Page 28 - 21st Century Defense 100th Anniversary WW1

communications. In all, 23 young soldiers and
MOH Officers 1910.
Photo from the Harris & Ewing
Collection, Library of Congress.
En route with the American Field
Headquarters from El Valle to Las
Cruces, Mexico, April 10, 1916.
Company A, 6th Infantry, in
emergency trench which has
been prepared at its camp
for attack by Mexicans.
28
2 civilians volunteered for the dangerous mission
commanded by 33-year old Virginian and Union spy,
James J. Andrews; it was quickly approved by Union
Generals Buell and Mitchell.
On April 12, Andrews and 19 of his volunteers boarded
the passenger cars behind the steam engine General.
They had successfully traveled in smaller groups to
Marietta, Georgia just north of Atlanta and purchased
their tickets. Shortly after leaving the station, the train
pulled into a short stop at Big Shanty where the
passengers and crew left the train to breakfast at the
Lacey Hotel. The conspirators remained aboard the train
and once the passengers and crew were out of sight,
they made their next move. Quietly and calmly the men
quickly separated the General, its coal tender and three
boxcars from the rest of the train. 16 of the commandos
boarded the three box cars while Andrews, and two
privates, Brown and Knight entered the engine – both
privates were experienced engineers. One of the
reasons Andrews had selected this particular stop was
the lack of a telegraph office and that ensured news of
what the raiders were doing would not be broadcasted.
The legitimate crew members of the General were
startled at the sight of their train leaving without them
and an engineer and two crew members chased after
the train for over two miles to the next station where
they found a hand propelled cart. During the next 20
miles Andrews and crew were pulling up tracks and
cutting telegraph lines. The pursuers doggedly trailed
the hijacked train using two different engines the
commandos had passed along the way and finally
caught up with the General using a third engine, The
Texas, operating in reverse… and the chase was on!
When it was apparent that the pursuers would
eventually overtake them, Andrews and his men set
fire to the one remaining box car, releasing it over a
bridge, hoping to cut-off the pursuers. Unfortunately
for the commandos, the soggy bridge failed to ignite
and just five miles from the Tennessee line, the General
ran out of steam. Andrews and his men scattered in
desperation to avoid capture.
Within a week, Andrews and all 21 raiders were
captured. In Atlanta, James Andrews was tried,
convicted, and hung as a spy. On June 18, seven more
raiders were hung. The remaining 14 young soldiers
were placed in prison camps where they assumed they
would also be hanged. Out of desperation and bold
initiative, the remaining commandos engineered a
daring escape four months later in which eight
succeeded in escaping and the remaining six were
recaptured and brutally punished.