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Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor Paperback – September 15, 2008

by Russell S. Bonds (Author)

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Selected by Civil War Interactive as One of the Top Civil War Books of All Time

"The definitive book about the Great Locomotive Chase."—Charlotte Observer

"Magnificent and definitive."—Wall Street Journal

"The Great Locomotive Chase has been the stuff of legend and the darling of Hollywood. Now we have a solid history of the Andrews Raid. Russell S. Bonds' stirring account makes clear why the raid failed and what happened to the raiders."—James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"In this gripping, smooth-running account, Bonds zooms effortlessly from broad-stroke overviews of Civil War strategy to minute-by-minute scrutiny of unfolding events on the ground. He sets up the story with a quick, punchy outline of the first year of the war. What follows is a fast-paced, extremely well-told tale of espionage, capture, trial and escape."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Phenomenally well written, organized, and presented."—Civil War Books and Authors

On April 12, 1862—one year to the day after Confederate guns opened on Fort Sumter and started the Civil War—a tall, mysterious smuggler and self-appointed Union spy named James J. Andrews and nineteen infantry volunteers infiltrated north Georgia and stole a steam engine called the General. Racing northward at speeds approaching sixty miles an hour, cutting telegraph lines and destroying track along the way, Andrews planned to open East Tennessee to the Union army, cutting off men and matériel from the Confederate forces in Virginia. If they succeeded, Andrews and his raiders could change the course of the war. But the General's young conductor, William A. Fuller, chased the stolen train first on foot, then by handcar, and finally aboard another engine, the Texas. He pursued the General until, running out of wood and water, Andrews and his men abandoned the doomed locomotive, ending the adventure that would soon be famous as The Great Locomotive Chase. But the ordeal of the soldiers involved was just beginning. In the days that followed, the "engine thieves" were hunted down and captured. Eight were tried and executed as spies, including Andrews. Eight others made a daring escape to freedom, including two assisted by a network of slaves and Union sympathizers. For their actions, before a personal audience with President Abraham Lincoln, six of the raiders became the first men in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor—the nation's highest decoration for gallantry.

Americans north and south, both at the time and ever since, have been astounded and fascinated by this daring raid. But until now, there has not been a complete history of the entire episode and the fates of all those involved. Based on eyewitness accounts, as well as correspondence, diaries, military records, newspaper reports, deposition testimony and other primary sources, Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor by Russell S. Bonds is a blend of meticulous research and compelling narrative that is now considered to be the definitive history of "the boldest adventure of the war."

Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A spy and trader in contraband led an ill-fated commando mission during the first year of the Civil War with these words: "Now my lads, you have been chosen by your officers to perform a most important service, which if successful, will change the whole aspect of the war, and aid materially in bringing an early peace to our distracted country." The episode, which formed the basis for one of Buster Keaton's best-known films, took place in April 1862, when 20 Union soldiers crossed Confederate lines to steal a locomotive called the General and destroy a critical Confederate supply line. In this gripping, smooth-running account of the raid and its aftermath, Atlanta lawyer and Civil War historian Bonds zooms effortlessly from broad-stroke overviews of Civil War strategy to minute-by-minute scrutiny of unfolding events on the ground. He sets up the story with a quick, punchy outline of the first year of the war. What follows is a fast-paced, extremely well-told tale of espionage, capture, trial and escape. Half the team was executed; the half that escaped received the newly established Medal of Honor. With its authoritative tone and refreshing accessibility, this should find a place on the nightstand of the general reader as well as the bookshelf of the Civil War enthusiast. BOMC,History Book Club and Military Book Club selections, Borders' Original Voices selection. 20,000 first printing. (Oct. 15)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The New Yorker

Stealing the General, by Russell S. Bonds (Westholme; $29.95). On April 12, 1862, twenty Union soldiers in disguise boarded a train in Georgia to execute a scheme that was meant to bring a quick end to the Civil War. The plan, devised by a quinine-smuggling Union scout and an astronomer turned general, was to steal a locomotive and drive it to Chattanooga, capturing a key railroad connection whose loss would cut the Confederacy in half. The raid might have succeeded if not for the train's conductor, who pursued the hijackers on foot ("this seemed to be funny to some of the crowd," he said later, "but it wasn't so to me") and then by handcar and a series of three engines. The Union men were captured, and eight were hung as spies; some of the survivors were later the first-ever recipients of the Medal of Honor. The chase became a contemporary legend - it's now best known as the basis of a Buster Keaton film - and Bonds's account, the first major study in decades, is thoroughly worthy of an expedition that, a Union officer wrote, "had the wildness of a romance."
Copyright © 2006 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product details

Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Westholme Publishing; 1 edition (September 15, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594160783
ISBN-13: 978-1594160783
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #974,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #440 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Transportation > History > Railroads
- #675 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Transportation > Railroads
- #1280 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Campaigns & Battlefields

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Top Customer Reviews

Excellent coverage of a strange story

ByJohn McCoyon July 19, 2008

Format: Hardcover

Detailed coverage of one of the Civil War's lesser known and stranger episodes. Includes informed speculation on why the endeavour was undertaken, thorough recital of the events of the raid itself, and extensive coverage of the raiders in the following days, as they were moved between prisons and, eventually, returned to the North. This latter portion is an aspect of the story which has not previously been told, and is fully as interesting as the events of the raid itself.

In no part of this book did I find myself wanting further detail, or wondering what events had been omitted or compressed for brevity. It is rare to find a book which is so complete in it's story.

