Okay, here's my big summary post so far. There's information repeated from earlier in the thread, but I'm trying to keep it organized.
In general
All the balloons we've been talking about are hydrogen balloons. The lift of a balloon is proportional to its volume. For hydrogen, 1 m^3 of hydrogen can lift 1.202 kg.
Early experimental hydrogen balloon 1783
The first manned hydrogen balloon was 380 m^3 and carried three people: Jacques Charles, and the Robert brothers. The balloon lost some gas over a couple hours, so it only carried one person after that.
French military balloons 1794-1799
The Compagnie d'Aérostatiers was founded for recon missions. It consisted of two officers, and 24 enlisted men. This is small even when compared to a 1762 company of 3 officers and 52 enlisted.
They had two balloons, the Intrepid and the Hercule. I don't know how many people it could hold, or if they operated both balloons at once. The Intrepid's volume was 493 m^3, so it could in theory lift more people than Charles's balloon. The gondala was 115 cm by 75 cm, which I think is big enough to squeeze two people in.
Over time, at least one other company was founded. The captain in charge of the company was still working with balloons when he was at the rank of commandant (equivalent to Anglophone major)
They produced their own hydrogen in the field, which involved building a complex oven in the field to extract hydrogen from water. The complexity of this process was one of the reasons the Companies were disbanded. Presumably that was a lot of the labor.
Union Army Balloon Corps 1861 – 1864
In the American Civil War, the USA and the CSA each had balloon units to provide recon aid to artillery, and to assist mapping. The Union Army Balloon Corps was a civilian operation, but many of its members had courtesy titles, and expected to be commissioned officers.
Equipment
- 3 small balloons for rapid inflation in windy conditions. The smallest could carry only one person. Officers on the field took turns going up to survey the area
- 4 large balloons for high flying and for lifting heavy weights such as a telegraph key. The Intrepid had a diameter of 44 ft, so I estimate its volume to be 1260 m^3.This could carry five observers, or four observers and a telegraph.
- 12 portable hydrogen generators, invented by Lowe, built in the Washington Navy Yard. One could fit in a standard crate, and one horse could pull it to the observation station. Each balloon needed two generators.
- 4 army wagons per balloon. I think this includes the two needed to carry hydrogen generators.
- A barge to launch balloons from. This was made from a steamer, with its engine removed.
Balloon Corps employees
- 1 Chief aeronaut. For most of the time, this was Professor Thaddeus Lowe. He was offered as much pay as a colonel, and received the courtesy title of “major”. He led the Corps, and spent a lot of time in a balloon. At the Battle of Gaines Mill, he was sick with malaria, and asked for someone else to be “constantly up” but not one relieved him.
- 1-6 other aeronauts, with smallest number right before disbanding. Many of them had the courtesy title of “captain”. One and only one aeronaut wore a military uniform, Ebenezer Seaver, who saw fit to wear an exceptionally gaudy uniform to go with his unofficial title.
- Several general assistants to aid with the details of administration, maintenance, etc. I don't know if the job duties are analogous to an officer or an enlisted man.
- Civilian teamsters attached to balloon trains and observation stations. They managed the horses and the wagons.
- 1 Barge master. I'm not sure if the barge had more crew.
Personnel on loan from other units
- 30-40 enlisted men per balloon, some on temporary detail and some on permanent detail. Sometimes a balloon received all the soldiers from one company, sometimes from multiple companies. Some of them were selected because they were qualified map-makers. Other men were involved in towing balloons in calm weather. One newspaper estimated that 600 soldiers served with the Balloon Corps at one time or another.
- At least once, 1 officer to assist in managing a balloon
- On the rare occasion they wanted to use a telegraph, they got a telegraph operator on detail the Telegraph Corps. The operator came with a telegraph, and served for a short term before returning to his regular assignment. The operators were all civilians, and the management of the Telegraph Corps were all officers.
Missions:
- Taking observers up to identify enemy land and sea movements. Usually the observers were officers, but sometimes they were reporters.
- Map-making. I assume enlisted map-makers were allowed in the balloon.
- Aiding artillery aiming.
At the Battle of Gaines Mill, the Confederates had a balloon manned by Porter Alexander, who I think was a Lieutenant Colonel at the time. The Union Balloon Corps was disbanded due to change in military command, ill health of Lowe, and financial scandals of Lowe.
Sources besides Wikipedia
http://www.civilwar.org/education/h...e-seven.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-us-l3qOVwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Balloons+in+the+early+civil+war&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZts_WoKrSAhVo3IMKHcdkC6QQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=Balloons in the early civil war&f=false
US WWI Balloon Squadrons 1917-1918
WWI was described as the height of military ballooning. As Sloreck pointed out, the biggest threat to balloons was airplane pilots, and a balloon busting pilot had a very dangerous job. Becoming a balloon busting ace was considered a heroic achievement. The U.S. had balloon squadrons as part of the Aviation Section of the U.S. Signal Corps. They supported the French army in World War I. There was 1 balloon for each company, five companies for each squadron, and 3 squadrons for each wing. Some of these companies still exist as squadrons in the USAF, using airplanes. There were a total of 50 U.S. balloon companies, 17 of which served on the front.
Danish Balloons
I'll give a careful read of the chakoten.dk source so I can do it justice. Each division had one balloon company. The title of “observer” was for officers and officer-trainees. The duties of the observer are to a. Do regular recon of the terrain and the enemy, b. Supporting artillery by directing fire and checking effect of shots, c. Receiving optical communication, d. photography to support their mission.