- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Location
- East Texas
Part I - Marietta to Kingston, Georgia
During my recent trip to Northern Georgia on my way to the 2018 CivilWarTalk Gathering at Ringgold/Chickamauga NMP I took the opportunity to revisit and visit for the first time many sites associated with the April 12, 1862 Andrews Railroad Raid, better known as the Great Locomotive Chase. A party of Union volunteers led by courier and spy James J. Andrews stole a locomotive belonging to the Western & Atlantic Rail Road (W&ARR), taking it on an 87 mile attempt to damage and disrupt the line which connected the vital railheads and supply centers at Atlanta, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Above, the captured engine General, portrayed by artist Bradley Schmehl.
The route followed is largely the same today, as depicted in the map above by artist and historian of the incident Wilbur G. Kurtz, who also painted most of the illustrations appearing in this thread. Kurtz had "inside information" about the chase because he had married the daughter of Captain William Fuller who had led the pursuit of the raiders. Kurtz also served as historical consultant when the Walt Disney Co. made the film version of The Great Locomotive Chase in 1956.
Marietta
The first site available to the history of Andrews' raid is the Kennesaw House hotel, now home to the Marietta Museum of History. This was the rendezvous for the party of Federal raiders, some twenty in number. A life-size diorama below depicts Andrews as he looks out on the tracks in front of the hotel waiting for the General to arrive. Meanwhile, his men gathered in twos and threes at the next-door station, now replaced by a later building above at left.
Big Shanty
The raid actually got underway at Big Shanty (now the city of Kennesaw) where General stopped for breakfast at the Lacy Hotel as depicted in Kurtz' painting above. As the historical marker below describes, while the crew and all the other passengers were at breakfast, Andrews' men uncoupled the passenger cars from the train and began their journey, pursued by the conductor, Capt. William Fuller, fireman Jeff Cain, and W&ARR official Anthony Murphy.
Today the handsome Southern Railroad and Civil War Museum stands beside the tracks and across the street from the site of the Lacy Hotel, now a Kennesaw city park. The museum is highly recommended for anyone interested in either or especially both of its stated subjects. The flags of the United States, the Confederacy, and the State of Georgia and the large stone monument are all dedicated to the incident.
The centerpiece and pride of the museum's collection is the once-fugitive and much-restored General above; below, the two human heroes of the story, a photograph of James J. Andrews at left and William Fuller at right in a portrait by Cathy Cooksey.
Alatoona Pass
Above, the topographical feature known as Alatoona Pass in a post-war photograph by George Barnard; here was a station and siding serving a small town, now drowned by the waters of Alatoona Lake. The pass, however, still exists and can be visited in the battlefield park here operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The rails have been lifted and the line rerouted in this area following the creation of the lake, but the old line is now a trail as can be seen above; below one of several historical markers describing the October, 1864 Battle of Alatoona is devoted to the story of the Andrews Raid, although both raiders and pursuers negotiated the pass without incident. At first, Fuller, Murphy, and Cain began their pursuit on foot but soon found a work crew and were able to commandeer their pole car; it fell victim to the first of the rails lifted by the raiders, but was soon righted and again on its way with its crew keeping a watchful eye for further mischief.
Etowah River Crossing and Cooper Ironworks
The first major river crossing after the raiders had seized the General was here at the trestle over the Etowah River between Alatoona and Cartersville. Although the wooden structure was burned by the retreating Confederates during the Atlanta Campaign, leaving only the stone supports above, Andrews at this early stage in the raid made no effort to damage it in his haste to get underway. Unfortunately for him, the pursuers were able to commandeer here the yard engine Yonah from the nearby Cooper Ironworks. The works and most of its company town were destroyed by Sherman's army in 1864 leaving today only the stone blast furnace below, now centerpiece of another small Corps of Engineers park.
Kingston
Andrews' first major obstacle confronted him at Kingston, a junction of the W&ARR and a spur line to Rome. The raiders were forced to wait on a siding amid suspicious citizenry for over an hour for three freights to pass. Most remained in hiding, cooped up in the boxcars while Andrews attempted to persuade the crowd that General was being used to convey ammunition to General P. G. T. Beauregard at Corinth, Miss. during the Shiloh Campaign. Eventually he was able to pass the freights but Fuller and his men soon arrived in Yonah; unable to pass the traffic jam, he next commandeered the William R. Smith, seen above in another Kurtz painting. Unfortunately, nothing but the outline of the foundation remains of the Kingston station; a historical marker for the raid, a Confederate cemetery, and the marker below for one of Kingston's many hospitals is all left from the period.
