Launch of Eugene Robertson's 4-satellite balloon from the Castle Gardens at the Battery in New York, 10 October 1826. The flight lasted 40 minutes and ended 25 miles away at Westfield, New Jersey. Eugene Robertson (1799-1838) French professional balloonist at a time when balloon ascensions were??opular attractions. In America, Eugene Robertson performed ascents in New York, New Orleans, Mexico City, the Antilles and Mexico, making a parachute jump of 15, 000 feet in Lisbon, Portugal. His father, Belgian physicist Etienne Robert, was a stage magician (stage name Robertson) as well as a professional balloonist. Eugene Robertson died in Veracruz, Mexico of yellow fever, 1838.