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Praetorium Honoris

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Roots...

Bataille de Fleurus
Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse
Seems to be a recent theme for me, I see what juvat posts on Monday, then I piggy-back off of that to milk one or more posts from whatever topic juvat talked about on Monday. Last week it was battleships, this week it's about the editorial staff of The Chant's aviation roots.

So Alex Haley, er, I mean juvat said this on Monday:
Now that we're all caught up on the highlights of the week, I thought I'd discuss a subject that, as of lately, has been sadly lacking on what should be the main topic of this blog. No, Beans, not battleships!
I mean Really? SHIPS?
AVIATION!
And the title of the post was Back to our Roots...

So, mesdames et monsieurs, it's time for another rendition of Sarge's "Off the top of my head history." Today it's the history of military aviation. I know your first question is, "Sarge, what the Hell does a battle fought in 1794 have to do with military aviation?"

Well, take a closer look at that painting...


Yes indeed, upper right hand corner.


Yes, it's a lighter-than-air weapon of war, a balloon which the French Compagnie d'aérostiers used to monitor the movements and dispositions of the Austrian Army. The balloon even had a name, L'Entreprenant, which translates to The Enterprising. Or Enterprise, if you will.

Yes, there is the Enterprise floating over the Battle of Fleurus. Weird, neh?

Anyhoo, whereas I hinted the other day that I might move on to submarines for material, the concept of exploring the roots of military aviation rather intrigued me. Even though Kunte Kinte, er, I mean juvat, hinted that aircraft carriers would be acceptable as a topic (them being used to lug aircraft about for combat uses), I have to follow my Muse and go with my gut (substantial as it is though I am working on that issue. fighting my very own Battle of the Bulge, as it were).

So yes, balloons for starters. The first air force on the planet didn't last long, founded in 1794, disbanded by 1802. Two companies existed, the 1st was disbanded in 1799, the 2nd hung on until 1802 but hadn't used their balloons in a while. Ya see, the generals didn't see much use for them, and truth be told, once placed they weren't really mobile...

Observations by the second company at the Battle of Mainz.
In May 1794, the new corps joined Jourdan's troops at Mauberge, bringing one balloon: L'Entreprenant. They began by constructing a furnace, 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 signaled messages using semaphore. (Source)
By the way, those chaps on the ground with flags in that last picture? No, they're not surrendering (damn it), they're signaling to those chaps in the balloon. Back then Les Français were botteurs de cul, not t'other way round. So there...



Ahem, yes, the 2nd Company lasted until 1802, why, you might be asking? Well, they were in Egypt with Bonaparte (he's not going by just his first name yet). When Admiral Nelson showed up...

(Source)
Oops, sorry Admiral, not you. This chap...

Careful now, I've got my eye on you Sarge.
Ahem, yes, 2nd Company of aérostiers, were on land, all of their equipment were still on the French ships. Which Admiral Lord Nelson and his band of jolly Jack tars blew all to smithereens, stranding the 2nd Company of aérostiers and Bonaparte and his army. About the only good thing to come out of Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign was this...

(Source)
Quiz time! For 50 points, what the heck is that thing in the preceding photo and what was it's significance? (Two can play that game, Monsieur juvat!)

After 1802 balloons weren't really used again until the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865) when they were again hoisted aloft to sneak peeks at what the enemy was up to. I do believe by then they weren't waving flags at each other as the telegraph had been invented and the apparatus was small enough to go up in a balloon. So instead of wig-wagging back and forth, they dot-dashed.

Ahem.

Military aviation rather languished until a couple of chaps named Wright managed to get a heavier than air machine aloft, if only for a short distance. Now it's time for our second quiz question. For another 50 points, where did the Wright's first powered flight take place? No, I'm not looking for the obvious answer, which is only semi-correct. The actual location was a bit south of that. There's an airport nearby these days, rather fitting I think.

