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This is the story of a train. It was a simple hard-working wood-burning locomotive built in 1855, with nothing to make it any different from similar locomotives of the time, until 1862, when a daring group of Union raiders led by James Andrews stole the locomotive and the supply cars attached to it at Kennesaw, Ga., and headed north to Chattanooga, Tenn., with the intentions of burning the bridges and isolating the Confederate troops holding Chattanooga.
The train was called The General.
They had not counted on tenacious conductor William Fuller, who chased after his train, first on foot, then by handcar, and finally with a locomotive named The Texas, which was pointed in the other direction. Fuller chased his stolen train running the Texas in reverse.
Fuller stayed so close there was no bridge burning, or taking on more wood or water, and a few miles north of Ringgold, Ga., the raiders scattered. Most being captured, seven including Andrews were hanged as spies. They are buried at the national cemetery in Chattanooga. Andrews has a replica of The General adorning the top of his tombstone.
The survivors of the raid were the first to receive a newly instituted award for uncommon valor, the Medal of Honor.
The General continued in service until 1891, when it was restored and exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, then taken to Chattanooga where it was stored in what is now the Chattanooga Choo-Choo for 50-plus years, but exhibited at World’s Fairs in 1933 in Chicago and in New York in 1939.
In 1959, the L&N Railroad moved The General to Louisville, where they restored the locomotive to travel under oil power, and added a rail car with exhibits explaining the first known hijacking of a train back in 1862. Disney did a movie based the event now known as The Great Locomotive Chase.
Closer to home there was a long-term controversy that prevented the rail lines from Tennessee crossing the Hiwassee River near the depot due to a third company holding the rights, and refusing to cooperate.
Eventually that was resolved, and rail service came to Murphy late in the 1890s. The old L&N Depot is still here, often utilized as a public gathering spot.
My great-great grandparents ordered a house from Sears-Roebuck that was delivered in kit form by train. It still stands at Hiwassee Dam.
In the 1960s as a part of the 100th anniversary of the Civil War, the General with its museum car in tow came to Murphy. School was canceled for the day, and thousands attended, including your author. I was in the third grade.
Harry Bagley wrote “Cuz’s Corner” for the Cherokee Scout in those days, and he composed a poem in honor of The General’s visit, narrating much of the story of the locomotive chase. I cut the poem from the paper, mounted it on a piece of construction paper and pinned it to my wall. I still recall the last line, “Them Rebels caught’ em, every one, and stretched their necks in the setting sun.”
Cuz was a family friend, and my parents made it a point to show him how I had preserved his poem.
In the mid-1960s the State of Georgia decided it wanted The General, with plans to display the locomotive at the Cyclorama alongside The Texas locomotive from the original chase, or at Stone Mountain Park.
The city of Chattanooga felt they had dibs after housing The General for over 50 years. When the General was in route from Louisville to Kennesaw for a fundraiser, the General was again hijacked by a group led by Chattanooga Mayor Ralph Kelley. A lawsuit ensued going all the way to the Supreme Court, with the General returning to Louisville and the L&N Yards while the courts handled the issue. Chattanooga lost.
The President of L&N presented the General to then Gov. Jimmy Carter in 1970 and the locomotive resides in Georgia today in Kennesaw in the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History.
With the legal ownership settled, the General locomotive left Louisville headed for Kennesaw. The route was to Knoxville, Tennessee, then to Etowah, around the Hiwassee loop and into Georgia via Marietta. Taking no chances, they took this route to bypass Chattanooga, possibly preventing a third hijacking of The General.
Bruce Voyles’ local history column runs every other week in the Cherokee Scout. Email him at RoadsLessTraveled@cherokeescout.com.