0Comment 17 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Now We Know The Rest of the Story

ByJames Ackermanon September 3, 2010

Format: Paperback

After reading Mr. Bonds' second book, War Like The Thunderbolt, I went back to read Stealing The General. As with Thunderbolt, I found Stealing The General to be well-written and thoroughly researched. Mr. Bonds has organized the varied, sometimes inconsistent stories concerning the theft of The General into a cohesive, "here's how it really happened" account of this historic event.
This story has been handed down through generations, celebrated in a museum and featured in movies. Mr. Bonds' greatest contribution to the story may be that he reminds us that this was a war mission that resulted in the deaths of many of its participants. As is often the case in war, a group of men entrusted their lives to the supposed skills and intellect of a single, charismatic leader and paid harshly for it.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book is that it follows until the end the lives of many of those involved on both sides in the story of The General. In some cases, those who were adversaries in the story became
friends and attended reunions into the early 1900's.
Mr. Bonds' version of the story of The General held my interest from the beginning. As with Thunderbolt, I finished this book with a greater understanding of and appreciation for the people and events described within. I highly recommend this book.

0Comment 12 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Andrews Raiders: The whole story

ByLawrence A. Huffmanon November 9, 2006

Format: Hardcover

This book is a welcome addition to Raiders lore. This is the first effort at compiling all the sources on Andrews Raiders since Charles O'Niell's "Wild Train". The footnotes are a treasure trove of insight. "Stealing" is more than the story of a train chase. Bonds describes in detail the effect of the raid on Atlanta, the Confederate Army and the captured Raiders themselves. The additional account of the first Medals of Honor hopefully is a prelude to his next book.

0Comment 20 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A Solid Account of a Famous Civil War Incident

ByBruce Trinqueon March 18, 2007

Format: Hardcover

In "Stealing the General" Russell Bonds presents a minutely detailed account of an 1862 raid that sent a party of Union soldiers (and two civilians) behind Confederate lines to steal a locomotive and then burn railroad bridges between Atlanta and Chattanooga to isolate the latter city in advance of a proposed Federal movement. The Union raiding party captured the locomotive (the "General" of the title) but because of close pursuit they were unable to carry out the main part of their mission, the destruction of the bridges. The entire raiding party was subsequently captured and about a third of them were executed as spies (the survivors and their dead military comrades were awarded Medals of Honor). Bonds delves into the backgrounds of the raiders (and their foes), creating three-dimensional portraits of real men, with flaws as well as commendable virtues.

The incident resulted in many postwar articles and books, including several by participants, and eventually provided seeds for not only the 1956 film, "The Great Locomotive Chase," but also an earlier Buster Keaton classic, "The General." But for the past half century, the raid has been largely neglected as a subject for serious study; Bonds's book corrects this lack.

Although not a story of a great battle or a famous military leader, this is nonetheless a book that provides compelling, vivid reading about heroes who may have been less than perfect, and all the more real because of that.

0Comment 12 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Tells a story we thought we knew.

ByGavin Priebeon March 9, 2017

Format: Paperback

As a local I have always "know" this story but I never ACUALLY know it the way Mr Bonds tells it!

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

An Excellent Book

ByJeanne E. Franklinon November 17, 2006

Format: Hardcover

Stealing the General is a great book--full of adventure, suspense, and terrific characters (very well drawn by the author)--and a bittersweet story, one that shows in wonderful prose how a single event--in this case the hijacking of a Confederate locomotive--can be used to explain the emotional and strategic story of the Civil War. I found this book to be one of the best I've read all year. I enjoyed learning about General Ormsby Mitchel, for instance, who authorized the raid--he was an internationally renowned astronomer before the war--and had he not died of typhoid fever early on, was well on his way to becoming a household name. The author's accounts of the executions of some of the Raiders is brilliantly done--not morbid, just moments where you feel the doom of the condemned--and his description of how eight of the Raiders ultimately broke out of prison and escaped to freedom makes for wonderful page-turning reading. Although I did not know much about the history of Georgia before reading this book, the author's snapshot of northern Georgian history is both fascinating and contains some of the best passages in the book.

0Comment 19 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Stealing The General = A++

Excellent work by Bonds! This is a definitive treatment of a truly unique event during the American Civil War.Read more

Published 1 year ago by ndfan1993

The Whole Story of the Locomotive Chase

A thoroughly researched account of the events as well as a follow up of the participants in the decades afterwards. A fascinating read!

Published 1 year ago by V. Sweeney

An outstanding read

I can only echo the reviews of countless others. This is, hands down, the finest and most thorough work on the subject.

Published 1 year ago by Stan L. Maddox

A good effort at an average tale

A group of Union soldiers and spies stole a locomotive from northern Georgia and attempted to run it north into Union lines.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Bradley Nelson

Five Stars

Excellent. The style of writing was like reading a story. Kept my attention. Full of details. Recommend.

Published 1 year ago by Susan C. Weisenbarger

Well written historical narrative

This book had great flow, was well documented, and held your attention throughout. Before reading the book I discovered that James Andrews was my great grandmother's brother so I...Read more

Published 1 year ago by daniel edison hobbs

very enjoyable

Fun reading -- historically accurate.

Published 1 year ago by Sparky

Five Stars

Book as described and service was good also. A distant cousin of mine took part in this raid.

Published 1 year ago by Judy Estep

Beautifully written, meticulously documented account of a small insurrection ...

Beautifully written, meticulously documented account of a small insurrection in the Civil War. Fascinating detail on the participants and historic sites.Read more

Published on March 25, 2015 by Wes

Excellent Read

Very good information and entertaining. Brought the history to life. Everyone interested in the War Between the States should read this exciting book.

Published on March 18, 2015 by Remodeler

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