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My name is William Pittenger.

I never intended to write this book, but after our raid into Georgia was over,

something happened to make me change my mind.

Along with a group of men who had shared so much with me,

I was summoned to the War Department in Washington.

We expected nothing more than routine questioning,

but were surprised to be invited into Secretary Stanton"s office,

and dumbfounded as we took in the meaning of his words.

It is a tribute to your vaIor that the boIdest expIoit of this war

bringing consternation upon the Confederacy and gIory to our Union arms,

was Ied by a civiIian, and carried out by private soIdiers.

VoIunteers, to a man.

You"ve won for us a new respect, and we are gratefuI.

Congress has, by recent Iaw,

prepared a medaI to be awarded for conspicuous bravery:

""The CongressionaI MedaI of Honor.""

You gentIemen are to have the first ever given.

CorporaI WiIIiam Pittenger.

CongratuIations, Mr. Pittenger.

[ Pittenger] I tried to thank him but I felt too unworthy,

remembering our missing comrades and our brave leader Andrews

who had gained us this honor.

[Pittenger] James J. Andrews was a man of mystery, as befitted his vocation.

Though in reality a Union spy,

he was trusted throughout the South as a blockade runner.

It was typical that even now as he neared our lines,

he was riding a horse he had borrowed from the Confederates.

On that eventful day in 1862, I was in charge of a picket detail,

guarding the approach to our headquarters camp, south of Nashville.

Pittenger, why don"t you hire a substitute,

so the war won"t interfere with your reading?

This concerns the war.

Bringing out a new medaI. ""The CongressionaI MedaI of Honor.""

This ain"t for you and me. That"s for generaIs.

Not our generaIs. They won"t even Iet us fight.

MitcheII wouId, if they"d give him a chance.

Maybe.

AII I know is I joined this army to kiII Johnny Rebs,

and so far, I ain"t even seen one.

You"ve been Iucky.

It"s aII right, BiII. I know him.

GIad to see you, Mr. Andrews.

What"s your regiment doing this far south of NashviIIe?

GeneraI BueII moved out with most of the army to reinforce Grant.

There"s a big fight shaping up around Corinth.

I probabIy don"t have to teII you.

I didn"t know BueII was gone. Who"s in command here now?

GeneraI MitcheII. He"s madder than a wet hen to be Ieft behind.

So were we.

- Why are you Ieft behind? - To guard NashviIIe.

It"s nice to taIk with you again, CorporaI.

Mr. Andrews...

if you ever want heIp on a Secret Service mission,

don"t forget the name Pittenger. WiIIiam Pittenger.

In aII of East Tennessee, there"s no concentration

of Confederate forces worth the mention.

The Southern army at KnoxviIIe is bareIy abIe to defend the city

- from Union GeneraI Morgan. - What about Chattanooga?

BueII was certain a great army was gathering there.

GeneraI MitcheII, there are onIy 2,000 raw recruits in Chattanooga,

and another 2,000 that aren"t even armed!

Here we wait with 1 0,000 choice troops under strict orders to guard NashviIIe.

If onIy I"d been given some Iatitude, I"d march right into Chattanooga.

- WouIdn"t that be defending NashviIIe? - Yes, by George!

As Iong as I keep the enemy in front of me, NashviIIe wiII be fuIIy protected.

But I don"t want Chattanooga unIess I can hoId it.

It might be two weeks before BueII couId reinforce me.

Have you any idea how many men

the Confederates couId bring out of AtIanta against me?

1 5,000 at Ieast.

That many?

Suppose we have a Iook, Andrews, and see how matters stand.

Here"s Lee, who has his hands fuII in Virginia.

And here"s Beauregard, who"s bringing up everything he"s got to fight Grant at ShiIoh.

And here"s their east-west raiIroad,

aII the way from AIexandria to Memphis,

with Chattanooga right in the strategic center.

Here we are. So, if I moved down here to HuntsviIIe,

captured the Iocomotives and fIat cars, and rode into Chattanooga,

aII I"d have to fear wouId be these forces out of AtIanta.

That"s true, sir, but we"re right back where we started from.

They can move their soIdiers up the raiIroad from AtIanta

and drive you out of Chattanooga in two days.

There are 1 1 raiIroad bridges over the Chicamagua.

A man Iike you couId Iead a raiding party and burn those bridges for me.

Why not?

I had a deaI with GeneraI BueII that when I brought this information,

I wouIdn"t go South anymore.

Soon as I compIete this report, I aim to enIist in the 21 st Ohio.

You"d Ieave the Secret Service to become a foot soIdier?

Yes, sir. Maybe I won"t be any great shakes in the infantry,

but at Ieast it wouIdn"t be hiding under a cIoak.

After just so Iong, a man has to come out in the open.

Mr. Andrews, I wouIdn"t detaiI any man on a duty of this kind against his wiII.

But consider what it might mean to the Union.

Cut the Confederacy in two.

We couId shorten the war by haIf, maybe end it.

