![John LaMountain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/John_LaMountain.jpg)
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
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...
) 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.
![Mr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Mr._La_Mountain%27s_aerial_voyage_-_the_descent_of_the_balloon_LCCN2007675358.jpg)
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
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
in Wise's mammoth aerostat appropriately named ''Atlantic''. The ascent was made from
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, 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
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
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
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, and over
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
, where it became entangled in a sudden storm and was forced to crash-land at
Henderson, New York
Henderson is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Jefferson County, New York, Jefferson County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,360 at the 2010 census. The town is named after William Henderson, the o ...
. 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
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
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 a ...
, 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 ...
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 ...
. 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
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
, 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.
See also
* William Hyde (journalist)
William Elisha Hyde (1836-1898) was an American journalist, the managing editor of the ''Missouri Republican'' newspaper of St. Louis, Missouri, for nineteen years.
Personal life
Hyde was born on August 27, 1836, in Lima, New York, the son of ...
, made Missouri-New York balloon trip with LaMountain
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