Great Locomotive Chase The Great Locomotive Chase or 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 captured the raiders and executed some quickly as spies . Some of Andrews ' raiders were the first to be awarded the Medal of Honor by the US Congress for their actions , though Andrews himself was not . Background . Maj . Gen . Ormsby M . Mitchel , commanding the Federal troops in middle Tennessee , planned to move south with his army and seize Huntsville , Alabama , before turning east in hopes of capturing Chattanooga . General Mitchel recognized the strategic value of seizing the rail and water transportation center of Chattanooga . At the time , the standard means of capturing Chattanooga would have been its encirclement . Mitchell would by artillery bombardment , and successive infantry attacks ; reduce the defenses of the city . Chattanooga , then starved of supplies ( food and ammunition ) , would no longer be able to resist . The exhausted and trapped inhabitants would either formally surrender , or its defenses simply be overrun . But Chattanooga ’ s natural water and mountain barriers to the east and south made this nearly impossible with the forces that General Mitchel had available . But he believed that if he could block railroad reinforcement of the city from Atlanta to the south , he could take Chattanooga . And , once taken , the Union could enjoy the city ' s natural defenses . The Union Army would then have rail reinforcement and supply lines to its rear , leading west to the Union - held stronghold and supply depot of Nashville , Tennessee . James J . Andrews , a civilian scout and part - time spy , proposed to Mitchell a daring raid to destroy the Western and Atlantic Railroad as a useful supply link to Chattanooga , thereby isolating the city from Atlanta . He recruited the civilian William Hunter Campbell and 22 volunteer Union soldiers from three Ohio regiments , the 2nd , 21st , and 33rd Ohio Infantry . Andrews instructed the men to arrive in Marietta , Georgia , by midnight of April 10 . With the plans delayed a day by heavy rain , they traveled in small parties in civilian attire to avoid arousing suspicion . All but two ( Samuel Llewellyn and James Smith ) reached the designated rendezvous point at the appointed time . Llewellyn and Smith joined a Confederate artillery unit , as they had been instructed to do in such circumstances . The chase . Because railway dining cars were not yet in common use , railroad timetables included water , rest , and meal stops . In addition , as the locomotives of the time needed to frequently replenish fuel and water , stops for passenger and crew meals were combined with the stops for water and fuel as a feature of passenger railway travel . The raid began on April 12 , 1862 when the regular morning northbound passenger train with the locomotive " General " stopped at Big Shanty , Georgia ( now Kennesaw ) on its regular run from Atlanta to Chattanooga , so that the crew and passengers could breakfast at the Lacy Hotel . There Andrews and his raiders hijacked the " General " and the train ' s first of several cars . Their plan was to operate the train north towards Chattanooga , stopping to damage or destroy the track , bridges , telegraph wires , and track switches behind them , so as to prevent the Confederate Army from moving troops and supples north from Atlanta , when it decided to reinforce Chattanooga to prevent its capture . The Raiders plan when they reached the outskirts of Chattanooga was to cross through the Federal lines laying siege to the city and rejoin Mitchell ' s army . They chose to capture the train at Big Shanty station because it had no telegraph office . The raiders steamed out of Big Shanty , leaving behind startled passengers , crew members , and onlookers , which included a number of Confederate soldiers from Camp McDonald , which stood directly opposite the Lacy Hotel . The train ' s conductor , William Allen Fuller , and two other men , chased the stolen train , first on foot , then by handcar . Locomotives of the time normally averaged , with short bursts of an average speed of . In addition , the terrain north of Atlanta is very hilly , and the ruling grades are steep . Even today , average speeds are usually never greater than between Chattanooga and Atlanta . Since Andrews intended to stop periodically to perform acts of sabotage , a determined pursuer , even on foot , could conceivably have caught up with the train before it reached Chattanooga . In his foot - race north Fuller spotted the locomotive " Yonah " at Etowah and commandeered it , chasing the raiders north all the way to Kingston , Georgia . There , Fuller switched to the locomotive " William R . Smith " and continued north towards Adairsville , Georgia . Two miles south of Adairsville , however , the raiders had destroyed the tracks , and Fuller was forced to continue the pursuit on foot . Beyond the damage , he took command of the southbound locomotive " Texas " at Adairsville , running it backwards and tender - first northward . For a number of reasons , the raiders never got far ahead of Fuller . First , destroying the railway behind the hijacked train was a slow process . The raiders were too few in number and were too poorly