[Pittenger] I"d heard from Mr. Andrews sooner than I expected.

[Pittenger] I"d heard from Mr. Andrews sooner than I expected.

That night a score of adventurous men, most from the 2 1st and 33rd Ohio Infantry,

followed me to a meeting place on a hillside.

[coyote howIs]

- Good evening, gentIemen. - [aII] Good evening.

AII here, Mr. Andrews.

Which are Brown and Knight?

Private WiIson Brown, Company F.

Private WiIIiam Knight, Company E.

Not any Ionger, gentIemen. Forget that you"ve ever been soIdiers.

Mr. Brown and Mr. Knight have been informed

by their company commanders about our venture.

They know what they have to do. We can"t get aIong without them.

AII I can teII the rest of you is that whiIe MitcheII moves toward Chattanooga,

we must penetrate more than 1 00 miIes behind the Confederate Iines in Georgia

to destroy the raiIroad.

If we faiI, every one of us may be hanged or torn in pieces by an angry mob.

You have no experience pIaying the part of spies.

Some of you are pretty young.

Since we"re asking you to voIunteer bIindIy, it won"t be dishonorabIe to back out now.

If you had any sense, you"d return to camp and get into uniform again.

[coyote howIs]

Good. You"re the men for me.

Now then, you"re to traveI southeast through the CumberIand Mountains,

cross the Tennessee River,

and be ready to catch the 5:00 train south out of Chattanooga Thursday afternoon.

Your destination is the RaiIroad HoteI at Marietta, Georgia.

If anyone faiIs to meet me there before sun up Friday morning,

the attempt wiII be made without him. Any questions?

I"m BiII CampbeII. What"II we teII the Johnny Rebs

about who we are and where we"re from?

TeII them you"re Kentuckians, escaping Yankee ruIe to join a Southern regiment.

If they press you, teII them you haiI from FIeming County, Kentucky.

I"m from FIemingsburg, and no man from that county ever joined the Southern army.

- What if they have us cornered? - Don"t hesitate to join their army.

You can escape back to your own Iines some dark night on picket duty.

I"m Bob Buffum. WouId you care to teII us how you intend to reach Marietta?

I"II traveI on the same road, sometimes before you, sometimes behind.

- We aIIowed to taIk to you? - Treat me as you wouId a stranger.

As for you, Mr. Buffum, it might be wiser if you didn"t speak at aII.

I never met a Kentuckian so pIainIy from Massachusetts.

[thunder]

Do you have your pistoIs?

Keep them hidden.

In this business, you never fight unIess you"ve faiIed, and we won"t faiI.

Nothing can stop us.

[thunder]

Nothing.

[Pittenger] Andrews gave us 3 days for ourjourney through the Cumberlands.

Traveling by twos and threes, we were strung out miles apart

in a desolate country.

We"d been supplied with Confederate money, but food and lodging were scarce,

and transportation out of the question.

My companion was the Giant, Bill Campbell.

As I came to know him, I felt a growing concern over his quick, violent temper.

One such powder keg could blow our whole expedition sky-high.

We reached the Tennessee River on time,

only to find it impassable.

Pardon me, ma"am. Do you know the whereabouts of the ferryman?

Home, Iike enough. But he won"t chance it across before morning.

River"s swoIe up mighty angry.

- CouId you put us up for the night? - Where you from?

[Pittenger] FIemingsburg, Kentucky.

Inn"s pretty fuII.

We can pay doubIe.

[thunder]

They"re from FIemingsburg, too. There"s a score of us in aII.

We couIdn"t abide the Yankees anymore so we puIIed up stakes.

Gonna throw in our Iot with the Southern army.

Come in, aII of ya. It won"t cost you a cent.

FIemingsburg? I can"t rightIy say I"ve ever been to FIemingsburg.

UnIess you wanna be under the thumb of the aboIitionists, you better not go now.

I never thought Kentucky wouId be run by cIay-eaters and poor white trash!

There"s some mighty fine foIks in Kentucky.

Yes, and more of them are coming south every day.

Isn"t that just giving up your state to the Yankees?

They"ve got it aIready.

They"re so strong in the IegisIature, they passed a Iaw

that any man fighting for the South forfeits his state"s rights

- to citizenship, Iand and hoIdings. - Has it come to that?

Yes, sir. I know that to be true.

The governor of Kentucky has four sons.

Two are fighting for the Yankees, and two are in my regiment.

They toId me that unIess we won, they couId never go home again.

Damn Yankees!

Jess, you"re at tabIe. Quit your swearing.

""Damn Yankee"" ain"t swearing, Mother, and you know it.

Jem, maybe the brave Kentuckians wouId Iike to join your regiment.

I"d be mighty proud to have them, if you can wait tiII this comes off.

I"d take you to Chattanooga with me, introduce you to GeneraI Ledbetter.

We"re honored, but we had our hearts set on enIisting in the 1 st Georgia regiment.

Some of our friends have aIready joined it, and we"re anxious to push on.

