The Great Locomotive Chase
Early on the morning of April 12, 1862 in Big Shanty, 21 Federal soldiers
dressed as Confederates and under the leadership of civilian spy James J. Andrews,
stole the engine General and three boxcars and headed
north with a plan to destroy the Western and Atlantic Railroad, so important
to supplying Confederate armies. The crew and passengers were eating breakfast
at a nearby hotel. Hearing the engine pull out of the station, conductor William
A. Fuller and two others gave chase on foot for two miles. They found a railroad
crew, and commandeered their platform car, which is propelled by pushing long
poles or pushing off on railroad ties with one's feet. At the Etowah River,
they picked up the steam-powered yard engine Yonah, belonging to Cooper's
Iron Works. Meanwhile, the raiders had been delayed an hour in Kingston, where
southbound train traffic had to
be switched to the side to let them pass. Four minutes after they rolled north,
the Yonah came puffing into Kingston. Delayed in Kingston, Fuller abandoned
the Yonah and pursued on foot and quickly was able to commandeer the
William R. Smith. Farther north, Andrew's raiders were vandalizing track,
and gathering wood to help burn bridges to the north, which would stop their
pursuer. At Adairsville, the General had to wait to let the southbound
Texas get by, then they steamed north. Behind them, Fuller had to abandon
the Smith when he came to some destroyed track. Proceeding on foot three
miles, Fuller and his men came upon the southbound Texas. When told of
the situation, the engineer threw the Texas in reverse to pursue the
General at more than 60 miles an hour. When the Texas closed on
the General near Resaca, Andrews' men released a boxcar to slow him up,
but the Texas just pushed the car along in front of it. Other attempts
to slow the Texas were unsuccessful, and the General was running
out of fuel as it roared through Tunnel Hill and Ringgold.
If the desperate raiders could get beyond Chattanooga, a few miles away, they
would be safe behind Northern lines, but it was not to be, as the engine came
to a stop. Andrews told his men to "Jump off and scatter! Every man for
himself!" Soon they were all captured and imprisoned in Chattanooga. Eight
escaped, six were exchanged, and eight — including Andrews — were
hanged and buried in Atlanta. The Medal of Honor — the nation's highest
award for valor — was established in U.S. Congress and given to the Raiders,
except for Andrews himself, who was a civilian. Later the dead were reinterred
in Chattanooga National Cemetery, their ultimate goal, and honored with a monument
and commemorated by three movies, most recently being the popular Walt Disney
film, The Great Locomotive Chase.
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