Museum to hold Medal of Honor given to one of General’s raiders

MDJ Online ^ | 12/04/02 | Phillip Giltman

[stainlessbanner]

[stainlessbanner]

A 50,000 lb locomotive headed North on the tracks ain't hard to catch.

The General and Kennesaw Museum

Andrews Raid Web Site

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[SAMWolf]

19 volunteers and 2 civilians stole the locomotive "General" and led a chase from Georgia to their capture outside Chattanooga. Eight of the 19 captured, including the two civilians, were executed. The eight men are buried in Chattanooga's National Cemetery.

[SAMWolf]

Andrew's Raiders PING

[Fred Mertz]

Ping!

[nicollo]

*bump*

[Soaring Feather]

BTTT

[Victoria Delsoul]

Drobney said the medal represents a significant piece of American history, but more importantly, it also represent the Raiders' bravery to carry out their mission.

"Coming hundreds of miles into enemy territory to pull off a stunt like that is something that should never be forgotten," he said.

I agree with that. Very interesting article, Sam. Thanks.

[nathanbedford]

The important thing is that the terrorists were duly apprehended.

[Erasmus]

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum runs steam trains through a tunnel under Missinoary Ridge in Chattanooga.

I think this cemetery is the one that the rail line runs right by.

[opbuzz]

You would think a museum director would know the correct name of the Medal of Honor.

[Tiger6]

Back in that time frame what is now called the Medal of Honor was the Congressional Medal of Honor. Semper Fi

[Non-Sequitur]

I'll bet you're sorry that they didn't hang them all.

[nathanbedford]

I thought they had. Must have been an oversight.

[Non-Sequitur]

Well they didn't, sorry to disappoint. They sent the remainder to one of the southern POW death camps where 6 escaped and made it back to Union lines and the rest were parolled. Why the confederates chose to murder the remaining seven is a mystery to me.

[nathanbedford]

I have no idea. Were they out of uniform?

[Non-Sequitur]

They were all out of uniform. But the confederates knew tha they were Union soldiers when they captured them.

[nathanbedford]

Am I wrong in this, I thought a soldier out of uniform could be shot as a spy. Did that not obtain in the 19th century? There are good reasons for this convention if it if fact exists because soldiers as combatants are expected to observe certain rules and therefore, entitled to the protection of the rules.

[Non-Sequitur]

In that case the Union army would have been within their rights to shoot just about any confederate enlisted man they captured since uniforms were rare in the rebel army. Sorry, it just strikes me as an arbitrary act of murder on the part of the southern authority. If 7 deserved to hang then they all did. If 14 warrented POW camps then they all did. Why hang some and parole the others?