. . .James Andrews and 20 men began their great railroad adventure. . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Locomotive_Chase

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsfZX8lD ... re=related

I can see the problem of trying to conduct sabotage while running a race. Maybe this plan was not really a very good idea.

I think the execution was the problem....the concept may have been a stroke of genius. If you take the trouble to read a factual account it will become clear how outside events, such as the weather forcing a delay (which not all parties knew about) and the improbable act of a man chasing a train on foot, along with other difficulties combined to confound the raiders' efforts.

dave

They were poorly equipped (basically nothing), had poor information (such as unexpected opposing movements) and bad luck (the weather, the unstoppable Conductor Fuller). They should have arranged a cache of materials a bit up the line that would have helped them do damage and they certainly should have sabotaged any engines they encountered. That would have required a larger force of raiders.

Steve

"They should have arranged a cache of materials a bit up the line that would have helped them do damage and they certainly should have sabotaged any engines they encountered. That would have required a larger force of raiders."

Maybe, but how would you keep that larger force and that load of materials hidden from prying eyes? And how do you deal with the what may likely have been larger numbers of people around depots (where they met the other engines) who would fight back and raise alarms if the raiders revealed themselves by attempting to disable those locomotives?

If you consider that their primary objective was to BURN the railroad bridges, what equipment did they really need? A fire source, in the form of the locomotive firebox, would seem to be all that was needed for the objective. Wrecking track and cutting the telegraph wires might have been easier done with better tools than they managed to find (or borrow!), but still, the primary objective was to burn railroad bridges to stall reinforcements coming out of Atlanta to Chattanooga. Much of what wound up having to be done by the raiders was a direct result of Conductor Fuller's seemingly insane chase on foot that resulted in a locomotive chase.

A few questions:
Why did there happen to be 3 empty boxcars on the northbound train that morning? Or were they actually empty? It would seem that Andrews counted on the empty cars being in the consist so he could conceal his force. Were the cars being deadheaded north to Chattanooga to bring something back to Atlanta? Something I've wondered about and don't recall ever reading anything explaining their presence...not that I've ever done a real in-depth study of the chase.

From memory....the delay decided on by Andrews, based on his belief that the invasion at the north end would also be delayed, set him back when the invasion happened on schedule. The boxcars would have been used to evacuate supplies south. Perhaps somebody with history handy can do a better job of explaining.

dave

As one of the historians mentioned today...IF the Raiders realized they were being pursued by men with what may have been a couple of unloaded shotguns, they could have easily blocked the Texas and ended the chase. They didn't; and the "rest is history"! Besides the pursuit itself, those Southerners taunted the Union soldiers (and civilian Andrews) by constantly blowing their locomotive whistle which served to scramble the Raiders almost every time they attempted to wreck havoc. Without Fuller, many dare say that the war would have ended, not differently, just sooner.

Presentations continue at TVRM (Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum) on Sunday including walking tours along the original East Tennessee & Georgia Rail Road right-of-way from Grand Junction Station to Chickamauga Creek (with a view of the pre-Civil War bridge piers), including mention that Andrews specifically targeted the ET&G bridge along with the W&A bridge as they were only a short distance apart. What about the fact that the Raid was the second attempt to sabotage the W&A? (The first was abandoned before it started.) And, as mentioned, the two things that really doomed "The Great Railroad Chase" for Andrews were (1) several days of soaking rain, and (2) a very determined Conductor Fuller who, obviously, was not happy about his train departing Big Shanty WITHOUT HIM!

http://www.tvrail.com/pages/andrews-raid-150th

BTW: The same historian quoted above also swears that Andrews and crew did NOT steal the General. Why? It never left the W&A property!