Background
Maj. Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchel, commanding the Federal troops in middle Tennessee, planned to move south with his army and seize Huntsville, Alabama, before turning east in hopes of capturing Chattanooga. General Mitchel recognized the strategic value of seizing the rail and water transportation center of Chattanooga.
At the time, the standard means of preventing Chattanooga’s reinforcement would have been its encirclement. But Chattanooga’s natural water and mountain barriers to the east and south made this nearly impossible with the forces that General Mitchel had available. He believed that if he could block railroad reinforcement from Atlanta, he could take Chattanooga. Once taken, the Union could enjoy the city's natural defenses and would have rail reinforcement and supply lines to its rear, leading west to the Union-held stronghold and supply depot of Nashville, Tennessee in the middle of the state.
James J. Andrews, a civilian scout and part-time spy, proposed a daring raid to destroy the Western and Atlantic Railroad link to Chattanooga, thereby isolating the city from Atlanta. He recruited the civilian William Hunter Campbell and 22 volunteer Union soldiers from three Ohio regiments, the 2nd, 21st, and 33rd Ohio Infantry. Andrews instructed the men to arrive in Marietta, Georgia, by midnight of April 10. With the plans delayed a day by heavy rain, they traveled in small parties in civilian attire to avoid arousing suspicion. All but two (Samuel Llewellyn and James Smith) reached the designated rendezvous point at the appointed time. Llewellyn and Smith joined a Confederate artillery unit, as they had been instructed to do in such circumstances.
Read more about this topic: Great Locomotive Chase
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