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

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

[stainlessbanner]

KENNESAW — One of the first Medals of Honor ever awarded by the U.S. Congress will be a part of the expanded collection of the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw on Thursday.

“To be able to have one of the first Congressional Medals of Honor in our exhibit strengthens our collection, and it’s an honor for us to present this significant moment in history,” Museum Director Jeff Drobney said Monday.

The museum will unveil Sgt. John Scott’s Congressional Medal of Honor from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday.

Scott, an Ohio native, was one of Andrews Raiders, a group of Union spies who stole the General, a Confederate locomotive, during the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase.

According to Drobney, 19 Raiders stole the General while Confederate soldiers were eating breakfast in downtown Kennesaw.

“The intent was to steal the General, destroy the bridges and take out the entire rail line from Atlanta to Chattanooga, which would be a huge setback to the Confederate Army,” he said. “They were successful in stealing the General, but then it was recaptured about 90 miles north of Kennesaw.”

The incident gained fame in the 1927 Buster Keaton film “The General” and a 1956 film “The Great Locomotive Chase” which boasted a debut at the now-defunct Strand Theater on Marietta Square.

Drobney said the Raiders did not have enough time to destroy the bridges and railroad, and eight of the Raiders were hanged for their daredevil stunt.

“You have to realize these soldiers were deep in the heart of the Confederacy, and it was a bold tactical move to steal the General under the eyes of Confederate soldiers at Camp McDonald, which is now downtown Kennesaw,” he said. “That mission alone is why several Raiders received the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

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.

Scott’s Medal of Honor was lent to the museum for 10 years by descendants of Scott’s widow, Rachel Scott of Waggoner, Ohio, who wanted to preserve the history of the General and the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase.

Drobney said Thursday’s commemoration will also include a 20-minute film explaining the story of the General.

Drobney said the museum closed last December after undergoing a $6 million renovation and will reopen on March 30.

“We are expanding from 3,800-square-foot museum to a 40,000-square-foot museum, and we will be celebrating the completion this Thursday,” he said. “We wanted people to be able to see the completion, and there will be a few exhibits to give them a taste of what’s to come,” Drobney said.

[flying Elvis]

Uniforms weren't rare in the Confederate Army.
The second part of your statement, however, is worthy of investigation.

[nathanbedford]

I believe the Rebs always maintained some fragment of miletary indicia even when they wore blue as they often did in the beginning of the war. In any event, the Rebs might have been in jeopardy if they had been raiding far behind the lines as these Yanks were.

I do not accept your logic,often advanced by liberal opponents of capital punishment today, that it is wrong to execute some guilty murders because other equally guilty (but white or wealthier) murders are not executed. All are deserving of execution and it should not be heard as an exculpation that others, equally deserving, escape their just fate.

[Non-Sequitur]

All are deserving of execution and it should not be heard as an exculpation that others, equally deserving, escape their just fate.

You have no idea what I think about capital punishment. You are welcome to your opinion but it seems to me more likely that the confederates decided to kill a few to make up for their embarassment at having been caught with their pants down.

[Non-Sequitur]

In any event, the Rebs might have been in jeopardy if they had been raiding far behind the lines as these Yanks were.

Really? How many men captured from units under the command of your namesake were executed by the Union forces?

[nathanbedford]

You have no idea what I think about capital punishment. You are welcome to your opinion but it seems to me

I did not presume to devine your opinion of capital punishment. I only commented on the (ill)logic of your stated position as it related to the execution of these prisoners.

You may be right that these men were executed only out of embarassment and that would be a war crime in my book. But we do not know that that was the case. We do know, evidently, that they were commiting sabotage behind enemy lines out of uniform.

Do we know that Forrest's men, for example, were captured raiding behind lines, out of uniform, i.e. with no indicia at all?

[Kennesaw]

Thanks for the post Stainlessbanner!