Paul Stanfield photo

(1980's) Enlarge Ohio's Tribute to the Andrews' Raiders

(1980's) Enlarge

James Andrews grave at Chattanooga, TN .....The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews' Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army stole a train  (The General) in an effort to disrupt the vital Western & Atlantic Railroad (W&A), which ran from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. They were pursued by other locomotives (The Texas, chiefly) and the raiders were eventually captured, with some being executed as spies (Andrews). Some of Andrews' Raiders became the very first recipients of the now known "Medal of Honor".

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Slavens, Samuel
  
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 33d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: Georgia, April 1862. Entered service at: Wakefield, Pike County, Ohio. Birth: Pike County, Ohio. Date of issue: 28 July 1883. Citation: One of the 19 of 22 men (including 2 civilians) who, by direction of Gen. Mitchell (or Buell), penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory and captured a railroad train at Big Shanty, Ga., in an attempt to destroy the bridges and track between Chattanooga and Atlanta