
, and were also active during the evacuation of Mannheim
. For the winter, they established a base at Frankheim, then followed the Army north and conducted observations at Stuttgart
, Rastatt
and Donauwörth
.
, which was now led by Jourdan. They were not directly involved in any action, but Jourdan appears to have warmed to the balloonists, printing official correspondence forms depicting a balloon above his army. In September 1796, they were at the Battle of Würzburg
when the French Army was defeated, and the entire company was taken captive with its balloon L'Intrépide
, which is now on display at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum
in Vienna.
Following this disaster, the second company was attached to the reconstructed Army of Sambre-et-Meuse. Coutelle withdrew to Meudon, overcome by fever, and new commander Delaunay was unable to work with the new General, Lazare Hoche
, who refused to let them participate in any action.
The first company were released in April 1797, under the terms of the Treaty of Leoben
, and petitioned for the reinstatement of Coutelle as their commander. This was permitted; Coutelle was made a colonel, while Lhomond was promoted to major and permitted to remain second-in-command. In 1798, the company joined the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt. On arrival, they decided to initially leave the ballooning equipment on their ship. This was destroyed in the Battle of the Nile
, and the company was assigned to other duties. They were able to conduct a few demonstrations of more basic balloons for entertainment purposes.
On 15 January 1799, the Directory
passed an act disbanding the balloon corps. The second company was immediately disbanded, but the first was still in action in Egypt and remained in existence until its return to France in 1802.
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
, founded in 1794 to use balloons
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
, primarily for reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
.
Experimentation
Numerous suggestions had been made for the use of balloons during the French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, and in 1793 the Committee of Public Safety
Committee of Public Safety
The Committee of Public Safety , created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror , a stage of the French Revolution...
began testing their potential. Initial tests of airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
designs proved unsatisfactory. However, experiments conducted near the Tuileries from September to October 1793 to produce the required hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
without the use of sulphuric acid, which was in short supply, were successful, producing more than 20 cubic metres. As a result, the Committee determined to use this technique to float tethered balloons.
At the end of October 1793, chemist Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle
Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle
Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle was a French engineer, scientist and pioneer of ballooning.-Life:...
and his assistant, the engineer Nicolas Lhomond, were sent to join the Army of the North, with 50,000 livre
French livre
The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...
to acquire equipment. They were given a letter from Lazare Carnot
Lazare Carnot
Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot , the Organizer of Victory in the French Revolutionary Wars, was a French politician, engineer, and mathematician.-Education and early life:...
commending them to General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...
and representative Ernest Dominique François Joseph Duquesnoy
Ernest Dominique François Joseph Duquesnoy
Ernest Dominique François Joseph Duquesnoy was a French revolutionary.-Life:The son of a farmer, he served time as a private in the dragoons then moved to farming and raising his large family...
, which informed them that "Citizen Coutelle is not a charlatan". However, on arrival, Jourdan ridiculed the project, ordering Coutelle back to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, with the message that an Austrian attack was imminent, and a battalion was required, not a balloon.
Formation
Back in Paris, the Committee of Public Safety ordered further tests on the balloon technology, to be conducted at the Chateau de MeudonChâteau de Meudon
The former Château de Meudon, on a hill in Meudon, about 4 kilometres south-west of Paris, occupied the terraced steeply sloping site. It was acquired by Louis XIV, who greatly expanded its as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin...
, where the Aerostatic Development Centre was founded. Nicolas-Jacques Conté
Nicolas-Jacques Conté
Nicolas-Jacques Conté was a French painter, balloonist, army officer, and inventor of the modern pencil.He was born at Saint-Céneri-près-Sées in Normandy, and distinguished himself for his mechanical genius which was of great avail to the French army in Egypt...
led the research, refining balloon shapes and materials, and also improving the hydrogen production
Hydrogen production
Hydrogen production is the family of industrial methods for generating hydrogen. Currently the dominant technology for direct production is steam reforming from hydrocarbons. Many other methods are known including electrolysis and thermolysis...
process. This culminated in a series of ascensions, viewed by leading figures on the Committee, who passed an Act creating the Aerostatic Corps on 2 April 1794. The corps consisted of a captain and a lieutenant, a sergeant-major and sergeant, two corporals and twenty privates. All these men were required to have skills relevant to ballooning, such as chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
or carpentry
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
. The Act creating the corps envisaged three roles: reconnaissance, signalling and the distribution of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
. Coutelle was created captain, and Lhomond lieutenant.
Battle of Fleurus
In May 1794, the new corps joined Jourdan's troops at Mauberge, bringing one balloon: L'Entreprenant. They began by constructing a furnaceFurnace
A furnace is a device used for heating. The name derives from Latin fornax, oven.In American English and Canadian English, the term furnace on its own is generally used to describe household heating systems based on a central furnace , and sometimes as a synonym for kiln, a device used in the...
