KENNESAW, Ga. – For anyone looking to take advantage of the spring weather, today marks the 147th anniversary of the Andrews Raid.
It was the one-year anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and the morning passenger train – pulled by the locomotive General – arrived in town. The train comes to a stop and 20 men step on board, all headed to various destinations to the north.
What no one on board the train knew is that the 20 men were Union spies. Led by James J. Andrews, the men planned to steal the locomotive and then destroy the Western & Atlantic Railroad, a vital link between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tenn., in the heart of the Confederacy.
The Andrews Raid, also known as The Great Locomotive Chase, ultimately failed. But days later, the Southern Confederacy newspaper proclaimed it “the most extraordinary and astounding adventure of the war.” More than an “astounding adventure,” the raid was near genius.
