Until Next Time Farewell, final part

You see, Andrews had made another big mistake. Remember that he had stopped to tear up the tracks south of Adairsville, stopping the William R. Smith? It seemed like a good idea at the time but think about it, readers. If the tracks had not been damaged, the William R. Smith would still have been running northward. The Texas was certainly running southward. Get the picture? Crash! Crunch! Kaboom!!!! And then a few minutes later: Kaboom! Crash! Crunch!!!! as the Catoosa added herself to the pile of tangled wreckage. Tracks blocked, pursuit ended, raiders free to burn bridges at will. Hindsight is 20/20 they say, but Andrews did not have time to worry about what should have, or could have been. Had he known what Mr. Fuller was up to he would have been amazed. With his train stopped south of Adairsville, Fuller and Murphy again ran on foot, hoping to get to the Adairsville station for help. Before the station was reached, they saw, coming toward them, the Texas. As soon as Engineer Bracken heard their fantastic story, he backed his train to the Adairsville station, dropped his freight cars on a siding there, and set his train flying after the General in all haste....backwards. Now you probably know that backing a train is nothing like backing a car. There's no real steering involved. You don't have the control with the train that you do with a car. The train follows the tracks....wherever they go. So, while running the Texas backwards may have been a bit confusing for some, it was no problem for Cpt. Fuller and Engineer Bracken. They could have turned the train around on the turntable at the Adairsville Station, but there was no time for that. At Calhoun the Texas had to pass the Catoosa. Fuller told his story and was quickly let through. The Catoosa crew dropped their passenger cars on the siding at Calhoun and joined the chase behind the Texas. Also at Calhoun, Fuller picked up a young assistant telegrapher from Dalton, named Edward Henderson. Though some sources say he was thirteen years old, he was actually eighteen. Fuller wrote a hurried message on a scrap of paper and gave it to Henderson with instructions to send it to Chattanooga as quickly as he could when they got to Dalton. It advised that the train had been stolen by possible Unionists with intent of destroying the bridges. It concluded by saying, If I don't catch them in the meantime, see that they do not pass Chattanooga. The first bridge to be turned was the Oostanaula Bridge at Resaca, Ga., just above Calhoun. Had it been destroyed, Andrews train would have been completely free, and all the other bridges, about 16 in all, would have quickly followed. However, rain had been falling, off and on, for the past ten days and all the wood they picked up along the way was wet. The bridge, itself, was wet. The Texas was so close behind them that they had no time to stay and nurse the flames, so they simply dropped an empty boxcar on the tracks hoping to slow their pursuers a bit. Since the Texas was running backwards, and their tender was now in front of them, they, just coupled the empty car to the Texas and never slowed down. The men on the General, meanwhile, were pushing ties out the back of their last remaining box car as fast as human hands could work. While they had no hope of damaging the tracks in this way, it did cause Fuller to have to run slower so that he could watch for obstructions. This gave the raiders time to gather a small load of wood at Green's wood yard, near Tilton, Ga,. and supply of water at a water station just a short distance further on. During these stops, the Texas approached almost close enough to fire on the General, but each time the precaution of obstructing the tracks had caused the Texas to have to stop, giving the General a bit more time. Many of the men wanted to stop and fight their pursuers, but Andrews had always preferred strategy over fighting, and so they pushed on. They worried that they might have trouble getting through Dalton, for they were now way off schedule and the switches might not be set right to let them by. They stopped only long enough for Andrews to ascertain that they could indeed get through, then they roared through the Dalton station like the Devil himself, was after them. A few minutes later came the Texas. Fuller slowed just enough for young Henderson to jump from the train to the platform. Henderson was immediately sending the vital message. The Raiders did cut the telegraph lines above Dalton, but about half of the message got through. The tunnel at Tunnel Hill, Ga. gave Fuller a bit of a fright. As the General sped through the tunnel, her smoke filled the opening. Upon arriving there, Fuller couldn't tell if the General had passed through, or if it was still inside waiting to ambush him. He took a deep breath and pushed on through at full speed. He felt that the danger of the crash was far outweighed by the danger to the bridges ahead. Imagine his relief when he saw the light at the end of the tunnel and realized that he would live a few more minutes, at least. At the first Chickamauga covered bridge, Andrews tried a last ditch effort to set it ablaze. He had his men start a fire in the last remaining boxcar. They used every bit of remaining wood they had. This was all or nothing. If the bridge could be fired they were safe. If not, they were lost. All the wood and the boxcar were extremely wet due to the down pouring rain that was falling by that time, and the fire burned poorly, but at last it caught up. The Texas was coming on fast and Andrews had no time to waste. He had the car uncoupled inside the bridge, hoping for a miracle, but as had been his fate all his life, the miracle didn't come. But the Texas did and pushed the burning car out of the bridge, on to Ringgold, Ga. just a little distance up the track. There it was left to burn itself out on a siding while the Texas charged on. Finally, realizing there was no way they could succeed with the bridge-burning mission, and with the General's power growing less and less, Andrews gave his men the order to jump and scatter. Every man for himself! A few did as ordered, but others could not believe what they heard. Had not Andrews himself told them only a few days before that they would come through this thing together or die together? None of them wanted to be separated, nor did they want to leave their leader whom they so much loved and respected. Again Andrews gave the order in a much more demanding tone and so all began jumping, one or two at a time, from the train where they had had the most amazing adventure of their lives. After all were off except himself and the engine crew, Andrews gave the order to reverse the engine in effort to send the General flying back into the on-coming Texas, thereby buying some time for his men to escape. As the General's power was now so low, the crew of the Texas was able to slow enough to absorb the shock of impact, doing no damage to either train. The Raiders fled in all directions. Some were captured only minutes after leaving the train, but most managed to make the woods. During the next few horrible days they would be subjected to innumerable hardships: rain, cold, hunger, men with dogs, men with guns. Everyone in the area was hunting them. Eventually all would be found and imprisoned. Eight, including Andrews, would be hanged. All would be hailed as heroes by the North, and cursed as villains by the South. Most would live to fight another day. The author has relied heavily on the book, Daring and Suffering, written by one of the survivors, William Pittenger, and published by Cumberland House, Nashville, Tenn. Many websites were also consulted. I have worked long and hard, dear reader, to give you some insights and side lights to the Great Locomotive Chase story that you may not have gotten from your history books, nor from other accounts, but please don't take my word for it, and don't think this is all there is. You will do yourselves an injustice and all the Chase participants a slight by not researching this fascinating story yourselves. Visit libraries, visit museums, visit historic sites, and read read, read. Until next time, farewell.