, then extracting hydrogen. The first military use of the balloon was on 2 June, when it was used for reconnaissance during an enemy bombardment. On 22 June, the corps received orders to move the balloon to the plain of Fleurus, in front of the Austrian troops at Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
. This was achieved by twenty soldiers who dragged the inflated balloon across thirty miles of ground. For the three following days, an officer ascended to make further observations. On 26 June, the Battle of Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1794)
In the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the army of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan faced the Coalition Army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg in the most decisive battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars...
was fought, and the balloon remained afloat for nine hours, during which Coutelle and Antoine Morlot
Antoine Morlot
Antoine Morlot was a French general, notable for his participation in the battle of Kaiserslautern. He is buried at the cimetière du Père-Lachaise....
took notes on the movements of the Austrian Army, dropping them to the ground for collection by the French Army, and also signalled messages using semaphore
Semaphore
A semaphore telegraph, optical telegraph, shutter telegraph chain, Chappe telegraph, or Napoleonic semaphore is a system of conveying information by means of visual signals, using towers with pivoting shutters, also known as blades or paddles. Information is encoded by the position of the...
.
The French won the Battle of Fleurus, but reports of the usefulness of the balloon corps varied. Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau
Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau
Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau was a French chemist and politician...
, who had been present throughout the battle, strongly supported it, but Jourdan believed that it had contributed little. Guyton had already supervised the construction at Meudon of the Martial, a cylindrical balloon, which was supplied to the corps soon after the battle, but it proved too unstable for use. The corps followed the Army of the North into Belgium and was present at battles in Liege
Liege
Liège is a municipality and a city of Belgium. The term Liège or Liege may also refer to:* Liege, a party to the oath of allegiance in feudalism .* Liège Island, in the Antarctic...
and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, although they did not see action. With winter approaching, they constructed a balloon depot at Borcette near Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
.
Second company
L'Intrépide
L'Intrépide was a hydrogen balloon of the French Aerostatic Corps and is the oldest preserved aircraft in Europe.L'Intrépide was the larger of two observation balloons, the other being Hercule , issued to the Aerostatic Corps in June 1795...
, and in March 1795 it was attached to the Army of the Rhine. Coutelle was recalled in order to head the new company, Lhomond being promoted to captain of the first company, while Conté remained at Meudon. In October, he was made head of a new school of ballooning, where replacement soldiers for the two companies were trained.
The second company conducted ascensions at the Battle of Mainz
Battle of Mainz
The Battle of Mainz was fought on 29 October 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between France and Austria. The battle was fought near the city of Mainz now in western Germany and ended in an Austrian victory.-People involved:...
, and were also active during the evacuation of Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
. For the winter, they established a base at Frankheim, then followed the Army north and conducted observations at Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Rastatt
Rastatt
Rastatt is a city and baroque residence in the District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50'000...
and Donauwörth
Donauwörth
Donauwörth is a city in the German State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and Wörnitz rivers meet...
.
Decline and disbanding
Meanwhile, in 1795, the first company was transferred to the Army of Sambre-et-MeuseArmy of Sambre-et-Meuse
The Army of Sambre-et-Meuse is the best known of the armies of the French Revolution. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining three forces: the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of Moselle, and the right wing of the Army of the North. It had a brief but celebrated existence...
, which was now led by Jourdan. They were not directly involved in any action, but Jourdan appears to have warmed to the balloonists, printing official correspondence forms depicting a balloon above his army. In September 1796, they were at the Battle of Würzburg
Battle of Würzburg
The Battle of Würzburg was fought on 3 September 1796 between an army of Habsburg Austria led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and an army of the First French Republic led by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. The French attacked the archduke's forces, but they were resisted until the arrival of...
when the French Army was defeated, and the entire company was taken captive with its balloon L'Intrépide
L'Intrépide
L'Intrépide was a hydrogen balloon of the French Aerostatic Corps and is the oldest preserved aircraft in Europe.L'Intrépide was the larger of two observation balloons, the other being Hercule , issued to the Aerostatic Corps in June 1795...
, which is now on display at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum
Heeresgeschichtliches Museum
The Heeresgeschichtliches Museum is a military history museum located in Vienna, Austria. It claims to be the oldest and largest purpose-built military history museum in the world...
in Vienna.
Following this disaster, the second company was attached to the reconstructed Army of Sambre-et-Meuse. Coutelle withdrew to Meudon, overcome by fever, and new commander Delaunay was unable to work with the new General, Lazare Hoche
Lazare Hoche
Louis Lazare Hoche was a French soldier who rose to be general of the Revolutionary army.Born of poor parents near Versailles, he enlisted at sixteen as a private soldier in the Gardes Françaises...
, who refused to let them participate in any action.
The first company were released in April 1797, under the terms of the Treaty of Leoben
Treaty of Leoben
The Treaty of Leoben was signed on 17 April 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a preliminary accord that contained many secret clauses. From these clauses, Austria would lose the Austrian Netherlands and Lombardy in exchange for the Venetian territories of Istria and Dalmatia...
, and petitioned for the reinstatement of Coutelle as their commander. This was permitted; Coutelle was made a colonel, while Lhomond was promoted to major and permitted to remain second-in-command. In 1798, the company joined the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt. On arrival, they decided to initially leave the ballooning equipment on their ship. This was destroyed in the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
, and the company was assigned to other duties. They were able to conduct a few demonstrations of more basic balloons for entertainment purposes.
On 15 January 1799, the Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
passed an act disbanding the balloon corps. The second company was immediately disbanded, but the first was still in action in Egypt and remained in existence until its return to France in 1802.