equipped with the proper railway track tools and demolition equipment , or with suitable igniters and explosives ( modern high explosive demolition munitions had not yet been invented ) , to effectively close the line . In the time the raiders had ( for their number ) , they could not either permanently disable or destroy any section of the installed railway plant ( track , switches , bridges ) of the Western & Atlantic Railway between Marietta and Chattanooga . The railway was too well built for their efforts to yield anything more than minor , temporary , and superficial damage . Second , the raiders had stolen a regularly scheduled train on its route , and they needed to keep to that train ' s timetable . If they reached a siding ahead of schedule , they would have had to wait there until scheduled southbound trains passed them before they could continue north . But it was in truth , only an explanation ( an imperfect one at that ) of why Conductor Fuller ( who was well known on the line ) was not in command of this , his normal morning passenger run north to Chattanooga , accompanied by his usual crew , of well known locomotive engineers and firemen . It was " never an authority for the movement of his train " , anywhere on the Atlanta – Chattanooga line . Third ( and neither Andrews nor Mitchel understood or foresaw this , ) Mitchel ' s threat to Chattanooga occurred long enough in advance of the commencement of Andrews ’ raid that Confederate Military Railway officials in Chattanooga had sufficient time to order , organize , and implement the emergency evacuation of all engines and rolling stock in Chattanooga . Thus , special freight trains with superior right of passage ( over the single track line between Chattanooga and Atlanta ) were made up in Chattanooga and ordered southbound , hauling critical railroad supplies away from the Union threat , so as to prevent their either being captured by General Mitchel or trapped uselessly inside Chattanooga during a Union siege of the city . Andrews ’ claim as explanation to the Station Masters he encountered moving northward was that his train was a special northbound ammunition movement , ordered by General Beauregard in support of his operations against the Union forces threatening Chattanooga . This story was sufficient for the isolated Station Masters Andrews encountered as he moved northwards ( as he had cut the telegraph wires to the south ) . But it had no impact upon the Train Dispatchers and Station Masters north of him , whose telegraph lines to Chattanooga were working . These dispatchers were following their orders to dispatch and control the special train movements southward , at the highest level of priority , and superior to all other trains . The authorities in Chattanooga had given the conductors of southbound trains superior right of passage over all other train movements between Chattanooga and Atlanta , including the regularly scheduled passenger train that Andrews had stolen and was operating northbound . And Andrews ' verbal claim of special authority for an ammunition movement was a bluff that only worked in a Station Master ' s office without a working telegraph . Andrews met the first of these southbound conductors at Kingston , where he had stopped ( under the authority of his timetable ) for the watering and fueling of his locomotive . As the first of the southbound Special Freight movements approached , Andrews inquired of that train ’ s conductor why his train was carrying a red marker flag on its rear car . Andrews was told that Confederate Railway officials in Chattanooga had been told by Confederate Army officials that the Union Army under General Mitchel was approaching Chattanooga from Stevens , Alabama , intending to either capture or lay siege to the city , and as a result of this warning , the Confederate Military Railways had ordered the Special Freight movements . The red train marker flag on the southward train meant that there was at least one additional southward moving train behind the one which Andrews had just met , and that Andrews and his train ( regardless of whatever “ orders ” they were adhering to ) had no “ " authority for movement " ” until the last train of that sectional movement ( displaying the appropriate rear marker flag ) had passed him . In the running of an " Extra " sectional movement , the conductor of the lead train is dispatched with orders to post markers ( flags ) on the front and rear of his train . These markers identify this train as the lead train of a sectional movement . The sectional movement can contain any number of individually powered sections ( trains ) with separate locomotives , cars , conductors , and crews . Extra section movements are to be regarded by all Dispatchers , Station Masters , conductors , and crews they may encounter , as being a " single train " ( in multiple sections ) , whose authority for movement is superior to all other trains ’ movements on the line of road upon which they have been dispatched , until the last train ( in the sectional movement , and displaying the proper flags ) has passed . Then , and only then , may any other trains on the line resume their movement , in accordance with their orders , their rank , and their hierarchy ( their “ " authority for movement " ” ) over the line . Neither Andrews nor any other conductor or crew had authority to move their train onto the line of road where an “ extra ” sectional movement was operating until the last train of the sectional movement ( as evidenced by the special flag on the rear car of the last train in the sectional movement ) had passed . Any crew who failed to obey this rule would almost certainly be the cause of a head - on or rear - end collision with the extra sectional movement train . It was this operational reality that meant Andrews could not attempt to move north of Kingston until the final section of the " Extra " movement had passed . If that train too had a red marker flag on its last car , Andrews was still not to attempt to move his train north of Kingston . It was this mechanism of delay that gave Fuller all the time needed to close the distance between them . The raiders considered stopping to attack and overwhelm the first work party they encountered , who were operating a locomotive , the " Yonah " , at Etowah . If the " Yonah " had been seized , it could possibly have been run at high speed and derailed , demolished , and / or its boiler deliberately exploded in a tunnel or covered bridge . This would have not only stopped Fuller ’ s pursuit , but it would also have achieved the raiders ' mission of closing the line between Marietta and Chattanooga . Additionally , the line would have remained closed until a major work party had been assembled to remove the destroyed locomotive and replace a destroyed bridge . However , given the size of the " Yonah " ’ s work party ( even though unarmed ) relative to the size of the raiding party , Andrews judged that any firefight conducted to commandeer and safely escape with the " Yonah " would be too long and too involved without alerting nearby troops and civilians . The " Texas " train crew had been bluffed by Andrews into taking the station siding , thereby allowing the " General " to continue northward along the single - track main line . As Andrews ' party had cut the telegraph lines , all train crews , station masters , and W & A management to the north had no idea that the " General " had been captured by the enemy . Fuller , when he met " Texas " , took command of her , picked up eleven Confederate troops at Calhoun , and continued his pursuit . With the " Texas " still chasing the " General " tender - first , the two trains steamed through Dalton and Tunnel Hill . The raiders continued to sever the telegraph wires , but they were unable to burn bridges or damage Tunnel Hill . The wood they had hoped to burn was soaked by rain . Finally , at milepost 116 . 3 , north of Ringgold , Georgia , just 18 miles from Chattanooga , with the locomotive out of fuel , Andrews ' men abandoned the " General " and scattered . Andrews and all of his men were caught within two weeks , including the two who had missed the hijacking that morning . Aftermath . Confederate forces charged all the raiders with " acts of unlawful belligerency " ; the civilians were charged as unlawful combatant s and spies . All the prisoners were tried in military courts , or courts - martial . Tried in Chattanooga , Andrews was found guilty . He was executed by hanging on June 7 in Atlanta . On June 18 , seven others who had been transported to Knoxville and convicted as spies were returned to Atlanta and also hanged ; their bodies were buried unceremoniously in an unmarked grave ( they were later reburied in Chattanooga National Cemetery ) . Writing about the exploit , Corporal William Pittenger said that the remaining raiders worried about also being executed . They attempted to escape and eight succeeded . Traveling for hundreds of miles in pairs , they all made it back safely to Union lines , including two who were aided by slaves and Union sympathizers and two who floated down the Chattahoochee River until they were rescued by the Union blockade vessel USS " Somerset " . The remaining six were held as prisoners of war and exchanged for Confederate prisoners on March 17 , 1863 . Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton awarded some of the raiders with the first Medal of Honor . Private Jacob Wilson Parrott , who had been physically abused as a prisoner , was awarded the first . Later all but two of the other soldiers also received the medals , with posthumous awards to families for those who had been executed . As civilians , Andrews and Campbell were not eligible . Monument and markers . The Ohio Monument dedicated to Andrews ' Raiders is located at the Chattanooga National Cemetery . There is a scale model of the " General " on top of the monument , and a brief history of the Great Locomotive Chase . The " General " is now in the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History , Kennesaw , Georgia , while the " Texas " is on display at the Atlanta Cyclorama . One marker indicates where the chase began , near the Big Shanty Museum in Kennesaw , while another shows where the chase ended at Milepost 116 . 3 , north of Ringgold — not far from the recently restored depot at Milepost 114 . 5 . There is a historic marker in downtown Atlanta , at the corner of 3rd and Juniper streets , at the site where Andrews was hanged .