The Texas: The Engine That Chased the General

On April twelfth, eighteen sixty-two, a Union spy named James Andrews and twenty-one volunteers seized a locomotive called The General at a station in north Georgia and drove it north toward Chattanooga, intending to destroy the rail line behind them. A Western and Atlantic Railroad conductor named William Fuller gave chase on foot, then by handcar, and finally commandeered the Texas, a four-four-zero steam engine built in eighteen fifty-six. Fuller drove the Texas backward, tender first, for many miles to run Andrews and his raiders to ground.

The General ran out of fuel and the raiders scattered into the Georgia woods. Andrews was captured and hanged. His surviving men became the first recipients of the Medal of Honor.

The Texas, now fully restored, sits on display at the Atlanta History Center, directly across from the cyclorama painting of the Battle of Atlanta.