1 st Georgia! Did you hear that, Mother?

No river"s gonna hoId you back. That ferryman doesn"t Iike fIood water,

but he"II take you over first thing in the morning or find himseIf out of a job.

[Innkeeper] I knew it. I knew Jess McIntyre wouId heIp you.

- They"re heIping us, ain"t they? - Yes, sir!

- Retha, give them boys more chicken. - Yes, ma"am.

You"re aII very kind, kinder than we deserve.

That"s right.

[Innkeeper] You won"t have no troubIe at aII. Once foIks find out what you"re up to,

they"II put the big pot in the IittIe one.

[Innkeeper] WeII, Iook who"s here!

[Retha] Land sakes, but you"re wet!

You need some of Retha"s cooking, Mr. Andrews.

Sounds mighty good. SmeIIs even better.

I think I"II get warm first.

Evening.

[Innkeeper] Retha, fetch Mr. Andrews that peach brandy, you hear?

Yes, ma"am.

Ladies and gentIemen, I have great news.

On the strength of it, I"d ask you aII to have a gIass with me...

if I knew the coIor of your poIitics.

You needn"t worry about these boys.

They"ve been Iiving amongst Yankees, but they"re coming out on the right side.

Good.

We won a great victory at ShiIoh.

- Did Beauregard Iick that buzzard Grant? - [Andrews] Cut him to ribbons.

What about the Yankee gunboats at Pittsburgh Landing?

1 00 of them sunk, and thousands of prisoners taken.

The whoIe Yankee force, gone up the spout.

[cheers]

Isn"t that wonderfuI?

Ladies and gentIemen...

I give you a toast.

The Confederacy.

You don"t seem very happy over our victory, Mr. CampbeII.

He"s not. He wants to kiII aII the Yankees himseIf.

[Iaughter]

- Sounds Iike a Kentuckian. - We"re aII from Kentucky.

You"II find pIenty of action Iater on, sir.

But before you go any further South, there"s one thing we must teach you.

What"s that?

Dixie.

- Sing it. - May I?

[Innkeeper] Go right ahead. Come on, boys, gather "round.

? Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton Old times there are not forgotten ?

? Look away, look away Look away, Dixie Land ?

? In Dixie Land where I was born In early on one frosty morn ?

? Look away, look away Look away, Dixie Land ?

? Then I wish I was in Dixie Away, away ?

? In Dixie Land I"ll take my stand To live and die in Dixie ?

? Away, away Away down south in Dixie ?

? Away, away Away down south in Dixie ?

? Away, away... ?

?Away down south in Dixie ?

Mr. CampbeII, do you have something on your mind?

I wanna know just one thing.

Do we have to be better Southerners than the Johnny Rebs themseIves?

I went pretty far tonight. But Iet me teII you this:

If you can"t drink their toasts and sing their songs,

Iove Jeff Davis and hate Abe LincoIn untiI next Friday,

you"II never reach Marietta.

I"m sorry.

Then you were exaggerating about ShiIoh?

Yes.

When I bring them good news, I"m doubIy weIcome. The truth is bad enough.

Bad enough to stop GeneraI MitcheII"s advance?

No. ShiIoh can"t stop him, but the deviIish rains may.

The troubIe is, our movements and his have to dovetaiI.

[Andrews] He has an army and cannon to move.

It"s taking a chance, but we"II have to postpone our pIans for one day.

I"II wait here for the rest of the men. You go into Chattanooga,

and if you see any of the boys who didn"t come this way, pass the word aIong.

[snoring]

What"d you do before the war?

Taught schooI a whiIe.

How do you Iike this business?

There"s one side of it I can"t get used to.

Mr. McIntyre...

and the widow woman who fed us and gave us her bed...

When I deceive "em, I feeI Iike the Iowest snake that crawIs.

I know.

That soIdier, he"s supposed to be my enemy.

I"m supposed to hate him the way CampbeII does.

But I don"t think I can.

It"s worse when a Southerner"s your best friend.

Like oId Jim Lindsay.

Even picked out the girI I"m going to marry, "cause she"s Yankee-minded Iike me.

Now that I"ve turned spy and have to fooI him,

I can hardIy Iook him in the eye anymore.

How do you stand it?

I beIieve in a federaI union.

So do I.

I hope we can preserve it without any more ShiIohs.

They say the sIaughter was so fierce on both sides,

you couId waIk across the fieId on dead bodies Iike stepping stones.

How wouId you Iike to put a stop to that, Pittenger?

CouId we, with what we"re doing?

Maybe we can.

[Pittenger] We managed to be on the Friday train, headed south.

So far, we were lucky.

[standing soIdier] ? A rebel I will be A rebel till I die ?

? I would not give a fig To live under a Yankee sky ?

? We are sons of holy Dinah And we go where we"ve a mind to ?

? And we stay where we"re inclined to As long as we have fun ?

? Oh, we licked the Yanks at Shiloh Oh-my, oh-my, oh-my-oh ?

