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Fleurus is a village in France, in the department of the Sombre and
Meuse, where the Austrians and the French fought a battle in the year
1794, in which the former were defeated. This victory is ascribed to the
information obtained in consequence of reconnoitering the army of the
enemy by the elevation of a balloon. The balloon employed on this
occasion was called the _Entreprenent_; and it was under the
direction of M. Coutel, the captain of the aeronauts at Meudon,
accompanied by an adjutant and a general. He ascended twice in the same
day, to the height of 220 fathoms, for the purpose of observing the
position and manoeuvres of the enemy. He continued each time four hours
in the air, and corresponded with General Jourdan, who commanded the
French army, by means of pre-concerted signals. The enterprise was
discovered by the enemy; and a battery opened its fire against the
ascending aeronauts, but they soon gained an elevation which was beyond
the reach of their fire. This balloon was prepared under the direction
of the Aerostatic Institute, for the use of the army of the north; as
were also another, called _Céleste_, for the army of the Sombre and
Meuse; and the _Hercûle_ and _Intrepide_, for the army of the
Rhine and Moselle. Another, thirty feet in circumference, and weighing
160 lbs., was destined for the army of Italy. A new machine, invented by
M. Coutel, the director of the Aerostatic Institute, was designed to aid
the aeronauts in communicating intelligence, and denominated the
_Aerostatic Telegraph_.