Posted on 06/04/2017 5:22:30 PM PDT by re_tail20
Union soldiers paid with their lives for their failed theft of a locomotive—and became America’s first Medal of Honor winners for their heroics.
Alexander Crosman peered through his telescope from the deck of his Union Army gunboat. What the commander of the USS Somerset saw bewildered him. Nearly 18 miles from shore, off the Confederate-held city of Apalachicola, Florida, Crosman watched two men standing in a small skiff and waving frantically at the military ship. Crosman ordered his ship’s guns leveled and an armed guard on deck.
As the skiff drew closer, he looked down at the men. They were skeletal, naked excepting only rags for pants and vests made of moss. Their skin was bruised, raw, and bleeding from sores and cuts, covered with insect bites and blisters. The naval officer barked, “Who in hell are you, and what are you paddling under my guns in this manner for?” Their parched throats could barely gasp the words out. What they said shocked Crosman.
They claimed to be Federal soldiers, privates from Ohio. Their army was battling rebel forces in Tennessee, some 500 miles away. Thinking they were deserters, Crosman growled that they were a “damned long ways from camp.” Not deserters, they insisted—escapees. They were secret infiltrators behind enemy lines, part of the now famous Great Locomotive Chase, a daring but ill-fated raid Union forces hoped would cut the Southern rebellion’s throat.
Barely able to stand, the two men, Alf Wilson and Mark Wood, came aboard. They asked Crosman the date. It was Nov. 10, 1862. They had been on the run through the heart of rebel territory for 25 days, covering some 350 miles since escaping the prison where they and the other survivors among their fellow raiders had been held in Atlanta. They broke out with only...
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
Just as a broken clock is right twice a day, so once in a while the Daily Beast has an article worth reading. This should be made, or re-made, into a great action movie.
I remember reading something about this but why would a train robbery end the war? The article never explained that.
They were supposed to destroy tracks and trestles. That proved more difficult than they thought especially with Confederates pursuing them.
Yup. Good un
Disney also did a version back in the late 1950’s with Fess Parker, it was actually pretty good. It was called The Great Locomotive Chase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SG_0Yo8MGk
I saw the Disney version when it came out. I thought it was pretty good but definitely pro Union.
Buster Keaton did not like it and thought it didn’t give the Confederate side enough credit.
Yes it did - if they had succeeded in destroying the railroad tracks, tunnels & bridges as they planned, the South would have lost all means to supply their troops in the north.
You must have missed that........
Great story! Thanks for posting.
The Great Locomotive Chase is known amongst railfans. It was one of the unknown part of the CW, another is the St Albans VT Battle.
My pleasure.
I read that in the cannon scene where Keaton used too light a charge, the shot squibbed and landed in the engineer's cab, alongside of him. The commenter noted that it was an actual charge, and if it had been miscalculated, the ball would have killed Keaton. (no actors' unions in those days).
I groaned though, when the bridge collapsed and wrecked that great looking locomotive. And, in those pre-CGI days, they used one Helluva lot of extras with 45-70 breechloaders (current price $1,000).
In the scene where he gets water for the engine and it knocks him down he broke his neck on the rail. He kept on working to finish the film. He didn’t find out until several years later when he had an x-ray done.
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