The Andrew's Raid is the proper name for the event more commonly called "The Great Locomotive Chase." In early 1862, General Ormsby Mitchell and his US Army were in possession of Nashville, Tennessee which had just been taken. Their mission was to hold the city at all costs but Mitchell was tempted to sever the rail lines between Memphis, Tennessee and Virginia by capturing the cities of Huntsville, Alabama on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and Chattanooga, Tennessee where the Memphis and Charleston, Nashville and Chattanooga, Western and Atlantic and East Tennessee and Georgia Railroads met. However, a problem that he would face were the Confederate troops garrisoned in Atlanta. With the Western and Atlantic Railroad, they could rapidly move to defend Chattanooga and push the US Army back towards Nashville. This threat could be mitigated by destroying principal bridges on the Western and Atlantic and forcing the Confederates to make a march over several days, buying Mitchell precious time to fortify his defenses.

To destroy the railroad, Mitchell assigned one James J. Andrews of Flemingsburg, Kentucky to lead a party behind the Confederate lines at Chattanooga. On the first attempt, Andrews and his men were to meet up with an accomplice who worked for the Western and Atlantic Railroad as an engineman, who would assist them in capturing a train and proceeding north along the line, destroy the railroad. Unfortunately, arriving in Atlanta it was discovered that his accomplice had been sent out with a train and would be of no use to him for some time. Undaunted, Andrews and Mitchell reorganized and planned a second raid which would take place on April 11, 1862 which would coincide with Mitchell's army capturing Huntsville. To avoid any possible problems, the team would be all volunteer and include members who had worked as railroad enginemen in their civilian lives. The others would top fighting men, recommended by their officers for their strength and skill-very important due to the fact that the party would be very small, numbering only 21 men plus Andrews. The men who volunteered for the mission did not learn of it's objectives until they personally met with Andrews outside Shelbyville, Tennessee in the first week of April. Due to the fact that they were being asked to undertake such a dangerous mission, penetrating over 100 miles behind the front lines in civilian dress and minimal weaponry, each man was given a chance to back out after the briefing. All accepted the mission and were instructed to make their way to Chattanooga and be on the morning train to Atlanta on April 10th. Upon receiving their civilian clothes and Confederate money, they departed in small groups to avoid raising the suspicions of the Confederate pickets. Flemingsburg is a city located in Fleming County, Kentucky. ... Chattanooga is a city located in United States of America. ... The Western & Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia (W&A) is a railroad that runs from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. ... Shelbyville is a city located in Bedford County, Tennessee. ... Chattanooga is a city located in United States of America. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... For other meanings of confederate and confederacy, see confederacy (disambiguation) National Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Official language English de facto nationwide Various European and Native American languages regionally Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Largest...

As ordered, all arrived in Chattanooga at the assigned time. Andrews informed the men that he encountered that he was going to delay the raid by one day owing to wet weather that he expected would delay Mitchell enroute to Huntsville. The men were to pass on the word that the raid would be moved to April 12. Each man made his way to Marietta, Georgia and lodged in the railroad hotel there. Early on the morning of April 12, they boarded the morning express-each man buying a ticket to a different station so as to avoid raising suspicion. Andrews had informed the men that they would take the train when it arrived at the normal breakfast stop at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw, Georgia). Andrews selected this location due to the facts that the crew took breakfast here, leaving the locomotive completely unattended. Of equal importance was the lack of a telegraph station there, the nearest one being Marietta. Upon arriving at Big Shanty, the men waited for the passengers and crew to get off and go into the Lacy Hotel for breakfast. Seizing their chance, they uncoupled the locomotive, a passenger locomotive named "General" and three boxcars from the remainder of the train and started off. Chattanooga is a city located in United States of America. ... Huntsville is the name of some places in the United States of America: Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville, Arkansas Huntsville, Missouri Huntsville, Ohio Huntsville, Tennessee Huntsville, Texas Huntsville, Utah Huntsville, Ontario is also a town in Canada. ... Marietta is a city located in central Cobb County, GeorgiaGR6, and is its county seat. ... Kennesaw is a city located in Georgia. ... Kennesaw is a city located in Cobb County, Georgia. ... Marietta is the name of several places in the United States of America: Marietta, Florida Marietta, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) Marietta, Illinois Marietta, Minnesota Marietta, Mississippi Marietta, New York Marietta, North Carolina Marietta, Ohio Marietta, Oklahoma Marietta, Pennsylvania Marietta, South Carolina Marietta, Texas Marietta, Wisconsin Marietta-Alderwood, Washington Marietta... Kennesaw is a city located in Georgia. ...