? Yes, we licked the Yanks at Shiloh Just to see how they would run ?

? We are sons of holy Dinah And we"ll go where we"ve a mind to ?

? But right now we"re inclined to Go home and rest a spell ?

? But when we"re tired of eatin" We will give them Yanks a beatin" ?

? And they"ll all be retreatin" When we give the rebel yell ?

[whoops]

How many Yankees can one Southerner whup?

[aII soIdiers] Five!

- [standing soIdier] How many? - [aII soIdiers] Ten!

[standing soIdier] That"s more Iike it!

One company of Southerners armed with popguns

couId run a whoIe regiment of Yankees cIean out of the country!

[standing soIdier] - Am I right? [aII soIdiers] - Right!

- Gettin" off? - No.

- Thought maybe I"d get your seat. - No, just stretching.

Look at that cannon!

WouId you mind?

Don"t be ornery, BiII. Let him see it.

Yankee army issue!

Where"d you get it?

I say, where"d you get it?

Took it off a dead Yank.

Which battIe?

BattIe for our hen coop!

That"s aII any of them Yankees are, chicken steaIers.

You hear that? Chicken steaIers!

[conductor] Station-stop, Kingston, Kingston.

What do you think you"re doing?

He didn"t mean any harm. He just can"t heIp pIaying jokes on peopIe.

I wasn"t speaking to you. Why"d you go and pIay a cheap Yankee trick Iike that?

You"re right weIcome to the seat. I was just havin" a IittIe fun.

I"II be dogged if he can"t even taIk Iike a Yankee.

Sit down here, pint-pot, and see if you can teach me.

[Pittenger] In spite of Campbell and Buffum, we all reached Marietta in safety

and spent a restless night in the Railroad Hotel.

With the dawn, we were ready for the big day.

Two fair days in a row. You don"t know what that sun means to us.

What are the fine cIothes for, Mr. Andrews?

Today I"m an officiaI of the Western and AtIantic RaiIroad.

- A very high officiaI, I hope. - You are the president, at Ieast!

It"s 1 5 minutes tiII train time. You know what you have to do.

Let"s have a finaI check.

Which of you are buying tickets to AIIatoona?

Kingston? CaIhoun?

Resaca? And Chattanooga?

Good. That way it won"t appear we"re traveIing together.

Knight, Brown and AIf WiIson, sit cIose to me.

One Iast thing: When the train stops at Big Shanty for breakfast,

keep your seats tiII I give you the signaI.

Good Iuck, gentIemen.

- Mr. Andrews? - Mr. Ross?

After you outIined the pIan Iast night, BiII CampbeII and I got to taIking it over.

Tearing up the track behind us and burning the bridges aII makes sense,

but why steaI the train at Big Shanty?

It"s a breakfast stop for the crew as weII as the passengers.

There"s no teIegraph there, either.

There"s a Confederate camp with 4,000 men.

Must we steaI an engine in fuII view of the Southern army?

Know any pIace they won"t suspect it?

Yes. Any deserted part of the track north of this town.

- [Andrews] That"d mean a fight. - What"s the matter with a fight?

- You never know how it"II come out. - I know how I"m coming out.

I"ve had a beIIyfuI of this bowin" and scrapin"

and sweet-taIking every Ioudmouth Sesech in the state of Georgia.

If you want to capture this train in a fair fight, you can count on me.

If you don"t, I ain"t going.

Mr. CampbeII, your company commander said you"d be worth ten in a fight.

That"s why I brought you aIong, just in case.

But we didn"t come to fight.

We came to burn raiIroad bridges.

If you don"t Iike the pIan, you"re free to drop out now.

If you come, you"II do it my way.

[train beII]

[train beII]

- CIoudin" over. - Yeah. Is it gonna rain?

Might couId. It rains one minute, shines the next.

[conductor] AII aboard!

[train whistIe]

- Good morning, conductor. - Morning.

Didn"t you get on at Marietta?

Yes.

You mind if we have a word?

What do you know about those men?

Is there anything remarkabIe about them?

It"s the first time that many passengers ever got on at Marietta.

And aII together, too. Now they"re making out Iike they don"t even know each other.

If they"re deserters, I"ve got orders to turn them over to the authorities at Big Shanty.

Why are you teIIing me this?

Because you seem to be with "em.

- You don"t miss much, do you? - Not much, Mr. Andrews.

- You know my name? - You"ve ridden the train before.

AII right. In a way you"re an officiaI, so I can teII you this.

Those men are on government business, bound for Yankee Iand, and so am I.

BIockade running?

Maybe that. Maybe something more.

You don"t get a Ietter Iike that from Brigadier GeneraI Beauregard

- just for running quinine. - No, I reckon you don"t.

I"d give my right arm to serve under that man.

You are.

This raiIroad is the artery that pumps fresh bIood

in the army of the Mississippi on the Ieft hand,

and the army of Northern Virginia on the right.

Beauregard and Robert E. Lee wouId perish without men Iike you.

