Did you know about the Confederate balloons of the Civil War?

Our recent article (The First to the Skies ) celebrated the birthday of the U.S. Air Force by recounting the brief story of the Union Balloon Corps of the Civil War, the first time aircraft was used for military purposes in America. Following how on its heels is this short article about the Confederate attempt to establish their own observation balloons.
 
The Confederacy quickly recognized the advantage the Union enjoyed by being able to spot their troops from the air, and wanted to have the same capability. The Union naval blockade, however, deprived the South from the materials required for the construction of similar balloons.
 
The first Confederate balloons were therefore similar in style to the famous balloon of the French Montgolfier brothers, who performed the first confirmed piloted ascent in 1783. They had wooden frames with cotton balloon stretched over them, filled with smoke from pinecones soaked in turpentine. These were flown by Captain John R. Bryan, who narrowly avoided a dire fate when his inexperienced balloon handlers allowed his balloon to start spinning in the air. In another incident, the tether line had to be cut after a handler got entangled in it, causing Bryan to fly free over Confederate lines and almost getting shot down by his own side. When the balloon flew properly, its tether was tied to some horses on the ground. Once the pilot wanted to descend, the horses were prodded to gallop away, dragging the balloon downwards rapidly and minimizing the time Union soldiers and cannon could fire at it.

The Confederacy eventually built a better balloon, the Gazelle. One Captain Langdon Cheves used his own money to buy as much dress silk as he could find in the Confederacy, and patched them together to create a silk balloon. (One contemporary source and several later historians claim he brought already made dresses and used those, but this seems to be a myth.) The patchwork balloon was rendered airtight with a varnish made by melting rubber in oil. The Confederates did not have helium generators, so the balloon had to be filled with coal-based illuminating gas (used for gas light) in Richmond, and carried to its destination by train.
 
The Gazelle, piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Porter Alexander, was used at the Battle of Gaines’ Mill (where the Union also flew one of its own ballons) on June 27, 1862, and reported back with useful information about Union troop movements.