So the French were the first to go aloft for warlike purposes. What were a few other milestones in military aviation? Think Italians versus Turks, around 1911...
Heavier-than-air aircraft were recognized as having military applications early on, despite resistance from traditionalists and the severe limitations of early aircraft. The U.S. Army Signal Corps purchased a Wright Model A on 2 August 1909 which became the first military aircraft in history. In 1911, the Italians used a variety of aircraft types in reconnaissance, photo-reconnaissance, and bombing roles during the Italo-Turkish War. On October 23, 1911, an Italian pilot, Captain Carlo Piazza, flew over Turkish lines on the world's first aerial reconnaissance mission, and on November 1, the first ever aerial bomb was dropped by Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti, on Turkish troops in Libya, from an early model of Etrich Taube aircraft. The Turks, lacking anti-aircraft weapons, were the first to shoot down an airplane by rifle fire. (Source)
Yeah, the Italians and the Turks. (Hhmm, if one can use rifles to down aircraft, doesn't that make them, ipso facto, anti-aircraft weapons? Asking for a friend...)

Etrich Taube at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, Blenheim, New Zealand.
(Source)
Rather looks like a bird doesn't she? Incidentally, "Taube" is the German for "dove," rather appropriate don't you think? Note that the observer, that dude with a rifle, is sitting in front of the pilot. Not an odd arrangement for a pusher-type aircraft but rather odd for a tractor-type.

So here we are, right at the doorstep of World War I, airplanes are still rather primitive beasties and very few of the generals are paying the aircraft any notice at all. The flying machines are a novelty still and, quite frankly, aren't all that reliable as of yet.

Things are going to change.

Before I go on, one last question: For 100 points, what specific unit is the direct statutory ancestor of the mighty United States Air Force?

To be continued...



36 comments:

  1. Question #1.
    Rosetta Stone. It is the first Google Translator, and it was used to help bridge the gap between three different languages.

    Question #2.
    Staying in a Balloon frame of mind, "The Union Army Balloon Corps."


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    1. A "Fifth Dimension" song to set the mood.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5akEgsZSfhg

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    2. Q1 - Partially correct, the significance is the ability to read what? (I'll give you 10 points for that.)
      Q2 - Nope, statutory ancestor is the key.

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    3. As to the music, I rather liked that tune when it came out.

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  2. Ditto John on Q1, I didn't know on Q2.

    (Yes Uncle Micky, I understand, "I DON'T KNOW IS NOT AN ANSWER, SIT DOWN!) And no, I didn't learn much from Uncle Micky's class except how I dislike pretentious priggish snobs. Gads what a Richard Johnson he was.

    Looking good Sarge. Ship shape (ballon shaped????) and all that... eh what?

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    1. Q1 - You and John identified what it is and partially what the significance was. (Perhaps a trick question.)

      "I don't know," is an answer. Just not a very good one. Uncle Mickey sounds like a right arse.

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  3. The Rosetta Stone is a modern series of language learning modules on DVD ... oh, wait ...

    The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum has the same decree written in Greek, Ancient Hieroglyphic, and common script which then enabled the ability to read all the hieroglyphic inscriptions on Egyptian ruins, monuments, etc. kind of an "if A = B and B = C, then A = C" sort of thing. so a pretty big deal for Egyptologists. And a famous Harrison Ford character.

    And you forgot to write "HHIISSSS" after the words "anti-aircraft weapons" !!!

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    1. Q1 - Full marks!

      Indeed, the words "anti-aircraft weapons" should always be followed by either a "hisssss" or a "booooo."

      We hates them, nasty stinking anti-aircraft weapons.

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  4. I'm going to go with 1st Provisional Aero of the US Army Signal Corps. And Rosetta Stone, I recognized it from a visit to the British Museum when I visited London quite a few years ago.

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    1. Q1 - Yes, but the significance was what I was after, Tom in NC nailed it. As to the last question, which you answered first, you didn't go back far enough.

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  5. Kill Devil Hill, I believe is the answer to the other quiz question.