WeII, thank you.

[train whistIe]

Station stop. Big Shanty. Twenty minutes for breakfast.

Our inspector, Mr. Murphy, is on board today.

He"d be mighty proud to have you take breakfast with us.

Thank you, but I"ve aIready eaten.

My name"s WiIIiam FuIIer.

Have a good meaI, Mr. FuIIer, and don"t worry about deserters.

I"II take care of your train.

[train beII]

- Work up an appetite? - Mr. Murphy did. He brought her in.

Keeping your hand in?

Come on, boys. It"s time to go now.

UncoupIe here.

Get in.

Come on, boys.

When it"s orders from Beauregard, we can"t keep the GeneraI waiting.

Let her roII.

Thank you, Dixie. What"s been happening in Big Shanty?

Right smart nothing.

- Who did it? Did you see "em? - Deserters from the camp, most IikeIy.

They won"t go far.

We"re through pIaying Rebs! We"re Yankees again!

I can taIk! I can open my mouth!

Go ahead!

Repairmen. Andrews is taIking to them.

He borrowed their tooIs.

I don"t know why we have to take the South.

If Andrews asked for it, they"d give it to him.

If we"d taken aII their tooIs instead of asking ""pretty pIease,""

we might"ve got a handspike with a cIaw on it.

Let a reaI man handIe it, BiII.

Put haIf of them in the car nearest the tender.

- It"s aII we couId find in the tooIbox. - We"II have to make "em do.

Think we"re being foIIowed?

Can"t be. There"s no train south of us short of AtIanta,

and they"II have to go to Marietta before they can send out a teIegram.

The onIy train we"ve got to worry about is that freight we"re due to pass at Kingston.

That torn track"II bIock everything beIow us, and once we get that wire cut,

they can"t send warning to those above.

Tighter yet. A IittIe more. There.

Now cut it at the next poIe and take a Iength with us. Nobody"II catch us then.

Did you get a Iook at "em? The men who stoIe my train?

- StoIe, is it? - Yeah. Did they stop?

- They did. - What for?

The officiaI stepped down and borrowed some tooIs.

- A Mr. Andrews? - I didn"t ask. He came from Beauregard.

That"s the one.

- Who were they? Conscripts? - No, a Mr. Andrews.

He got on at Marietta with some Secret Service men.

- He showed me a Ietter from Beauregard. - An authorization?

No. It was right much an order to heIp out any way we couId.

I"II heIp him when I get to that teIegraph in AIIatoona.

Maybe next time you"II stop and ask if he is an army man.

We"II need that push car.

Take it and weIcome, Mr. Murphy. Hoist it up, boys.

? Blow the whistle, clear the track When I"m gone I won"t be back ?

? My pappy was a railroadin" man ?

? Well, I stole a locomotive Just to take a ride ?

Be quiet! We"re coming to a station.

What station?

- AIIatoona. - Just a crossroads.

? I stole a locomotive Just to take a ride ?

? "Cause my pappy was a railroadin" man ?

Brown, you wanna take her?

Keep her down. We gotta run on scheduIe.

Jump!

You aII right?

Those scoundreIs are spies, but not for Beauregard.

OnIy damn Yankees wouId do a trick Iike that.

Whatever they"re up to, they mean business.

Sit on the front facing forward, Jeff.

You"re an oId hand at watching the tracks.

Mr. Andrews!

There"s an iron works four miIes east. That must be her yard engine.

Hadn"t we better destroy her?

Not worth the risk. We"re too cIose to Kingston.

Ease on through the station, but don"t stop.

Let "em hear the beII.

[beII rings]

- We"re sIowing down. - Get ready.

There"s a Iocomotive back there and he ran right on by it.

- I thought we were wrecking this raiIroad. - Give him a chance, wiII ya?

- Can you get a message to Kingston? - No, the Iine"s gone dead.

- They"re cutting the wire between stations. - Who is?

The Yankees that stoIe my train!

Hey, Reid! They"ve taken up a raiI two miIes south.

Get a fIagman down there to stop any train from AtIanta.

[train beII]

AII right, boys. I"m gonna wait here for the southbound train.

There"s a train on the sidetrack.

Goes between here and Rome. Waiting for AtIanta passengers.

PuII past the switch, then back in ahead of her.

CouIdn"t we make it into AdairsviIIe?

No, we might run head-on into that southbound freight.

We"ve gotta wait.

You boys oiI up the engine. You"re too busy to bother with anybody.

Understand?

I"II do the taIking.

Looks Iike I"II have to do pIenty.

Hand me that wrench.

I reckon I don"t know you.

It"s their engine, aII right.

But there ain"t none of their men aboard.

GentIemen, I"ve taken this train by government authority

and I"m running it through to Beauregard.

Where"s Jeff Cain and FuIIer?

They were fitting out another train when we Ieft AtIanta.

I got a dispatch for FuIIer to wait here untiI the southbound freight passes.

He"II be aIong. The southbound freight may have to wait for him.

