The
Western and Atlantic Passenger Depot is a
Victorian brick structure built in 1898 on the site of the original 1840s passenger depot that was burned by Gen.
William T. Sherman's troops in 1864. The depot in Marietta is where Andrews' Raiders boarded the General and in 1862 and began their fateful journey -
The Great Locomotive Chase" (Andrews' Raid). The depot is also the site from which female workers from the Roswell mills were deported to the North as prisoners of war.
The depot is now the Marietta Welcome Center.
Street Address
Marietta Welcome Center and Visitors Bureau
No. 4 Depot Street
Marietta GA, 30060
Phone number 770-429-1115
Web Page
Admission Fee - Free.
Hours
Mon.-Fri. 9:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M.
Sat. 11:00 A.M.-4:00 P.M.
Sun. 1:00 P.M.-4:00 P.M.
Visitor services
Public rest rooms, information, handicapped access, gift shop.
On the morning of April 12, a passenger train with the locomotive
General was stopped at Big Shanty (now
Kennesaw, Georgia) so that the crew and passengers could have breakfast. Andrews and his raiders took this opportunity to hijack the General and a few railcars. His goal was to drive the train northward toward
Chattanooga and meet up with Mitchel's advancing army. En route, Andrews planned to inflict as much damage as possible to the railroad, tearing up track, destroying
switches, burning
covered bridges, and disrupting
telegraph wires. Andrews' men commandeered the General and steamed out of Big Shanty, leaving behind startled passengers, crew members, and onlookers, which included a number of
Confederate soldiers from a trackside camp.
The train's
conductor,
William Allen Fuller, chased the General by foot and
handcar. At Etowah, Fuller spotted the Yonah and with it chased the raiders north, all the way up to
Kingston. At Kingston, Conductor Fuller got on the William R. Smith and headed north to
Adairsville. The tracks two miles south of Adairsville were broken by the raiders, so Fuller had to run the distance by foot. At Adairsville, Fuller took command of the southbound locomotive
Texas and chased the General.
With the Texas chasing the General in reverse, the two trains steamed through
Dalton, and
Tunnel Hill. At various points, raiders severed telegraph wires so no transmissions could go through to Chattanooga. However, their objective of burning bridges and dynamiting Tunnel Hill was not accomplished. At milepost 116.3 (north of
Ringgold, Georgia), with the locomotive out of fuel, Andrews' men abandoned the General and scattered, just a few miles from Chattanooga.
Andrews and all 21 of his men were caught by the Confederates, as well as the two that had missed the hijacking that morning by oversleeping. Andrews was tried in Chattanooga and found guilty. He was executed by hanging on June 7 in Atlanta. On June 18, seven others who had been transported to Knoxville and convicted as spies, were returned to Atlanta and also hanged; their bodies were buried unceremoniously in an unmarked grave. Eight other raiders made a successful and remarkable escape from confinement. Traveling for hundreds of miles in predetermined pairs, they all made it back safely to Union lines, including two who were aided by slaves and Union sympathizers and two who floated down the
Chattahoochee River until they were eventually rescued by the Union blockade vessel, U.S.S. Somerset. The remaining eight were exchanged as
prisoners of war on March 17, 1863.
The very first
Medals of Honor were given to these men by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Later, all but two of the other soldiers also received them (posthumously for those who had been executed). The two who have not received the Medal of Honor were executed but the story of their heroics was apparently lost in a paper shuffle at the
War Department, and it took some lobbying for them to be appropriately honored. As civilians, Andrews and Campbell were not eligible. (from Wikipedia)
Related waymarks:
WM28AA - James J. Andrews - GHM 060-197 – Fulton Co., Atlanta, GA
WM26XH - The General - Kennesaw, Cobb Co., GA