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    1. Being from NC with a 'First in Flight' license plate, I should have gott n that one - but I thought maybe you had another place in mind that I didn't know of..amazing how far flight has come in such a relatively short period of time!

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    2. I wasn't going to bring that up Tom, but yeah, ya shoulda nailed that. But I factored in that you're a transplanted Texan, don't they teach you Texicans that Sam Houston actually invented the airplane and that the first flight was a reconnaissance flight before the Battle of San Jacinto? 😉

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    3. I was going to bring that up, but I didn't want to offend my adopted North Carolinians by pointing out the fallacies in their timeline of the history of flight! :-)

      And I assume you were thinking of a possible (wrong) answer being Kitty Hawk. Which would have been understandable since there may be more name recognition in that town near to Kill Devil Hills (note that it is plural, so juvat might not have been awarded credit on Jeopardy!), and since there were a couple of naval ships named Kitty Hawk, and since Wikipedia says "Kitty Hawk is usually credited as the site of the powered flights because it was the nearest named settlement at the time of the flight; the modern town of Kill Devil Hills did not exist until 50 years after the flights."

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  6. Ooh that again jumped to my mind awesome scene from "Britannia's fist" when Union balloon drops first bombs in history on RN steam sloop spearheading attack on DC shipyards, complete with prussian observer named Von Zeppelin onboard...

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    1. Now that sounds like quite a novel. Adding it to my list. (Which grows longer, and longer, and longer, and...)

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    2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Britannia%27s_Fist_Trilogy

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    3. Yup, saw that. Also checked Amazon.

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  7. Down in Columbus New Mexico at the Pancho Villa State Park they have a museum. In that museum they talk about some of the lessons General Pershing learned about aviation while he chased Pancho Villa into Mexico.
    I thought it was neat that he took planes with him into Mexico.

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    1. I had to read that a couple of times, Pancho Villa State Park in New Mexico. Kinda blew my mind.

      But yes, it was neat that Pershing took aircraft on his expedition. I like General Pershing, I thought he was a damn fine leader. Not that I knew him personally mind you.

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    2. Ahh, C'mon Sarge, I saw a picture of your kindergarten class. Isn't that Black Jack Pershing next to you in it?

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    3. Damn, I was hoping no one would notice.

      Andrew Jackson warned me about that...

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  8. Roots? A case can be made that all military aviation is an outgrowth, or evolution, of the Atlatl.

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    1. Should have added there is the desire to inflict harm on the enemy while keeping yourself at a distance.

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    2. But there's a scary thought, guys flying around flinging spears at the PBI!

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    3. Spears from the sky (bombs, bullets, rockets).

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    4. Oh yeah, all mean bad things for the chaps on the ground.

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  9. U.S. Army Signal Corps balloonists were engaged in the Spanish American War in the Santiago campaign. They sent their balloon aloft during the attack on San Juan Hill, moving forward with the advancing troops. This provided a convenient marker for the Spanish to aim at. Its handling lines became entangled in brush, slowing movement along the jungle path, and drawing even more fire. Spanish rifle and artillery fire (Boo! Hissss!) caused the balloon fabric to fail and it collapsed, albeit with no injuries to the two observers. High temps limited lifting capacity so they had left their telegraph equipment on the ground and communicated by shouting or dropping notes with pebbles.
    "First Lt. John J. Pershing, the regimental quarter master of the 10th Cavalry, [the unit closest to the balloon] recalled that his troops received "a veritable hail of shot and shell." According to him, no one in the line knew the balloon's purpose, and the only intelligence furnished by its occupants was "that the Spaniards were firing upon us—information which at that particular time was entirely superfluous.""
    Rebecca Raines, Manifesting Its Destiny: The U.S. Army Signal Corps in the Spanish-American War,
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/26304991?seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents
    John Blackshoe

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    1. Nice. Serving with the 10th Cavalry is how General Pershing received his nickname.

