Portal:American Civil War/Selected event/11

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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.

James J. Andrews, a civilian scout and part-time spy, proposed the daring raid aimed at destroying the Western and 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. Some of Andrews' Raiders became the very first recipients of the Medal of Honor.