Next, Part II
During my recent trip to Northern Georgia on my way to the 2018 CivilWarTalk Gathering at Ringgold/Chickamauga NMP I took the opportunity to revisit and visit for the first time many sites associated with the April 12, 1862 Andrews Railroad Raid, better known as the Great Locomotive Chase. A party of Union volunteers led by courier and spy James J. Andrews stole a locomotive belonging to the Western & Atlantic Rail Road (W&ARR), taking it on an 87 mile attempt to damage and disrupt the line which connected the vital railheads and supply centers at Atlanta, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Above, the captured engine General, portrayed by artist Bradley Schmehl.
The route followed is largely the same today, as depicted in the map above by artist and historian of the incident Wilbur G. Kurtz, who also painted most of the illustrations appearing in this thread. Kurtz had "inside information" about the chase because he had married the daughter of Captain William Fuller who had led the pursuit of the raiders. Kurtz also served as historical consultant when the Walt Disney Co. made the film version of The Great Locomotive Chase in 1956.
Marietta
The first site available to the history of Andrews' raid is the Kennesaw House hotel, now home to the Marietta Museum of History. This was the rendezvous for the party of Federal raiders, some twenty in number. A life-size diorama below depicts Andrews as he looks out on the tracks in front of the hotel waiting for the General to arrive. Meanwhile, his men gathered in twos and threes at the next-door station, now replaced by a later building above at left.
Big Shanty
The raid actually got underway at Big Shanty (now the city of Kennesaw) where General stopped for breakfast at the Lacy Hotel as depicted in Kurtz' painting above. As the historical marker below describes, while the crew and all the other passengers were at breakfast, Andrews' men uncoupled the passenger cars from the train and began their journey, pursued by the conductor, Capt. William Fuller, fireman Jeff Cain, and W&ARR official Anthony Murphy.
Today the handsome Southern Railroad and Civil War Museum stands beside the tracks and across the street from the site of the Lacy Hotel, now a Kennesaw city park. The museum is highly recommended for anyone interested in either or especially both of its stated subjects. The flags of the United States, the Confederacy, and the State of Georgia and the large stone monument are all dedicated to the incident.
The centerpiece and pride of the museum's collection is the once-fugitive and much-restored General above; below, the two human heroes of the story, a photograph of James J. Andrews at left and William Fuller at right in a portrait by Cathy Cooksey.
Alatoona Pass
Above, the topographical feature known as Alatoona Pass in a post-war photograph by George Barnard; here was a station and siding serving a small town, now drowned by the waters of Alatoona Lake. The pass, however, still exists and can be visited in the battlefield park here operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The rails have been lifted and the line rerouted in this area following the creation of the lake, but the old line is now a trail as can be seen above; below one of several historical markers describing the October, 1864 Battle of Alatoona is devoted to the story of the Andrews Raid, although both raiders and pursuers negotiated the pass without incident. At first, Fuller, Murphy, and Cain began their pursuit on foot but soon found a work crew and were able to commandeer their pole car; it fell victim to the first of the rails lifted by the raiders, but was soon righted and again on its way with its crew keeping a watchful eye for further mischief.
Etowah River Crossing and Cooper Ironworks
The first major river crossing after the raiders had seized the General was here at the trestle over the Etowah River between Alatoona and Cartersville. Although the wooden structure was burned by the retreating Confederates during the Atlanta Campaign, leaving only the stone supports above, Andrews at this early stage in the raid made no effort to damage it in his haste to get underway. Unfortunately for him, the pursuers were able to commandeer here the yard engine Yonah from the nearby Cooper Ironworks. The works and most of its company town were destroyed by Sherman's army in 1864 leaving today only the stone blast furnace below, now centerpiece of another small Corps of Engineers park.
Kingston
Andrews' first major obstacle confronted him at Kingston, a junction of the W&ARR and a spur line to Rome. The raiders were forced to wait on a siding amid suspicious citizenry for over an hour for three freights to pass. Most remained in hiding, cooped up in the boxcars while Andrews attempted to persuade the crowd that General was being used to convey ammunition to General P. G. T. Beauregard at Corinth, Miss. during the Shiloh Campaign. Eventually he was able to pass the freights but Fuller and his men soon arrived in Yonah; unable to pass the traffic jam, he next commandeered the William R. Smith, seen above in another Kurtz painting. Unfortunately, nothing but the outline of the foundation remains of the Kingston station; a historical marker for the raid, a Confederate cemetery, and the marker below for one of Kingston's many hospitals is all left from the period.
Next, Part II
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