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  10. The mighty USAF was begatted by the US Army Air Force, which was begatted by the US Army Air Corps (in 1941 pre-US entry into WWII) which was begatted by the US Army Signal Corps. So which begatting entity was the direct statutory ancestor? Depends on whether you are trying to determine what groundpounder unit took wings, which would be the Signal Corps, or which Army unit transitioned into the mighty USAF, which would be the US Army Air Force. Of course, if you are quibbling, you could say the US Army Air Corps is what spawned the USAF, as the difference between the USAF and the USAAF was getting rid of the first 'A' and an eventual uniform change.

    So... Well... There you go.

    As to the giant stone thingy. I am sure that 99% of your readers are wondering what stupid pills you took today (well, at least I am) for tossing such a simple question out there. Then I realized, unfortunately, that there is a whole generation of children who probably aren't taught about the Rosetta Stone or even shown a picture of it in a book because today's children are too busy learning about the 57(squared) variations of non-gender while being indoctrinated into quackery that is being labeled as science and taught that 57 + 84 is close to 140 and that's Great and, Chris, you in the back, 141 is incorrect and I don't care what your 3 advanced degrees in theoretical mathematics parents say, I say according to Common Core that 140 is correct, you are a loser, go to the principal's office and report yourself for untrue thoughts or you won't be part of our springtime Gaia worship service except as a sacrifice!"

    Other than that, thank you for pointing out that balloons were used in the Great Period of Unpleasantness (1861-1865 shooting part, apparently we're still fighting the post-shooting part, apparently if you listen to the media...) and, yes, telegraphs, notes wrapped around stones, pigeons and signal flags were all used, but primarily telegraphs. One of the reasons why Union long-range bombardment units were so 'accurate' (for values of accuracy that would make a modern red-legs weep in pain.)

    As to the French, they have always been good at standing up a more modern and powerful force than their opponent, and then not using it. Like the companies of steel bow archers raised after the failures of crossbows in the 100 Years War, but never used and disbanded as quickly as possible because 'The peasants might use them against the Nobles' which seems to be, Pre and Post Revolution, a common theme... (since at least once after the Revolution, the French managed to bring back 'nobility.' At least once, maybe 17 times?)

    And if you listen to the "We thought of it first and we're better than you" Chinese, they had kite-flying observers, like guys actually strapped to large kites way up in the air, but that's the Chinese and one can't really trust their continued rewriting of history (especially as they work so hard to disappear huge sections of it.)(Like now some scientists think the first Emperor had Greek artisans imported to help sculpt his terracotta army. Really (the part that some scientists think...)(well, at least it's not reliably being attributed to aliens, Bigfoot, or bigfoot aliens (yes, there is even a branch of quacks amongst the quacks that think and actually verbalize that they believe Bigfoot are actually multi- or alternate dimension aliens... apparently there are people even more cracked in the head than L. Ron Hubbard (Zeno dropping aliens into Earth's volcanoes using space ships that look like DC-8s and then nuking the volcanoes...)

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    1. I was looking for the specific unit that begat the Air Force, there was one. As to the Rosetta Stone, many know what it is but fail to understand the significance of the thing, which is what I was looking for (so far only one person got it right).

      The French used their army very well under Napoleon, logistics in both Spain and Russia killed them. No army of that period had the wherewithal to attempt those campaigns, the Emperor thought he could prevail quickly (and probably by his genius alone). Too bad the Russians and the Spaniards didn't play along. Neither of those parties won the war by any stroke of genius, the Spaniards had outside help and the inhospitable terrain of Spain and the Russians had, well, they had Russia, and General Winter. The Russians aren't very good at winning, but they are usually very good at not losing. There is a difference.

      And I believe little to nothing of what the Chinese spout, if they were so damned impressive why doesn't everyone speak Chinese or learn to speak Chinese in school? Because it's useless, people around the world learn English. And there's a reason for that.

      Bigfoot aliens? Damn, people are gullible.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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