Chattanooga Railroad Series: Kennesaw, Ga.

It was April 12, 1862, when James J. Andrews and his band of Union raiders stole the General locomotive while the crew and passengers were eating breakfast at the Lacy Hotel in Big Shanty (now Kennesaw, Ga.).

The aim was for the Andrews Raiders to travel along the Western and Atlantic Railroad to Chattanooga, burning bridges, tearing up track and destroying telegraph wires as they went.

Conductor William A. Fuller, as soon as he noticed that the General was moving, set off on foot after it with two of his crew, Jeff Cain and Anthony Murphy. The trio soon borrowed a platform car, then later were able to commandeer the Texas locomotive for their frenzied chase.

The Raiders, who were unable to do significant damage, were halted near Ringgold. They were later caught and several, including Andrews, were hanged. Andrews was among those held prisoner in the notorious Swaim's Jail in the block where Unum has constructed its most recent parking garage.

That was one tie between Chattanooga and Kennesaw, and much later there was another.

The famed General was long housed at the Union Station across from the Read House, beginning in 1901. The W&A was a state of Georgia railroad, and the railroad owned a chunk of land surrounding the train station.

Kennesaw citizens had maintained for years that The General rightfully should belong to them. They based their claim upon their state owning it as well as the fact that the Great Locomotive Chase had begun there.

The General was released from the Union Station in 1862 for ceremonies marking the centennial of the exciting Civil War chase. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad restored the old engine so it could make the tour on its own power. As part of this, it retraced its route between Kennesaw and Graysville. Afterward, it was exhibited across the country before returning to Chattanooga in 1965. The L&N, successor to the W&A, sided with Kennesaw and announced it was giving The General to the Georgia town. 

A group of outraged citizens, led by Mayor Ralph Kelley, intercepted The General while it was passing through Chattanooga from Louisville on its way to Kennesaw. The famous locomotive was put on a side track until its fate could be decided by the courts. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which agreed that it should belong to the Georgia city.

The General remains at Kennesaw at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. This museum also houses a large railroad research library and is the repository of the extensive Southern Railway archives. 

A 1908 depot is nearby, and the W&A trains still pass by regularly. But the traveling days are over for The General. It is locked into its own display area - far from the clutches of any Chattanooga officials who might have other ideas.