Are you familar with the first Medal of Honor recipents and the Great Locomotive chase?

2016-03-17T16:37:42-04:00

On March 17, 1862 William Bensinger, Robert Buffum, Elihu H. Mason, Jacob Parrott, William Pittenger and William H. Reddick were exchanged for Confederate soldiers from the prisoner-of-war camp at City Point, Virginia. These men were the first living Medal of Honor winners and had been captured as members of Andrews Raiders. 4 other raiders received the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 17 at 2016 4:42 PM

2016-03-17T16:42:27-04:00

I wasn't familiar with the first Medal of Honor recipients; but, I had heard of the Great Locomotive Chase.
"At 5 A.M. the following morning Andrews and 19 of his volunteers boarded the passenger cars behind the steam engine General. (For whatever reason two of the volunteers failed to meet their train.) It was April 12th, one year to the day after the opening shots of the Civil War had been fired at Fort Sumter.
A short time after the train left Marietta it pulled into the small stop at Big Shanty where the passengers and crew dismounted for breakfast at the Lacey Hotel. Andrews and his 19 men stayed aboard, prepared to make their move. There was no telegraph office at the stop in Big Shanty to broadcast news of what the raiders were about to do, the very reason Andrews had selected this site to begin his operation.
When the passengers and crew were out of sight Andrews and his men calmly but quickly separated the General, its coal tender and three box cars from the rest of the train, all without arousing the suspicion of the soldiers at nearby Camp McDonald. It was a simple but audacious act. Their work done, sixteen of the commandos boarded the three box cars. Andrews entered the engine with Privates Wilson Brown and William Knight, both engineers in their own right. The final soldier assumed the role of fireman and the legitimate crew of the General looked up from their breakfast to the startling sight of the General leaving Big Shanty without them.
The courage of Andrews and his men this day would, however, be challenged by the courage of their enemy as well. The General's engineer Jeff Cain was joined by two of his crew Anthony Murphy and William Fuller in a desperate effort to recover their train. The three ran after the train on foot, pursuing it for two miles to Moon's Station where they found a hand-propelled cart to continue their pursuit.
Over the first twenty miles of their journey north from Big Shanty, Andrews and his men took time to pull up rail behind them and drop timbers across the tracks to discourage any possible pursuit, as well as cutting telegraph lines that might have sent news of their desperate mission ahead to waiting Confederate troops. As they passed the Etowah River however, they made a fatal mistake, ignoring the presence of the old steam engine Yonah as they continued on towards Kingston. Cain and his crew didn't overlook this more appropriate pursuit vehicle, and quickly traded their hand car for the aging mechanical one.
At Kingston the raiders had faced a frustrating delay caused by other train traffic. Confident that the cut telegraph lines had prevented news of their raid from reaching Kingston they patiently but nervously paced the siding as the flow of south-bound trains held them in place. They were still not aware that Cain was pursuing them and gaining mileage with each minute of delay. Finally, after more than an hour, Andrews and his men continued their journey north, just as Cain was arriving at the rail yard. The two groups were only ten minutes apart.
At Kingston Cain, Fuller and Murphy traded the aging Yonah for the William R. Smith to continue their pursuit. Four miles north of Kingston however, they had to abandon the William R. Smith when they encountered track that had been taken up by Andrews' Raiders shortly after they had departed the city. Refusing to give up, Murphy and Fuller ran on foot the 3 miles to Adairsville where they encountered a southbound train pulled by The Texas. Releasing the cars, the two continued their pursuit, The Texas running in reverse but gaining on the raiders.
Two miles north of Calhoon Andrews halted the trek of the General long enough to again attempt to damage the track to foil any possible pursuit. As the dismounted raiders were going about their work they became aware for the first time that the pursuit was real. Quickly the men reboarded and Brown and Knight opened the General's throttle to the maximum. Still running backwards The Texas continued, also running at full steam in what would ever after become known as the GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE.
Through the towns of Resaca and then Dalton the two engines raced. The raiders dropped timbers behind them but they failed to slow The Texas. In desperation the raiders cut loose two of the three box cars, but even these failed to halt the determined pursuit. Just south of the covered bridge over the Oostanaula River the 21 raiders crowded onto the General and its coal tender and set fire to and released the remaining box car in an attempt to burn the wooden bridge. Still soggy from the rains that had earlier delayed the raiders initial journey into Georgia, the bridge refused to ignite and the chase continued.
As it became increasingly more obvious that The General would not make Chatanooga the raiders began to jump one by one from the train and race for the shelter of the woods. Then, two miles north of Ringgold and just five miles from Tennessee, The General gasped its last puff of steam and the remaining raiders ran in desperation to avoid capture. The Great Locomotive Chase was over and the flight for life had begun.
Within a week Andrews and all 21 raiders, including the two who had failed to board the train for its 87 mile race into history, were captured. In Atlanta James Andrews was tried and convicted as a spy. On June 7th he was hanged. Eleven days later on June 18th seven more raiders including the civilian William Campbell and his friend Private Shadrach and two of the three NCOs were also hanged as spies. The remaining 14 young soldiers were placed in prison camps to await what they assumed would be a similar fate. Bold, courageous and with nothing to loose they engineered a daring escape four months later in which eight of them reached safety. The other six were recaptured and brutally punished.
For more information I recommend you go to the following website
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/history/history_first.html

The FIRST Medals of Honor

The Great Locomotive Chase, the True story of Andrews' Raiders and the First Medals of Honor

Response by SSG Leo Bell made Mar 17 at 2016 5:36 PM

2016-03-17T17:36:06-04:00

Thank you for sharing this interesting fact.

Response by SPC David S. made Mar 17 at 2016 5:45 PM

2016-03-17T17:45:01-04:00

I've actually seen both of the engines involved in the Chase - the 'Texas' in Atlanta and then the 'General' in Kennesaw when my dad was stationed at Robins AFB. The 1950's movie isn't that bad either.

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Mar 17 at 2016 6:05 PM

2016-03-17T18:05:01-04:00

Great Post!

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Mar 17 at 2016 6:55 PM

2016-03-17T18:55:00-04:00

When Disney made their film version of the Great Locomotive Chase they borrowed the locomotive "William Mason" from the B&O museum in Baltimore to stand in for the "General". It was the prototype of the standard American 4-4-0, built for beauty as well as functionality. I don't know which locomotive they used in the earlier silent movie version starring Buster Keaton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilPk-SCHv30

Buster Keaton - The General (1926)

Response by SGT Forrest Stewart made Mar 17 at 2016 7:12 PM

2016-03-17T19:12:23-04:00

Sorry, another history lesson I missed...

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 17 at 2016 8:50 PM

2016-03-17T20:50:29-04:00

Here are pictures of the two locomotive engines "General" and "Texas." Thanks for letting us know you saw these when you were younger SPC David S. FYI SrA Christopher Wright SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski
The General image if from shortly after Atlanta was taken in the Civil War while the Texas is from 1911

Response by SFC William Farrell made Mar 18 at 2016 2:26 AM

2016-03-18T02:26:46-04:00

Great story and an interesting start to the Army Medal of Honor. Thank you LTC Stephen F.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Mar 18 at 2016 6:05 PM

2016-03-18T18:05:07-04:00

LTC Stephen F. Thanks for sharing!