12. End of the Chase
Things started going wrong for Andrews and his men when they stopped to burn a wooden railroad bridge. Unfortunately, heavy rains had left the structure too waterlogged to catch on fire, so the daring raiders gave up and moved on, leaving the bridge intact behind them. That gave their pursuers a clear path to follow them on a stern chase. When the pursuers finally reached an intact telegraph line, they sent an alert that reached Confederates ahead of the raiders, who blocked the Union volunteers.
Halting the train on the outskirts of Ringgold, Georgia, Andrews ordered his men to disembark and scatter into the wilderness. They were captured over the next few days, then tried by the Confederates for “acts of unlawful belligerency”. Andrews and seven of his men were convicted and hanged in June of 1862. Eight of the raiders however managed to escape, and the remainder were released in a prisoner exchange in March, 1863. Participants in the raid were among the first-ever recipients of the newly created Congressional Medal of Honor, but unfortunately, Andrews was not among them, because, as a civilian, he was ineligible.
