[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 53 (Friday, March 30, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  150TH ANNIVERSARY OR SESQUICENTENNIAL OF THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE

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                             HON. TOM PRICE

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 30, 2012

  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues 
to join me in recognizing the 150th anniversary or sesquicentennial of 
the Great Locomotive Chase.
  At 6 a.m. on April 12, 1862, a group of Union Raiders under the 
leadership of James Andrews captured the General locomotive in Big 
Shanty, now Kennesaw, Georgia. As the Andrews Raiders made their move, 
the passengers and crew of the General ate breakfast at the Lacy Hotel. 
The Union spies planned to travel north to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 
an effort to cause damage to the Western & Atlantic Railroad by 
destroying telegraph wires and railroad track along the route. This 
section of rail served as a major supply line for the Confederate 
forces.
  During the breakfast stop, Confederate Conductor William Fuller saw 
the General depart northward without him, then he, Jeff Cain, and 
Anthony Murphy set off in pursuit of the locomotive on foot. Shortly 
the men borrowed a platform car and continued pursuit. Eventually the 
conductor and his men would board three separate steam locomotives due 
to the railroad tracks sabotaged by the Andrews Raiders. These 
locomotives included the Yonah, William R. Smith, and lastly the Texas.
  The chase ended two miles north of Ringgold, Georgia, as the Union 
Raiders ran low on fuel leaving the General and heading for the woods. 
The Raiders were captured by Confederate forces and jailed. Eight of 
the Raiders including Andrews and Sergeant John Scott, were hanged. 
Nineteen of the Union participants were awarded the Medal of Honor, 
several posthumously. Eventually this adventure became known as the 
Great Locomotive Chase and has become the subject of legend including a 
Walt Disney movie during the 1950s.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in commemorating the 
150th anniversary or sesquicentennial of the Great Locomotive Chase and 
to wish the citizens of Northwest Georgia an educational and productive 
commemorative event.

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