Andrews Raid
The Great Locomotive Chase was an act of sabotage during the Civil War in the United States on 12. April 1862 , on the railway line of in Western and Atlantic Railroad , a train by a group of Union soldiers was kidnapped. The intention was to interrupt the railroad connection to the Confederate city of Chattanooga , Tennessee , which was besieged by the Northern States .
procedure
On April 7, 1862, 24 men invaded the Confederate- occupied area near Shelbyville, Tennessee . In Marietta , Georgia, they boarded the train and at Big Shanty station , James J. Andrews and 21 other plainclothes men took over THE GENERAL steam locomotive along with the wooden tender and three freight cars on April 12th . They uncoupled the coaches, took over the engine driver's cab and steamed away. The plan was to cut telegraph lines and destroy the railroad bridges after crossing them by burning them, thus temporarily interrupting supplies for the city of Chattanooga.
They were initially followed by train driver William Fuller on foot and with a hand lever trolley . With the help of several locomotives he then drove after them from Etowah . Because of the rainy weather it was not possible to set the wooden bridges on fire, so that the project failed. At Ringgold in Georgia, the Union soldiers left the malfunctioning locomotive and fled on foot.
Condemnation and Honor
Andrews, the other 21 men, and two more who did not arrive at Big Shanty train station on time were captured. Andrews was hanged on June 7 and seven other men on June 18 in Atlanta for espionage . Eight men escaped from captivity four months later and the remaining eight men were exchanged for their own prisoners of war on March 17, 1863.
The 19 soldiers in this operation - Andrews and one other man were civilians - received the Medal of Honor on August 4, 1866 .
For example, the award for John M. Scott was: “One of the 19 of 22 men (including 2 civilians) who, by direction of Gen. Mitchell (or Buell), penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory and captured a railroad train at Big Shanty, Ga., And attempted to destroy the bridges and track between Chattanooga and Atlanta. "
The locomotive
The locomotive " THE GENERAL " is currently under renovation at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw , Georgia . There was a legal battle between the city of Chattanooga and the state of Georgia in the US Supreme Court, which Georgia won.
Film adaptation, composition, literature
- The General : A1926American silent comedy comedy directed by Buster Keaton .
- The Great Locomotive Chase / On a Secret Mission : A1956 Walt Disney Film.
- The Great Locomotive Chase : A Composition by Robert W. Smith
- A description of the attack by William Pittenger, 1887, who was involved in it.
literature
- Daring and Suffering: A History of the Andrews Railroad Raid by William Pittenger, ISBN 1-58182-034-8
