"I was in the woods May 2, 1862, when I saw your balloon about to rise. Then commenced a heavy cannonading from the Confederate works. Shots went out over our heads, tearing six branches from the trees. The balloon rose, and the firing was seen directed at the air target, shot after shot, shells exploding way up, and occasionally the sharp crack of a rifle would be heard when our sharpshooters took a chance shot - and it kept up for half a day. No damage was done, except slaughter of five old trees and great holes in the ground where the solid shot struck. At all times we were fully aware that you Federals were using balloons to examine our positions and we watched with envious eyes their beautiful observations as they floated high in the air, well out of range of our guns. While we were longing for balloons that poverty denied us, a genius arose and suggested that we send out and get every silk dress in the Confederacy to make a balloon. It was done and soon we had a great patchwork ship of many varied hues which was ready for use in the Seven Days Campaign. We had no gas except in Richmond and it was the custom to inflate the balloon there, tie it securely to an engine, and run it down the York River Railroad to any point at which we desired to send it up. One day it was on a steamer down the James River when the tide went out and left the vessel and the balloon high and dry on a bar. The federals gathered it in, and with it the last silk dress in the confederacy. This capture was the meanest trick of the war and one I have never yet forgiven."