Slavery and four years of war : $b a political history of slavery in the United States, together with a narrative of the campaigns and battles of the Civil War in which the author took part, 1861-1865. Vols. 1-2Keifer, Joseph Warren
History
Slavery and four years of war : $b a political history of slavery in the United States, together with a narrative of the campaigns and battles of the Civil War in which the author took part, 1861-1865. Vols. 1-2
Keifer, Joseph Warren
Slavery -- United States; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns
Saturday morning before daylight the party was seated in one
passenger car, moving north. In this and other coaches there were
several hundred passengers.( 3) At sunrise, when eight miles from
Marietta, the train stopped, and the trainmen shouted: "_Big Shanty
--twenty minutes for breakfast_." At this, conductor, engineer,
fireman, and train-hands, with most of the passengers, left the
train. Thus the desired opportunity of Andrews and his party was
presented. They did not hesitate. Three cars back from the tender,
including only box-cars, the coupling-pin was drawn, and the
passenger cars cut off. Andrews mounted the engine, with Brown
and Knight as engineers and Wilson as fireman. Others took places
as brakemen, or as helpers and guards, and, to the amazement of
the bystanders, the locomotive moved rapidly north. The conductor,
engineer, and train-men were dazed. The capture was accomplished,
but how were the trains and the stations to be passed on the long
journey to Chattanooga; and how was that place to be passed, and
still a run of a hundred miles made over the Memphis and Charleston
Railroad before they were within the Union lines at Huntsville?
The train proceeded only a short distance when it was stopped and
the telegraph wires cut, then it moved on again, stopping now and
then long enough to enable Andrews and his men to tear up the track
behind them. They reached Kingston, thirty-two miles north, where
a stop had to be made, but by claiming their train was a powder
train hastening to Beauregard's army, they were allowed to pass
on; so the flight continued until Dalton and the tunnel north of
it were passed. The conductor, Fuller, started from Big Shanty
with a small party on foot, then procured a hand-car and at Dalton
a locomotive. His pursuit was both energetic and intelligent. At
Dalton he succeeded in getting a telegram through to Chattanooga
giving notice of the coming of the raiders. The locomotive seized,
known as _General_, proved a poor one, and fuel soon gave out, and
finally the pursuers came in sight. Cars were dropped and bridges
were fired, but the pursuers pushed the cars ahead and put out the
flames. At last, not far from Chattanooga, the _General_ was
abandoned, and the raiders scattered to the woods and, generally
singly, sought to evade capture; but as the whole country was
aroused and Confederate soldiers were at hand, most of the party
were soon captured; one or two evaded discovery by going boldly to
recruiting stations and enlisting in the Confederate Army. The
history of the suffering, trials, and fate of this daring band is
one of the most thrilling and tragic of the war. It is too long
to be here told. The captured were imprisoned at Chattanooga, and
Andrews, the leader (after making one attempt to escape), was
heavily ironed, and a scaffold was prepared at Chattanooga for his
execution, but for some reason he and his companions were transferred
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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