10. The End of the Chase
For some time, the Union raiders stayed ahead of news of their raid because they had cut telegraph wires. That prevented warnings and orders to block the raiders’ escape route from reaching Confederate forces ahead of the fleeing Union volunteers. However, things began to go wrong for the raiders when they tried to burn a wooden railroad bridge but were unable to do so because heavy rains had left the structure too waterlogged to catch on fire. St Andrews and his men moved on and left the bridge intact behind them. That gave the Confederates hot on their trail a clear path to follow them on a stern chase.
When the pursuers finally reached an intact telegraph line, they sounded the alarm, and the raiders were blocked. Andrews halted the General on the outskirts of Ringgold, Georgia, and ordered his men to get out 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 1862. Eight raiders managed to escape, and the remainder were released in a prisoner exchange in March 1863. Participants in what came to be known as The Great Locomotive Chase were among the first-ever recipients of the newly-created Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, Andrews was not among them. As a civilian, he was ineligible for the nation’s highest award for valor.
