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.
Read more about Great Locomotive Chase: Background, The Chase, Aftermath, In Popular Culture, Raiders, Monument and Markers, Bibliography
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