Sitting down to breakfast, Conductor William Allen Fuller, Foreman of Engines Anthony Murphy and Engineer Jeff Cain were startled to hear the sound of the locomotive starting. Looking out the dining room window, the three saw the locomotive pulling away and ran out of the Lacy Hotel. Finding the passenger cars standing on the platform, they gave chase assuming the engine thiefs to be Confederate Army conscripts effecting an escape from Camp McDonald which was located opposide the Lacy Hotel. Fuller, Cain and Murphy ran approximately three miles before meeting up with a section gang near Moon's Station. There they learned that the train had stopped and several tools procured by the unknown enginemen. Explaining the situation, the pursuers took the section gang's pole car and continued their chase. A couple of miles further up the line, the car was derailed by a missing section of rail that had been removed by Andrews and his men. Noting that the adjacent telegraph line had been cut, Fuller immediately realized that the men he was chasing must be federal spies intent on damaging the railroad. Undaunted, they rerailed the car and continued on to the next station at Etowah, hoping to catch the locomotive assigned to Cooper's Iron Works before it departed on its daily trip to the furnaces. The locomotive assigned to the iron works was an older American class locomotive named Yonah. Arriving at Etowah, Fuller and party found the Yonah standing with steam up on the branch line. Fuller asked the telegraph operator if it was possible to send a message on to either Kingston or Chattanooga but learned that the line was dead in both directions, the spies having stopped again to cut the telegraph wires north of Etowah. Explaining the situation to the Yonah's crew, they were able to commandeer the locomotive and made for Kingston, hoping that the extra southbound trains would delay Andrews at that point and allow them to catch him. Andrews and his party arrived at Kingston expecting to wait for the single southbound freight shown on the timetable. However, they found that they were to hold for an extra southbound train that was being run ahead of the scheduled freight. The extra train arrived carrying signals for a second section which arrived some time ahead of the last section. By the time that Andrews got away from Kingston, well over two hours had passed. Andrews and his crew stopped a few minutes outside of Kingston to cut the telpgraph wires yet again and remove another rail to prevent any trains from the south from following them. At that same moment, the Yonah arrived at the south end of Kingston where they ran into the log jam of trains. Fuller ran to the station agent's office and learned that Andrews had left just five minutes earlier. Fuller dictated a message for the agent to send to Chattanooga and set about commandeering the Rome Railroad's train to continue the chase as the Yonah was blocked by the freight trains. Just as the telegrapher prepared to send Fuller's message, the line to Chattanooga went dead as Andrew's men cut the line. Unwilling to delay any longer, Andrews hoped to make Adairsville ahead of the southbound freight which he did. Meanwhile, a couple of miles north of Kingston, the Rome Railroad's locomotive was forced to a stop when the crew saw that the raiders had dislodged a rail. Once again on foot, Fuller and Murphy heard the approach of the southbound freight, pulled by the locomotive "Texas" and ran to flag it down. Learning from Engineer Peter Bracken that he had passed the General at Adairsville, having been talked into taking the siding by the slick talking Andrews. Once Fuller explained the situation, the "Texas" proceeded to back it's train to Adairsville where it was sidetracked and picked up on the chase of the "General". As both locomotives were of the same design, Fuller and Murphy now had a real shot of catching up to Andrews and just above Dalton, they caught first sight of the "General" as Andrews had stopped to cut wires and remove another rail. Hearing the approach of the "Texas", Andrews ordered his men back aboard the train and took off. Passing Calhoun, the "Texas" had met the southbound morning express which was on the siding. Again the fast talking Andrews had talked the crew into taking the siding after nearly colliding with their train. Fuller also found the assistant telegrapher from Dalton, Georgia there as he had been sent south on the morning express to locate the break in the telegraph line. Fuller shouted for him to get on the locomotive, which he did as it backed by him and learned that spies had cut the line in multiple places. Fuller dictated a message to him to send at Dalton, hoping they would reach that station before Andrews managed to cut the lines again. As it turned out, the assistant operator just managed to get the message through before the wires went silent. Etowah may refer to: The Etowah River Etowah, Arkansas Etowah, North Carolina Etowah, Oklahoma Etowah, Tennessee Etowah County, Alabama This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... // There are a large number of places named Kingston: Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica, the capital United Kingdom Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England Kingston, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England Kingston, Devon, Devon, England Kingston, Dorset, Dorset, England Kingston, East Lothian, East Lothian, Scotland Kingston, Hampshire... Chattanooga is a city located in United States of America. ... Etowah may refer to: The Etowah River Etowah, Arkansas Etowah, North Carolina Etowah, Oklahoma Etowah, Tennessee Etowah County, Alabama This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... // There are a large number of places named Kingston: Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica, the capital United Kingdom Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England Kingston, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England Kingston, Devon, Devon, England Kingston, Dorset, Dorset, England Kingston, East Lothian, East Lothian, Scotland Kingston, Hampshire... // There are a large number of places named Kingston: Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica, the capital United Kingdom Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England Kingston, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England Kingston, Devon, Devon, England Kingston, Dorset, Dorset, England Kingston, East Lothian, East Lothian, Scotland Kingston, Hampshire... // There are a large number of places named Kingston: Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica, the capital United Kingdom Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England Kingston, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England Kingston, Devon, Devon, England Kingston, Dorset, Dorset, England Kingston, East Lothian, East Lothian, Scotland Kingston, Hampshire... // There are a large number of places named Kingston: Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica, the capital United Kingdom Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England Kingston, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England Kingston, Devon, Devon, England Kingston, Dorset, Dorset, England Kingston, East Lothian, East Lothian, Scotland Kingston, Hampshire... Chattanooga is a city located in United States of America. ... Chattanooga is a city located in United States of America. ... // There are a large number of places named Kingston: Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica, the capital United Kingdom Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England Kingston, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England Kingston, Devon, Devon, England Kingston, Dorset, Dorset, England Kingston, East Lothian, East Lothian, Scotland Kingston, Hampshire... Dalton is a city located in Whitfield County, Georgia. ...