To me, this next section was the most interesting part of the museum. I get so caught up in the history. It's a shame I was disinterested at learning about the Civil War in school in England, but I really wanted to learn UK history at that time, and not American. The Civil War history here has really intrigued me though since we retired, and have travelled through the areas where it was fought.
The Great Locomotive Chase - "On April 12, 1862, James J. Andrews and a band of Union Civil War spies stole the General locomotive in Big Shanty (today called Kennesaw). Follow in the daring footsteps of Confederate Conductor William Fuller as he chases the "Andrews Raiders" through North Georgia with a dramatic exhibit featuring an exciting movie about the raid, art and artifacts
explaining the event, a mock-up of Tunnel Hill and the locomotive General itself.
The bravery of Andrews Raiders led to the granting of the first Medals of Honor. The medal bestowed on raider Sgt. John Scott, who was captured and hanged by the Confederates, is one of the Museum's most prized artifacts."
This LINK tells about the Andrews Raid or Great Locomotive Chase.
The Andrews Raiders were a group of volunteers from the Union Army, recruited and led by James J Andrews that took over "The General" and proceeded to head north, damaging the railway tracks as much as possible, in an effort to delay the Confederates from following them. They also cut telegraph wires so the Confederates could not warn their troops ahead, of the incoming ambushed train.
William Allen Fuller was the conductor on the General when it was captured and he and two other men proceeded to chase after the train, at times on foot when the tracks had been broken, then a handcar and further trains.
The Raiders were held up for an hour due to freight trains moving southward that had priority on the tracks. Andrews had fooled Confederate dispatchers by telling them that "The General" was taking a special ammunitions movement northward, but the freight trains still had higher priority. This enabled Fuller to gain on the Raiders. More Confederate troops joined him, and they finally caught up with the General when it ran out of fuel, just a few miles south of Chattanooga, which was to be their final destination. The Raiders dispersed on foot but were all caught within two weeks. They were tried and found guilty as spies. Andrews and seven of the others were hanged and buried in unmarked graves. They were later buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. The remaining captured Raiders were worried they would meet the same fate and attempted to escape. Eight succeeded, the remaining six were held as prisoners of war and eventually exchanged for Confederate prisoners.
This picture shows the Raiders graves in Chattanooga National Cemetery.
The display gave all the details of each stage of the Chase. I found it very interesting. This was more my "kind of thing"
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| The General |
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| Map showing the route of The Chase |
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| Yonah |
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| The Smith |
There were model trains running along a track above us.
and an engine shed
Tunnel Hill led us into the next area where "The General" is on show.
There she is, in all her glory, "The General". She was truly magnificent. When I saw this I thought of our friend Stuart, who sadly is no longer with us. He would have loved this museum I'm sure.
There were some more artifacts in this section. Here's a small selection.
Bryan pointed this one out to me. This one had some British roots.
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| A locomotive clock |
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| Looks like one of the Avon Cologne Decanters. Both our dads had these. |
Old Milepost - A details miles to Atlanta, C details distance from Chattanooga.
A final look at "The General".
This sign outside tells you all about it.
Wow, that took longer than we thought and was well worth the money. The train station was opposite the museum.
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| Kennesaw Railway Station |
Carefully does it, and DON'T STOP on the tracks.
We had to wait for this train to go through.
The town was just starting to put it's halloween decorations out.
We headed home and got Kentucky Fried Chicken on the way. Tomorrow we head to our next campground.
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