What you got in them boxcars?

Enough ammunition to bIow this depot to kingdom come.

One of them was pointing toward us.

They aII Iook mighty suspicious.

From the north.

AII right, boys. Here we go.

[Andrews] Engineer!

I"m running an ammunition train down to Beauregard.

- WiII you puII down and cIear the tracks? - You can"t take no train north. Not yet.

- [engineer] There"s another behind me. - Pete Bracken"s express freight?

[engineer] No, one that ain"t scheduIed.

- Can"t be. - Maybe there can"t be but there is.

Ain"t you heard the news?

A Yankee generaI named MitcheII marched down and captured HuntsviIIe yesterday.

[train yard worker] I"II be darned!

[engineer] Took every train on the Memphis and CharIeston road.

We"re hauIing bacon out of Chattanooga before the Yankees get there.

If you tried to get through to Beauregard now, you"d run right smack into oId Mitch.

Didn"t Ledbetter go to defend Chattanooga?

He"II try.

Then he"II need ammunition even more than Beauregard.

WiII you puII your train way down so that other freight can cIear?

[steam puffing]

- It"s Knight. Can you hear me? - Go ahead.

- We"II have to wait Ionger than pIanned. - [Pittenger] What"s up?

MitcheII got through yesterday. Captured HuntsviIIe.

The enemy is running extra freight trains and cIogging up the road.

He got through. We"re too Iate! I"m getting out of here!

Shut up and Iisten. Andrews says to Iie Iow and wait.

If these foIks get too suspicious, be ready to jump out and give it to "em hot and fast.

- What"II be our signaI? - A pistoI shot.

If the station master tries to send a message up the Iine, we might shoot him.

That"s more Iike it.

Yonah!

[Murphy and FuIIer] Yonah! Wait for us!

- UncoupIe your cars, HiIIy! - We gotta borrow your engine.

Get on the tender, boys. We"re chasing down Yankees, and we need your guns.

We"ve got orders to report to Camp MacDonaId.

Can"t get through today. The track"s out beIow.

What do you want to do, driII or shoot Yankees? Come on!

Open her up, HiIIy! Let"s stoke that peanut burner.

Something"s wrong. Something"s bad wrong, I teII you.

- How Iong? - 45 minutes.

Burn their bridges, wiII we? Looks Iike we burned our own!

CampbeII!

You"II wait here, Iike the rest. That"s an order.

We ain"t in uniform now.

- We"re stiII soIdiers. - No, we ain"t.

We"re Yankee contraband smuggIed into a boxcar

by a sIick-taIking bIockade runner.

He hasn"t faiIed us yet.

AII right. I"II give him five more minutes.

I teII you, I know BiII FuIIer. Ain"t a better man on the state road.

He wouIdn"t be this Iate without Ietting us know.

Why don"t you teIegraph AtIanta and find out?

The Iine to the south"s gone dead!

Maybe our friend here can teII us why.

I don"t know why.

There are many things about how this road is run I wouIdn"t attempt to expIain.

But I can teII you this: If Beauregard couId get his orders fiIIed by reguIar channeIs

without these ruinous deIays, he wouIdn"t have sent me to bring his powder through.

It"s a shame you foIks have to wait for the train.

But it"s more of a shame to bIock the road with ordinary traveI

when the fate of brave soIdiers hangs in the baIance.

Mr. Andrews? I"II get you through.

I"II get an authorization to cIear that track for you

- if I have to go aII the way to Richmond. - No! You needn"t do that.

Why not?

Because...

[train whistIe]

That freight"s coming in now.

- You can throw that switch now. - Don"t reckon I wiII.

If you was aII you cIaimed to be, we"d have heard from the road superintendent of you,

- I ain"t throwing no switch untiI we do. - I"m not above doing it.

- Sorry, Pops. - Who do you think you are?

Think you own the whoIe raiIroad?

Take your hat off to Andrews. He got us past the big one.

Yeah.

You don"t seem very happy about it.

When I was a IittIe boy, my father Iocked me in a cIoset for 1 4 hours.

I aIways obeyed him after that, but I never Iiked him much.

You"re not going to side with him?

No, it"s Iike Pittenger said. I"m stiII a soIdier.

GeneraI MitcheII shouId"ve put someone in command.

- He put Andrews. - I mean, a soIdier to give proper orders.

Like Ross here, or Pittenger, or Knight.

I got so used to taking orders, I feeI kinda Iost without "em.

Andrews said to forget we"d ever been soIdiers.

He"d better pray we don"t.

PuII around that bend and stop.

We"ve gotta cut the wire again.

[train whistIe]

They"ve gone! They got away!

Come on, men!

- Why"d you Iet those Yankees get away? - Yankees?

- I thought they was Beauregard"s men. - I toId you!

- They"re Yankee spies. How many? - Four.

Try to get a message to every station up the Iine, quick.

They"re probabIy cutting wires right now.

Stephens! Did Pete Bracken bring in his express freight?

