Blanchard worked quickly to let the gas out of the silken globe so that it would not drag across the field into a clump of nearby trees. He unloaded his instruments and found them all in good shape except his barometer, which was broken.

Blanchard now realized he had a problem shared by all balloonists, who invariably land far from their takeoff points. How was he going to get back to Philadelphia? He took out a compass and sighted toward the northwest–directly toward the figure of a farmer who was staring open-mouthed at this strange foreigner who had dropped so silently from the skies.

Since he knew little English, Blanchard yelled to the man in French. This frightened the farmer, who stepped backward several paces. Afraid the man would run away, Blanchard held up the bottle of wine and gestured to him to come closer for a drink. Suspicious and cautious, the husky farmer approached warily and took a sip, but only after the stranger downed a swig first. Blanchard soon had a willing helper, thanks to the medium of ‘the exhilarating juice of the grape.’ Although they could not converse and the farmer could not read the passport letter Blanchard carried, he did recognize the name Washington when the aeronaut spoke his name.

A second farmer arrived, armed with an ancient musket. Frightened at seeing the huge globe lying on its side, he dropped his gun and lifted his hands skyward in prayer. The first farmer explained what he understood of the situation. Since the second farmer could read a little and understood the name Washington, Blanchard had no trouble enlisting his help from that point on. Blanchard commented: ‘How dear the name Washington is to this people! With what eagerness they gave me all possible assistance, in consequence of his recommendation!’

More people appeared, and Blanchard proudly showed them Washington’s letter. The name Washington continued to make the impression he hoped for, and everyone tried to help this intriguing stranger. Several men neatly folded his balloon and stowed it in a wagon. A group of them then escorted him to Cooper’s Ferry on the banks of the Delaware River, where he was transported across to the Pennsylvania side. Before he bid his new-found friends goodbye, however, he quickly drew up a document and asked them to certify ‘that we the subscribers saw the bearer, Mr. Blanchard, settle in his balloon in Deptford Township, County of Gloucester, in the State of New Jersey, about 10 o’clock 56 minutes, a.m….on the ninth day of January, anno Domini, 1793.’

Monsieur Blanchard arrived back in Philadelphia that evening. He was greeted by a cheering crowd of well-wishers who formed lines to shake his hand. At 7 p.m., he paid his respects to President Washington and presented him with the flag he had borne aloft on his epic flight.

The brief flight had a deep effect on all who witnessed the takeoff. Dr. Benjamin Rush, in a letter to a colleague, wrote: ‘For some time days past the conversation in our city has turned wholly upon Mr. Blanchard’s late Aerial Voyage. It was truly a sublime sight. Every faculty of the mind was seized, expanded and captivated by it, 40,000 people concentrating their eyes and thoughts at the same instant, upon the same object, and all deriving nearly the same degree of pleasure from it.’

The aeronaut had wanted not only to make history that day but also to be rewarded financially. However, the $405 derived from ticket sales plus another $263 donated by the crowd outside the prison only partly defrayed the $1,500 in expenses he claimed to have incurred. Blanchard was unable to secure backing for a second flight, but, determined to make up for his losses, he remained in Philadelphia. He received help from the consul general of Genoa, who tried to mount a fund-raising campaign but failed.

Governor Thomas Mifflin offered Blanchard the free use of an office in the city. Blanchard was able to build a large ‘aerostatical laboratory’ to house his balloon, car and some mechanical oddities, and thus lure paying customers inside for a small admission fee. In April 1793, he exhibited a wheeled automaton that he called the Curious Carriage. It featured a mechanical eagle that flapped its wings and made it appear as if it were moving by its own power.

Blanchard planned a second balloon flight with Joseph Ravara. But first he had to reduce his deficit and save enough cash to cover his new expenses. The aerostatical laboratory, open every day, could not generate enough cash at 25 cents a person. Still undaunted, he began flying small tethered balloons with animal passengers that would be released automatically by a fuse. The ‘passengers’ would float to earth by means of a crude parachute or ‘falling screen.’ The first drop of a dog, cat and squirrel took place on June 6, 1793. Unfortunately, it was witnessed by ‘few paying, but many nonpaying spectators,’ according to the General Advertiser.

Although his income was meager, Blanchard had moral support from the Federal Gazette. The editor wrote: ‘There appears to be a prevailing disposition to compensate him. We hope all will step forward before it is too late.’ On a parachute flight scheduled to take place in mid-June, Blanchard pleaded in the press that ‘those persons who are acquainted with the expenses of the artist will honor him with their company inside the said place.’

Blanchard’s efforts were finally thwarted by an epidemic of yellow fever that gripped the city and the surrounding area. Government and business both came to a halt. People were unwilling to gather even in small groups. Blanchard sailed to Charleston, S.C., in the fall of 1795, where his efforts to exhibit his balloon and Curious Carriage did not arouse much interest. He moved to Boston after a few months, and although his arrival sparked serious interest in ballooning there, his personal fortune still did not improve. In fact, he was sued for $370 by Dr. Jeffries, a native of Boston and his colleague on the famous cross-Channel flight. Jeffries won the suit, and Blanchard moved to New York in 1796.

The French aeronaut once again tried to get financial backing for another flight. He was offered a home and all expenses if he would allow Gardiner Baker, one of New York’s pioneer showmen, to handle his business affairs. Baker tried to get subscriptions amounting to $3,000 but to no avail. A ‘balloon house’ was built, in which to construct a new balloon, but it was destroyed by a severe windstorm. Blanchard’s 16-year-old son, who had been working on the roof, was killed.

Blanchard, still undeterred from his quest for solvency, went back into business with small-scale animal balloons. Once again, his efforts to interest the public in ballooning were for naught, so he returned to France in May 1797.

He made his 46th ascent the following August at Rouen, followed by 13 more ascensions in Europe. Before his 60th flight, however, he had a heart attack from which he never recovered. Blanchard died on March 7, 1809, at the age of 56.

Blanchard’s second wife–Marie-Madeleine-Sophie Armant, who was 18 years old when the two married in 1798–carried on the Blanchard family name in ballooning and became the best-known woman aeronaut in Europe. However, Madame Blanchard also had the dubious honor of being the first woman balloonist to die in an aerial accident. When her balloon caught fire during a pyrotechnic night flight on July 6, 1819, she fell out of the basket, struck a roof and fell to her death in the street.

It has been more than two centuries since Blanchard’s historic first flight in the United States. Despite his lack of success in making a business out of ballooning, he, more than anyone in the first generation of aeronauts to perform in the new nation, focused public attention on this first method of manned flight. He could not have known the destiny of the new nation he visited. Nor did he foresee the scientific achievements in aerial transportation that would follow his epic voyage into the untried skies of America. He could be sure of only one thing: He was first!

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This article was written by C.V. Gline and originally published in the September 1996 issue of Aviation History. For more great articles subscribe to Aviation History magazine today!

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