The Great Locomotive Chase: A Civil War Adventure

Narrator: April 12, 1862. The American Civil War is raging. Deep in Confederate territory at Big Shanty, Georgia, a passenger train called The General stops for breakfast. But some passengers have a secret.

James Andrews: (whispering) Quiet, men. This is our moment. The passengers and crew have gone inside the hotel to eat. The locomotive is sitting there, completely unguarded.

Elihu Mason: Are you sure about this, Mr. Andrews? We are miles behind enemy lines. If we get caught, we will be treated as spies.

James Andrews: I am certain, Mason. Our mission is to steal this train, drive it north to Chattanooga, and destroy the Western and Atlantic Railroad along the way. If we tear up the tracks and burn the bridges, we can cut off the Confederate supply lines.

Narrator: With stealth and speed, the Union raiders uncouple the passenger cars, leaving only the locomotive, the tender, and three empty boxcars.

James Andrews: (climbing aboard) Get in! Soldier, fire up the engine!

Elihu Mason: The steam is up! Let's go!

Narrator: With a hiss of steam, The General screeches out of the station. Inside the breakfast room, Conductor William Fuller looks out the window in absolute shock.

William Fuller: Hey! Someone is stealing my train! Murphy, look!

Anthony Murphy: That is impossible, Fuller! Who would dare steal a locomotive in broad daylight, right next to a camp of thousands of Confederate soldiers?

William Fuller: I don't know, but they are heading north! Come on, we have to catch them!

Anthony Murphy: Catch them? On foot? You must be joking!

William Fuller: No time to argue! Run!

Narrator: And so began one of the wildest chases in American history. Conductor Fuller and Anthony Murphy began chasing a speeding steam engine on foot! Soon, they found a handcar—a small, muscle-powered platform on wheels—and pumped it furiously down the tracks. Meanwhile, ahead on The General, the raiders felt victorious.

Elihu Mason: We did it! We are flying down the tracks. But we need to stop and cut these telegraph wires so they cannot send a warning ahead of us.

James Andrews: Quick, climb the pole and cut the wires. And load some of these wooden ties into the cabin. We will drop them on the tracks behind us to block any pursuit.

Narrator: The raiders thought they had plenty of time. But behind them, Fuller and Murphy were relentless. After their handcar derailed on a broken track, they ran again until they found another locomotive, the Yonah. Later, they switched to an even stronger engine called the Texas.

William Fuller: Murphy, reverse the engine! We are running backwards, but the Texas is fast enough to catch them!

Anthony Murphy: Shovel more coal! We cannot let them burn the wooden bridges over the Oostanaula River! Look, there is smoke ahead!

Narrator: Up ahead, the raiders were trying to set fire to a covered wooden bridge. But the damp weather and the rapid approach of the Texas ruined their plans.

Elihu Mason: Mr. Andrews! I see black smoke behind us. Another locomotive is coming, and it is coming fast!

James Andrews: Drop more wooden ties on the track! Throw everything we have! We must slow them down!

Narrator: But Conductor Fuller simply pushed the wooden obstructions off the tracks and kept coming. The chase spanned over eighty miles of winding Georgia mountain tracks. Eventually, The General began to shudder.

Elihu Mason: We are out of wood for the fire, and our water is dangerously low! The engine is dying, Mr. Andrews!

James Andrews: (sighing) We have done all we can. Stop the train. Every man for himself! Scatter into the woods!

Narrator: The Great Locomotive Chase was over. Although the raiders were captured, their extreme bravery stunned both the North and the South. Later, several of the Union soldiers involved were awarded the very first Congressional Medals of Honor for their daring adventure on the rails.