Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1905-08-17
FAMOUS RAIDERS
Survivors of the Andrews Part Y
Will Meet at Chattanooga.
VIII Commemorate One OF The
Unique Incidents of the War.

An incident which will be of unusual
/ interest Hover the country willtake place
during the regimental reunions at Chioka-
mauga Park and Chattanooga. which are
to be held September 1919, in the re-
union Of the survivors of Andrews Raid
ers who, on the morning Of April IL,
! 1862. ran off with the engine, General,
which now has a resting place in the
Union Depot at Chattanooga.
The Nashville, Chattanooga & St.
Louis Railway has made arrangements to
bring all the survivors of that picked
squad of men to Chattanooga on that date.
1t will be seen from the following list that
the men will come from a considerable
distance to attend the reunion, which
shall be an unique occasion.
The survivors Of the eight men who es-
capped from the military prison at Atlanta
were: William J. Knight, former mem
Der of Company E, Twenty-frst Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and now resident Of
Stryker o.. John r. Porter of the same
regiment, Company G, and now residing
at Windfall, Ind; Wilson w. Brown. like
wise Of the Twenty Ohio, Company
F, and who now lives at Blissfield, Mich. ;
Daniel A. Dorsey. formerly of the Thirty
third Ohio Company H, and now living at
Enid, Okla. Jacob Parrott, of Kenton, O.,
formerly member of Company K. Thirty
third Ohio, and William Bensinger, Of Nc
Comb, o., who belonged to Company K,
Twenty-first Ohio, were among the nun
Der paroled,
The conductor Of the train at the time
of the raid, Capt W. A. Fuller, now
resident of Atlanta, and who, with An
thony Murphy, are the survivors of the
pursuing party, will also be present,
The episode which the reunion will COM
memorate was one Of the most daring of
the many exploits which fill the pages Of
a history of the war between the States
On the morning of April | 2, 1862 Capt
w. A. Fuller left Atlanta in charge of the
passenger train on the Western & Atlantic
Railroad When he reached Marietta
party of strangers, dressed in citizens
clothes, boarded the train and paid their
fares for different points. They claimed
to be refugees from the Yankee lines join
ing the Confederate army, but were dis
guised soldiers, volunteers from SllIs bri-
gade, Mtchel's corps. u, S. A.. COM
manded by James j. Andrews, citizen of
Flemingsburg, Ky.
At Big Shanty the train stopped for
breakfast, and most of the passengers
and train crew left the train. The pas
sengers had taken their seats at the table
Captain Fuller facing the train
He saw through the window
some strangers get on the engine
in an excited manner and start off rapidly
He remarked to his engineer Jeff Cain.
and Anthony Murphy, then foreman Of
the Western and Atlantic shops, that
some one who has no right to do SO has
gone off with onr train All three arose
and hurried out Of the house just as the
engine passed out of sight.
Captain Fuller Murphy and Cain COM
menced pursuit on foot They soon Sc
cured hand-car, and, in spite of the OBJ
structions placed on the track by the
raiders, made rapid progress. At Etowah
they found the engine "Yonah' and the
pursuit then was at such rapid pace that
serious damage to the railroad by the
raiders was impossible.
The General" was abandoned by the
raiders, at a point about halfway be-
tween Ringgold and Graysville. on account
Of lack Of fuel and the close pursuit Of
Fuller and his party. When the fugitives
abandoned the engine their leader said.
Every one take care Of himself" and
they left in squads. Four Of them we're
run down in the fork Of the Chickamauga
River at Graysvile and was forciby per-
suaded to tell who they we're. The militia
mounted on fresh horses, secured the
the woods that afternoon, and in a few
days the last Of the fugtiyes we're cap
tured, Later there was trial by mill
tary court, and eight Of the lumber were
executed in Atlanta as spies, six were
paroled to City Point, Va, and eight es-
capped from prison lie Atlanta.
The object Of the raid was to burn the
the bridges on the line Of the Western &
Atlantic Railroad and thus cut off the
Confederate army from its base of sup
plies. There we're twenty-five men en-
gagged in the enterprise, twenty from Ohio
and two from Kentucky. They we're tc
receive 100000 in the event Of success
Prominent among the pursuers were Geo
Smith, Steve Stokely Peter Bracken, F
Cox, A. Martin and II. Haney