The General

ID # 896

THE GENERAL

The Civil War's most famous locomotive, the General, a 1-4-0 woodburner, was built in 1855 by Rogers. Ketchurn and Grosvenor at Paterson, New Jersey. On April 12, 1862, twenty-two Union spies headed by James J. Andre's seized this engine and three boxcars when the train made a breakfast stop at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw), Georgia. They sped northward toward Chattanooga, Tennessee, damag-ing railroad property en route in a bold move to split the Confederacy and end the war quickly. Confederates chased them 87 miles, first afoot, then with a rail push-car, and then aboard three different locomotives. Each engine covered part of the distance, the last one being the Texas. The raiders left the General, after she ran out of fuel, and fled. All were caught; eight were hanged. Later, the General hauled Confederate munitions and troops. Retired in 1886, she was on exhibition for many years in Chattanooga Union Depot.

KEAN ARCHIVES