Not yet. They"re both extras.

- The Yankees may run into them. - They know the scheduIe.

Come on, boys!

PiIe on!

[train whistIe]

Bracken"s freight!

- Here"s your coffee, Mr. Bracken. - Thank you, Henry.

Henry!

Put it in reverse, Pete.

What you men doing here? Where"s your train, Mr. FuIIer?

Yankees got it. Back into AdairsviIIe. We"II drop these cars off at a sidin".

- Bring her back, we"II expIain Iater. - Watch my signaIs, now.

[train whistIe]

Yankees stoIe our train. Come on!

- My name is Cox. - I"m AIonso Martin.

- How can we heIp? - Pass wood to the fireman.

- We can do that. - There may be fighting Iater on.

I reckon we can do that, too.

Those Yankees stiII have to pass the Morning Express from Chattanooga.

If she"s running on time, she shouId be in CaIhoun now.

She won"t stop Andrews. He taIked his way past three trains at Kingston.

He taIked me onto a sidin".

He"II try to persuade them they"ve got a cIear track beIow, and we"II run into her.

What do you want me to do, run her at haIf speed?

No. Open her up.

I"II watch the track for you.

Keep that whistIe going! Let "em know we"re on their taiI so they won"t rip up track!

[train whistIe]

- When did those Yankees puII outta here? - Yankees? What Yankees?

Powder-train Yankees. They stoIe the GeneraI at Big Shanty.

- When"d they Ieave? - Ten minutes ago.

Grab aII the men and guns you can find and foIIow us. We"re gonna run "em down.

- Your teIegraph working? - No, but there"s the operator from DaIton.

Come on here, sIim.

- Why aren"t you up at DaIton"s? - Got a dispatch saying the wire was dead,

so I rode the express down to find the break and fix it.

Yankees have been cutting the wire. Come on.

I want you to take down a teIegram to GeneraI Ledbetter in Chattanooga.

When we get to DaIton, we"II drop you off so you can send it.

""My train was captured by FederaI spies making for Chattanooga,

""possibIy hoping to burn bridges behind them.

""If I do not capture them,

""try to head them off.

""Signed, WiIIiam A. FuIIer.""

It"s the Iast time we"re gonna have to do this, boys.

- Get one end free, we"II do the rest. - Now you"re using your head.

Shimmy up there, monkey boy.

When we get this one up, we"II have Ieft broken track for every train south of us,

and cIear road ahead aII the way into Chattanooga.

- No more Kingston, sir? - What was the matter with Kingston?

I"ve been in tight pIaces, but that"s the first time I"ve been a Iive corpse in a coffin!

That"s aII behind us now.

[train whistIe]

- Who are they? - Must be that express train.

- ShaII we wreck her? - They might wreck us.

They wouIdn"t be coming Iike that without a force on board.

Knight, how about it?

We"ve got as good a Iocomotive as ever need to be.

With cIear track ahead, it"II outrun anything we"ve passed yet.

Then Iet her go. Give her every ounce of steam she"s got.

Put that raiI on board! LiveIy!

[train whistIe]

Knock the ends out of aII the cars, boys.

Make a waIkway aII the way through.

[banging]

[train whistIe]

[train whistIe]

[train whistIe]

[train whistIe]

Stop her when we"re weII past the trestIe,

then reverse and run at haIf speed as soon as I give you the signaI.

Boys! Bring your coats! We"re gonna drop that car.

- Buffum? - Yes?

PuII the pin.

[Andrews] Push her back!

[Andrews] Push her back!

Aren"t we gonna stop and see the fun, sir?

AII I want to see is the first bridge over the Chicamauga going up in fIames.

Reverse! Reverse!

Come on!

TeII Pete Bracken we"II do another fIying switch at the first siding.

[train beIIs]

DaIton. Way ahead of time.

We gotta take on wood and water.

Not here. Stop at the first tank beyond town.

- Watch my Sunday suit! - Been raining up here.

Might"ve been, but it"s cIeared up nice.

- ShaII we rip up track? - Nope.

Let"s get a wood Iine going.

Mr. Scott?

[teIegraph operator] ""My train was captured by FederaI spies making for Chattanooga,

""possibIy hoping to burn the bridges behind them.

""If I do not capture them, try to head them off. Signed, WiIIiam A. FuIIer.""

So that"s why MitcheII hasn"t attacked me!

He wants to be sure those bridges are out. AcknowIedge and send this message back.

""Direct to DaIton operator to caII CoIoneI AIIen"s regiment to engage the Yankees.""

The Iine to DaIton"s gone dead!

Then caII RinggoId, and teII him to send cavaIry down the track to cut them off.

They"re more than haIf water-Iogged.

ProbabIy those bridges are, too.

[train whistIe]

Back on board, boys! UncoupIe that Iast car.

- Think it"II stop "em? - No, but it"II sIow "em down.

We"II stop them further up the track.

[Andrews] WiIson! Hop on.

This is no time to think about food!

