Fitz John Porter went on a leave of absence from March to October 1860 after returning home to New York City from his post as adjutant to Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston in Utah. Once back on duty, the 37-year-old West Point graduate took on a series of short assignments including organizing army recruits; evaluating the federal defenses at Charleston, South Carolina; evacuating soldiers from Texas after the state seceded from the Union in February 1861; and protecting the railway line between Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland.
The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when forces of the newly formed Confederate States of America attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, defeating the Union troops stationed there. Soon afterward, Porter was appointed as chief of staff and assistant adjutant general for the Union Army’s Department of Pennsylvania. This was a brief assignment as he was promoted to colonel on May 14 to command the new 15th Infantry Regiment.
In August of 1861, Porter was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. From that time into March 1862 Porter led the forces defending Washington, D.C. He later became engaged in the Peninsular Campaign in Virginia as an officer in Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. McClellan’s mission was to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. This conspicuous victory, he believed, would bring the war to a swift end.
According to McClellan’s plan, the army would reach Richmond by way of the Virginia Peninsula, the strip of land between the James and York rivers. Beginning in March, this force of nearly 121,500 soldiers — with supplies, armaments, and infantry horses — were transported by ship from Alexandria (then part of D.C.) to Fort Monroe at Hampton, Virginia, at the southern tip of the peninsula. Although Virginia was a Confederate state, Hampton was under Union control, and would remain so throughout the war.
The distance from Hampton to Richmond was nearly 80 miles. The army began moving on April 4, but the next day it was stopped at Yorktown, 22 miles from Hampton. The Confederates had constructed defensive works stretching 12 miles across the Virginia peninsula at Yorktown, which was being held quite effectively by a small force under Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder.
McClellan decided to hold siege rather than risk attacking. Fitz John Porter, then serving as a division commander of V Corps, was assigned as the director of the siege. This role made it imperative for Porter to acquire detailed knowledge of the enemy’s strength and movements.
Porter had taken a strong interest in the Union Army Balloon Corps, a civilian operation attached to the army that had been established in October 1861 by the self-taught inventor, Thaddeus S.C. Lowe. Porter and Lowe had both been born in New Hampshire and had spent part of their childhoods there — Lowe in Jefferson and Porter in Portsmouth.
Lowe, officially the Chief Aeronaut of the Corps, was present with two of his balloons and a ground crew to assist the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsular Campaign. Porter had previously accompanied Lowe on several reconnaissance ascensions in the tethered hydrogen balloons, which could reach a height of 1,000 feet. He had enjoyed the experience, and had become convinced of the great value of balloons for aerial reconnaissance.
At 5 a.m. on April 11, 1862, Porter decided to make a solo ascent. The available balloon was only being tethered by one rope, instead of the usual three or four. To gain altitude, Porter let out the full length of the rope, about 900 yards. The rope then suddenly snapped, and the wind carried the balloon over the Confederate lines. Fortunately, it had risen to such a great height that the Confederate bullets couldn’t reach it. As he floated above Yorktown, Porter sketched a detailed map of the enemy’s positions.
The wind eventually changed direction, blowing the balloon back to the Union lines. Porter released enough hydrogen gas from the balloon for it to descend to the ground. His “exciting accident” was reported widely in both the American and British press.
The Siege of Yorktown (also known as the Battle of Yorktown) ended on May 4, 1862, when the Confederates abandoned their entrenchments.
Next week: Ending the Peninsular Campaign and Porter rises to the rank of Major General.
