John LaMountain (1830

Wayne County, New York Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 91,283. The county seat is Lyons. The name honors General Anthony Wayne, an American Revolutionary War hero and American statesman. Wayne Coun ...

– February 14, 1870

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) was a

ballooning Ballooning may refer to: * Hot air ballooning * Balloon (aeronautics) * Ballooning (spider) * Ballooning degeneration, a disease * Memory ballooning See also * Balloon (disambiguation) A balloon is a flexible container for (partially or fully) co ...

pioneer. He was privately contracted as an aerial observer by General Butler at

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and is accredited with having made the first report of useful intelligence on enemy activity. Afterwards he worked a short assignment with the

Union Army Balloon Corps The Union Army Balloon Corps was a branch of the Union Army during the American Civil War, established by presidential appointee Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. It was organized as a civilian operation, which employed a group of prominent American aeronauts ...

Early life and ballooning

He had but little education, and on the early death of his father he became the sole support of his mother. When a young man he was successful in making several minor ascensions. Known more for his overbearingly contentious mannerisms, and a propensity to ride the coat tails of more successful balloonists, LaMountain was not considered relevant to the science of ballooning.

In 1859 he was invited to join with the more senior and prominent, and just as sanctimonious, balloonist John Wise in an attempt to cross the

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in Wise's mammoth aerostat appropriately named ''Atlantic''. The ascent was made from

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, on July 1, with Wise, LaMountain and several guest passengers. They passed over the states of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

during the night, reaching

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by morning. The balloon then passed across

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

into

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, and over

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, where it became entangled in a sudden storm and was forced to crash-land at

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. The time occupied in making this journey was nineteen hours and fifty minutes, and the distance traversed , or 826 in a straight line. Unfortunately the balloon was badly damaged and the two men's partnership dissolved upon which opportunity LaMountain took possession of the ''Atlantic''. In September 1859, La Mountain made an ascension with the ''Atlantic'', along with newspaperman John Haddock, from

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the ...

across Minnesota and Michigan. Again the weather worked against the flight. The ascension was made when the temperature was 84 °F., but on reaching a height of 3½ miles it had sunk to 18 °F. As night came on, the balloon had drifted over the

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wilderness, and a partial descent was made to “tie up” until daylight. The two men attempted to fly northward, but unwilling to continue they set down permanently and spent the next four days wandering in the wilderness with no provisions. They were rescued by lumbermen who helped them find their way back.

Civil War Days

In 1861 LaMountain headed for Washington in hopes of being able to land the job as Chief Aeronaut for the Union Army. The position was being sought by others including John Wise,

Thaddeus S. C. Lowe Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe (August 20, 1832 – January 16, 1913), also known as Professor T. S. C. Lowe, was an American Civil War aeronaut, scientist and inventor, mostly self-educated in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and ...

, and the two Allen Brothers Ezra and James. Though LaMountain never caught the eye of the various cabinet members, he did go to work for Major General

Benjamin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...

. He was using the old balloon ''Atlantic'' until he could be provided with a newer balloon called the ''Saratoga''. Eventually he lost that balloon in a windstorm. LaMountain is accredited with having made the first report of enemy movement derived from observations from an aerial station. On August 3, 1861, while on the

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, LaMountain made an ascent from the deck of the steam tug ''Fanny'' to observe Confederate positions, making the ''Fanny'' a

balloon carrier A balloon carrier or balloon tender was a ship equipped with a balloon, usually tied to the ship by a rope or cable, and usually used for observation. During the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, these ships were built t ...

.CSS ''Fanny'' ex-''Fanny'' (1861) at NavSource.org
/ref> When Butler was relieved of command of Fort Monroe LaMountain also lost his position and was assigned to the Union Army Balloon Corps under Chief Aeronaut Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. The contentious LaMountain fought Lowe at every turn in an attempt to discredit him and take over the position he had vied for. Lowe had already found great favor in General

George McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...

, and when the bickering between the two men had reached heights of public controversy and lowered morale among the aeronautic corps, McClellan dismissed LaMountain from service, and he was not publicly heard from again.

References

* *Block, Eugene B., Above the Civil War, Howell-North Book, Berkeley, Ca., 1966. Library of Congress CC# 66-15640. *Hoehling, Mary, Thaddeus Lowe, America's One-Man Air Corps, Julian Messner, Inc., New York, N. Y., 1958. Library of Congress CC# 58-7260. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamountain, John 1830 births 1870 deaths American balloonists People from Wayne County, New York People from Lansingburgh, New York