Aerostiers: French Revolutionary War Ballon Engineers

This volume looks at the French Revolutionary War career of the Balloon Engineers. At the end of the late 18th Century there was a military fascination for the balloon, which continued unabated during the period of the French Revolution. By 1793, it was soon adopted as a revolutionary military function by the Committee of Public Safety, and then France's next government - the Directory, which continued to develop military ballooning. The campaign history of the Balloon Engineers is presented, as are events surrounding their disestablishment in 1799. The Directory's decision to abandon military ballooning in 1799, did not carry-over into Napoleon's Army of Egypt, where the unit continued to function in one of its main roles, as distributors of propaganda under Napoleon's Headquarters Staff, till the end of the campaign in 1801.