Great Locomotive Chase

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The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews' Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army stole a train in an effort to disrupt the vital Western & Atlantic Railroad (W&A), which ran from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. They were pursued by other locomotives, and the raiders were eventually captured, with some being executed as spies. Some of Andrews' Raiders became the very first recipients of the Medal of Honor.

1 Background
2 The chase
3 W&A in modern times
4 The Chase in music
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Background

Maj. Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchel commanded the Federal troops in Tennessee. He planned to move southeast with his army and seize Huntsville, Alabama, before turning east in hopes of capturing Chattanooga, Tennessee. James J. Andrews, a civilian scout and part-time spy, proposed a daring raid aimed at destroying the Western & Atlantic Railroad link to Chattanooga, isolating the city from Atlanta. He recruited a civilian named William Campbell, as well as 22 volunteer Union soldiers from three Ohio regiments. Andrews instructed the men to arrive in Marietta, Georgia, by midnight of April 10. With the plans delayed a day by heavy rain, they traveled in small parties in civilian clothing to avoid arousing suspicion. All but two men were able to reach the designated rendezvous point at the appointed time.

[edit] The chase

On the morning of April 12, a passenger train with the locomotive General was stopped at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw, Georgia) so that the crew and passengers could have breakfast. Andrews and his raiders took this opportunity to hijack the General and a few railcars. His goal was to drive the train northward toward Chattanooga and meet up with Mitchel's advancing army. En route, Andrews planned to tear up track, destroy switches, burn covered bridges along the railway, disrupt telegraph wires, and inflict as much damage as possible to the railroad. Andrews' men commandeered the General and steamed out of Big Shanty, leaving behind startled passengers, crew members, and onlookers, which included a number of Confederate soldiers from a trackside camp.

The train's conductor, William Allen Fuller, chased the General by foot and handcar. At Etowah, Fuller spotted the Yonah and with it chased the raiders north, all the way up to Kingston. At Kingston, Conductor Fuller got on the William R. Smith and headed north to Adairsville. The tracks two miles south of Adairsville were out of service, so Fuller had to run the distance by foot. At Adairsville, Fuller took command of the southbound locomotive Texas and chased the General.

With the Texas chasing the General in reverse, the two trains steamed through Dalton, and Tunnel Hill. At various points, raiders severed telegraph wires so no transmissions could go through to Chattanooga. However, their objective of burning bridges and dynamiting Tunnel Hill was not accomplished. At milepost 116.3 (north of Ringgold, Georgia), with the locomotive failing, Andrews' men abandoned the General and scattered, just a few miles from Chattanooga.

Andrews and all 21 of his men were caught by the Confederates, as well as the two that had missed the hijacking that morning by oversleeping. Andrews was tried in Chattanooga and found guilty. He was executed by hanging on June 7 in Atlanta. On June 18, seven others who had been transported to Knoxville and convicted as spies, were returned to Atlanta and also hanged; their bodies were buried unceremoniously in an unmarked grave. Eight other raiders made a successful and remarkable escape from confinement. Traveling for hundreds of miles in predetermined pairs, they all made it back safely to Union lines, including two who were aided by slaves and Union sympathizers and two who floated down the Chattahoochee River until they were eventually rescued by the Union blockade vessel, U.S.S. Somerset. The remaining eight were exchanged as prisoners of war on March 17, 1863. The very first Medals of Honor were given to these men by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Later, all but two of the other soldiers also received them (posthumously for those who had been executed). The two who have not received the Medal of Honor were executed but the story of their heroics was apparently lost in a paper shuffle at the War Department, and it took some lobbying for them to be appropriately honored. As civilians, Andrews and Campbell were not eligible.

The pursuit of Andrews' Raiders formed the basis of the Buster Keaton silent film The General and a dramatic 1956 Walt Disney film, The Great Locomotive Chase.

[edit] W&A in modern times

Today, the W&A has not changed much since the chase of 1862. A marker indicating where the chase began is near the Big Shanty Museum in Kennesaw. A marker where the chase ended is at Milepost 116.3, north of Ringgold — which is not far from the recently restored depot at Milepost 114.5.

A monument dedicated to Andrews' Raiders is located at the Chattanooga National Cemetery. There is a scale model of the General on top of the monument, and a brief history of the Great Locomotive Chase. The General is now in the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, Kennesaw, Georgia; while the Texas is on display at the Atlanta Cyclorama.

[edit] The Chase in music

The Great Locomotive Chase is also a musical piece, written by composer Robert W. Smith. The piece is based on Andrews's Raid, including sound effects that remind the listener of railroad engines.