Why the Great Locomotive Chase was doomed from the start

The Union fighters, however, had great difficulty in achieving their other objectives. Heavy rain had soaked the wooden trestles of the bridges they passed, making it impossible to set fire to them. They lacked both the equipment and the time to destroy telegraph lines and railroad tracks. In fact, they had little training for the dangerous tasks assigned to them.

“They had no tools, hardly any weapons and no idea what was expected of them,” says Shane Makowicki, director of historical studies at the US Army Center of Military History. “Today, special forces undergo extensive training for weeks or months before embarking on a mission.”

Finally, the end had come for the Andrews Raiders. About 18 miles from Chattanooga, they ran out of wood and water to power the locomotive and scattered across the countryside. In the meantime, General Mitchel and the Army of the Ohio had failed to take the rebel town, and the Union men were left stranded.

A lasting legacy

“In Civil War studies, the Great Locomotive Chase is often viewed as a footnote because it was a failure,” says Makowicki. That may be true, but the daring of the mission and the excitement of the train ride left a cultural impact that still resonates more than 160 years later. Movies, books, and more continue to capture public interest today.

All of the men who hijacked the train were captured within two weeks. They were convicted of being spies by Confederate courts martial and sentenced to “immediate death by hanging.”