USS George Washington Parke Custis (1861)
USS George Washington Parke Curtis was a barge acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War for the purpose of using her as a balloon-launching platform in order to spy on Confederate defenses a long distance off.
This initial balloon experiment by John A. Dahlgren led to intensified balloon spying during the remainder of the war.
Read more about USS George Washington Parke Custis (1861): Conversion To Balloon Barge By John A. Dahlgren, Final Decommissioning
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“I may as well say, what all men feel, that whilst our every amiable and very innocent representatives and senators at Washington are accomplished lawyers and merchants, and every eloquent at dinners and at caucuses, there is a disastrous want of men in New England.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)