One of the most famous events of the Civil War was the action-packed hijacking of the General locomotive on April 12, 1862, by some Union spies and soldiers, who were later imprisoned in Chattanooga.
Atlanta area author Russell S. Bonds has recently written a book that also takes readers on an exciting journey with a detail-oriented writing style that makes the harrowing and multi-faceted event of long ago come to life.
Stealing the General, which is the Coca-Cola Company attorney’s first book, is also considered the first detailed book written in years about the unusual happening.
Mr. Bonds, who was reared in Marietta, Ga., said his desire to write the book was prompted by his interest in the Civil War.
“I have always been into Civil War history, and this story is one I grew up with in Marietta,” he said.
A few years ago, he decided he wanted to learn more about it but could find little readily available information.
“Before I knew it, I was working on a book,” he said with a laugh.
Although the Raiders traveled far in their journeys, he was able to find much of his needed information at the nearby Atlanta History Center, the Big Shanty Museum at Kennesaw, Ga., and at Emory University, he said. He also searched on the computer and found some manuscripts in Ohio.
Mr. Bonds tells the story of how a Kentucky civilian named James Andrews approached Union Gen. O.M. Mitchel in Shelbyville, Tn., about destroying bridges and telegraph lines along the Western and Atlantic Railroad between Atlanta and Chattanooga.
Andrews had smuggled the anti-malaria drug quinine to soldiers in the South, so he was familiar with the railroads. Both he and Gen. Mitchel and others knew that such a move would hurt the Confederacy and help in the Union’s efforts to gain control of the region during the early stages of the Civil War.
So, with the help of two dozen mostly Ohio recruits – some of whom were familiar with trains and railroads – the group traveled to Chattanooga on foot and then to Marietta by train.
A couple of Raiders did not reach Chattanooga after being stopped in Jasper, Tn., and a couple more overslept in Marietta.
The hijacking began when the General and its crew stopped at Big Shanty (in modern Kennesaw) for breakfast. After everyone else disembarked, the Raiders left with the train and began inflicting small damage to parts of the track and cutting telegraph line.
But the General’s conductor, William Fuller, and some others courageously began pursuing the Raiders, first on foot and later on multiple trains they found along the way.
The General ran out of fuel just north of Ringgold, Ga., and the group fled. All were eventually captured. Andrews and two others were apprehended below Lookout Mountain with the help of a doctor who was very familiar with the area through his numerous house calls.
The Raiders were taken to Swims Jail in what is now a Unum parking lot in downtown Chattanooga. There, people began visiting them out of curiosity, to befriend them, or to hear them sing at night.
Conductor Fuller did, as well as Sarah Brabson, the wife of the well-spoken Brabson House owner Reese Brabson. The latter ended up representing Andrews at his Confederate court martial trial at the Old Armory Building at Fourth and Market streets.
Andrews later learned he would be executed, so he escaped from jail. He was soon found on Williams Island by Union sympathizer Samuel Williams. After a meal at the Williams’ residence on the downtown side of the Tennessee River, he was taken to jail and placed in shackles made and installed by free African-American blacksmith William Lewis, who had earlier brought the raiders some food.
Andrews and seven others were later hanged in Atlanta.
The 14 who remained in jail tried to write letters to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. Braxton Bragg to plead for their release. Eight later escaped from an Atlanta jail and went in different directions to join Union forces. The six who remained were eventually released in a prisoner exchange.
The survivors later met President Abraham Lincoln, who was pleased and proud of their efforts. They were also presented the first Medals of Honor by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton at a separate meeting.
Some of these men also later fought in the 1863 battles at Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge.
The soldiers who were hanged were later given their medals posthumously, although two were never presented with one. According to Mr. Bonds, officials in Ohio are trying to get that rectified.
The soldiers who were hanged and buried in a single grave in Atlanta were re-interred in 1866 in Chattanooga’s National Cemetery, next to the current Holtzclaw Avenue entrance. Andrews’ body was also brought from his marker-less grave in Atlanta to the National Cemetery in 1887, although not everyone is completely convinced he was correctly identified.
While the surviving Raiders enjoyed gathering for various reunions – including when the National Cemetery monument to them was dedicated in 1891 amid a large crowd – some were still fighting other battles. After the war, one was tried for murder in a famous case. Another survivor tried to discredit a fellow survivor. The last surviving raider died in 1923.
Mr. Bonds said he particularly enjoyed rounding out the raiders’ biographies. “You go and see their graves, but you don’t really know about them,” he said. “I enjoyed putting the whole story in context.”
His book – to which Paramount Pictures has optioned the rights - also discusses another battle fought over the General in a courtroom.
Years after the war, the train was rescued from deterioration on a Vinings Station sidetrack in Atlanta through the attention of lecturer and photographer E. Warren Clark. After being restored, it was displayed at several major expositions around the country and was housed at Chattanooga’s now-razed Union Station for decades.
The L&N Railroad later received permission to tour it around the country for the Civil War centennial and at the New York World’s Fair in the mid-1960s.
Chattanooga thought the train would be returned, but it was not. Former Chattanooga Mayor Ralph Kelley even tried to take control of it when it passed through Chattanooga on a rail car in 1967, earning him and the others involved the nickname Kelley’s Raiders.
In a case as bitter as some child custody cases, the state of Georgia was eventually given control of it, and the General has been on display in Kennesaw since 1972.
As a Georgian, Mr. Bonds has the perspective that it belongs there. But he said he understands the viewpoint of some Chattanoogans, who think the train belongs in Chattanooga.
He also understands Chattanooga’s important role in the Andrews’ Raiders story, and now others can as well through his new book.
John Shearer
jcshearer2@comcast.net