The Great Locomotive Chase 1862 (Andrews' Raiders)

Buckeye Bill

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The Great Locomotive Chase (Andrews' Raid) was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J. Andrews, commandeered a train and took it northward toward Chattanooga, Tennessee, doing as much damage as possible to the vital Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A) line from Atlanta to Chattanooga as they went. They were pursued by Confederate forces at first on foot, and later on a succession of locomotives.

Because the Union men had cut the telegraph wires, the Confederates could not send warnings ahead to forces along the railway. Confederates eventually captured the raiders and executed some quickly as spies, including Andrews; some others were able to flee. Some of the raiders were the first to be awarded the Medal of Honor by the US Congress for their actions. As a civilian, Andrews was not eligible.

* Kennesaw House in Marietta, Georgia (Andrew and Raiders embarked The General on April 12th, 1862)

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* The General (Housed at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw)

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* Kennesaw Station (Big Shanty)

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* Georgia State Marker (The General)

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* The Texas (Housed at the Atlanta Cyclorama)

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* Kennesaw Station Monument Park

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* Kennesaw Station Monument Park

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* The General Marker near Ringgold, Georgia

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* Andrews' Raiders Monument and Graves at the Chattanooga National Cemetery

Mammoth Cave, Stones River, Chattanooga-Chickamauga & Townsend 339.jpg


* Photos courtesy of William Bechmann (2012 - 2014)
 
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Bill,
I had no idea there was such a monument in the Chattanooga Cemetery. This story first came to my attention when I was a kid. Like a lot of others, I saw the Disney production of the story. I can't vouch for its accuracy, but it sure was a great movie for a kid to see.

Thanks for the excellent photos.
 
Thanks for the photos! Really brings you closer- I'm clueless, did they ever make a movie? If not it was a huge waste- first time I ever heard of The Great Chase was listening to it on Kindle Audio. No one could write a more tense or thrilling, action-packed script- amazing.
 
Bill,
I had no idea there was such a monument in the Chattanooga Cemetery. This story first came to my attention when I was a kid. Like a lot of others, I saw the Disney production of the story. I can't vouch for its accuracy, but it sure was a great movie for a kid to see.

Thanks for the excellent photos.

Andrews and his Raiders are buried around this monument. It is a very impressive site....

When you look to the left of this monument, you get a wonderful view of Lookout Mountain.
 
The Chattanooga National Cemetery (Andrews' Raiders)

* The cemetery with Lookout Mountain in the background.

Mammoth Cave, Stones River, Chattanooga-Chickamauga & Townsend 353.jpg


* The Ohio Tribute Monument to the Andrews' Raiders.

Mammoth Cave, Stones River, Chattanooga-Chickamauga & Townsend 340.jpg


* Burial Site of James J. Andrews (Executed in Atlanta, Georgia)

Mammoth Cave, Stones River, Chattanooga-Chickamauga & Townsend 349.jpg


* Burial Site of an Union Raider (Executed in Atlanta, Georgia)

Mammoth Cave, Stones River, Chattanooga-Chickamauga & Townsend 347.jpg


* Photos courtesy of William Bechmann (2013)
 
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I recently saw 'The Great Locomotive Chase' for the first time. One of the most dramatic episodes of the war. I read somewhere that the movie was not well received on release, being too factual and not dramatic enough. No pleasing some people!
 
Andrews Raiders.jpg

This photograph shows seven of the twenty-one men who were members of Andrews' Raiders, a mission to capture and destroy Confederate supply lines during the Civil War. The men are identified as (standing, left to right) William Bensinger, Daniel A. Dorsey, J.A. Wilson; (seated, left to right) William Knight; William Pittenger, Jacob Parrott, John R. Porter.

http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p267401coll36/id/952/rec/6
 
View attachment 68172
This photograph shows seven of the twenty-one men who were members of Andrews' Raiders, a mission to capture and destroy Confederate supply lines during the Civil War. The men are identified as (standing, left to right) William Bensinger, Daniel A. Dorsey, J.A. Wilson; (seated, left to right) William Knight; William Pittenger, Jacob Parrott, John R. Porter.

http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p267401coll36/id/952/rec/6

Bravo!
 
Wow, did they really use all that bright red paint on them back in the day? I never knew that!
If contemporary illustrations are correct, new locomotives were painted in the brightest colors available, and often with lots of brasswork. I'm sure they'd get worn and dingy through hard use and deferred maintenance, but they started out spectacular.

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Swinburne Loco. Works, Rochester Div, Bath, NY 1863. William Halsey locomotive drawing collection, SMU Libraries.

That was one of the things that chafed me about the series Hell on Wheels -- they made the locomotive on the set this horrid, flat-black thing that in no way resembled the actual locomotives used on building the Transcontinental Railroad.
 
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