By Sea or By Air

Escalating propaganda and national sentiment mixed with reports of potential invasion strategies being considered by the French. Artists took great pains to visualize Napoleon's large flat-bottom and windmill-propelled boats for the public consumption.

Other satires countered that local British volunteers could concoct equally implausible technologies, such as the wave machine, to repel the landing of Napoleon's unrealized oversized barges.

Militaries in the early 19th century remained heavily depended upon cavalry forces. How to transport an invasion force complete with horses across the channel took on various forms. Perhaps inspired by the first successful hot air balloon to cross the English Channel in 1785, military strategists considered the potential of this new technology. Visions of balloons with platforms large enough to accommodate such troops may have inspired the French, but they terrified the British.

Satiric illustrations also reminded the public that many of the proposed French invasion schemes were preposterous.

Propelled by unfounded rumors, the British public was captivated by the prospect that the French would invade by new and unconventional means. Among the ideas floated by the French and parodied by the English were massive flat invasion rafts powered by windmills and paddle-wheels, a secretly-dug channel tunnel, and hot air balloons that could convey troops. Napoleon, however, did seriously consider many of these ideas. The practical potential for hot air balloons to be used in reconnaissance and warfare was actually tested by the Napoleonic troops in 1794 at the battle of Fleurus.