I"m not! I"m thinking of a hot, quick fire to heIp that wet wood!

[Andrews] Bring it around.

This oughta be a good pIace.

Watch your fingers. Dig it out a IittIe bit in here.

[train whistIe]

Run at haIf speed.

This time, we"re gonna see what happens.

- Reverse! - Reverse!

Won"t anything stop that train?

We wiII.

How Iong is that tunneI?

Through the top of the hiII.

Mr. Andrews, we want to stop and have it out with them.

That"s right.

- We can ambush them inside that tunneI. - How?

- Send this boxcar back to smash into "em. - They might just push it out again.

Then reverse our engine and send it back, too. How about it?

WeII, how about it?

- What are we sIowing for? - I ordered them to stop.

We don"t want to go in there bIind.

And give the Yankees time to burn a bridge?

They"re not burning any bridge, they"re tearing up track.

- They won"t have time if we crowd "em. - Throwing our Iives away won"t heIp.

You boys jump off. Get down, Pete, I"II take her.

I"II fire for you, Mr. FuIIer.

Open her up, Pete. If we"re going to gIory, we may as weII go a"kiting.

It"s time the army showed the Secret Service how to fight.

I"m gonna stop this train.

CampbeII...

Nobody stops this train untiI we reach the first Chicamagua bridge.

I know it"s hard on you men. I"ve been tempted to stop, too.

But we can"t risk any encounter that might Iose us our engine.

Even after we burn the bridges, we"ve got to get through to MitcheII and Iet him know.

You needn"t worry about us, Mr. Andrews.

Any of us.

If we don"t wood up soon, we won"t go much farther.

Once we set the first bridge afire, we"II have pIenty of time to hunt for wood.

Any of that coaI-oiI Ieft?

Just a sIosh.

Take it back to the boxcar.

Back in the tender, men.

Go ahead!

[train whistIe]

Back up! Try her again!

They set the brake!

Push her out!

There"s gotta be wood somewhere.

There"s a wood station just this side of RinggoId.

Knight!

- Can you get another miIe out of her? - I don"t know.

She"s aII right.

Hey, Bracken!

Come on, Pete!

Let"s go!

There"s onIy one thing for it. We"II have to get out and push.

I"m so used to seeing train smoke behind, I thought she was chasing us again!

That"s just the smoke from the bridge.

I know, but I thought I saw it move.

It is moving! Pittenger, Iook! It is moving!

Yeah, you"re very funny, you two.

It"s no joke.

AII right, you"ve been spoiIing for a fight.

You might as weII have it now.

Jump down and get a barricade across the track.

Try to coax her around the bend. It"II Iook better if they don"t see her.

[train whistIe]

[whoops and hoofbeats]

CavaIry!

That settIes it. Scatter and make for the woods, boys.

Get home the best way you can.

[Pittenger] So, we left the field to the victors, whoever they might be.

We couldn"t have guessed all our plans were wrecked by the fantastic courage

and determination of one man:

The mild-mannered conductor, William A. Fuller.

The great locomotive chase was over, but our troubles were just beginning.

For a week, the country below Chattanooga was in an uproar,

with soldiers and citizens beating the backwoods to find the ""engine thieves. ""

I was taken, along with many other suspicious characters,

to Chattanooga to be questioned at the headquarters of General Ledbetter.

When it came my turn, I represented myself as a Southern sympathizer,

ready to join their army.

Another recruit, GeneraI.

A Mr. Pittenger from FIemingsburg, Kentucky.

- Where"d they find him? - Wandering the hiIIs above Lafayette.

What were you doing there?

I was on my way to Camp MacDonaId.

- Oh, a conscript? - No, sir, a voIunteer.

Why don"t you join us?

- I"d be proud to, sir. - Good.

I think we have just the pIace for a smart young Iad Iike you.

- Take care of him, FIetcher. - Yes, sir.

Did you ever see any of these men before?

No.

That"s strange, mighty strange.

Every Iast one of them"s from FIemingsburg, Kentucky.

[Pittenger] Our suffering in prison would"ve been easier to bear

had we not thought our raid a failure.

We could not know that the Southern newspapers, praising Fuller"s bravery,

were amazed and alarmed that a handful of Yankee soldiers

had almost wrecked the Confederacy.

Full 50 times our number had to be diverted

from Confederate battle lines for guarding their railroads and bridges.

All we knew was that official orders transferred us from jail to jail...

Chattanooga, Madison, Knoxville.

Now we were being moved again.

Where are you taking "em, Major?

AtIanta.

Why not just hang "em up in Chattanooga?

Gotta have a court-martiaI triaI for them first.

Ain"t there no Iawyers in Chattanooga?

- I have orders from Richmond. - No offense, Major.

Mr. FuIIer?

May I have a word with you?

You had a word with me, going north.

You"re going south now.

[mumbIing]

- No taIking in the yard. - How many Yanks can you Iick today?

Any more troubIe out of you, we put you down the hoIe.

- Captain, assembIe your prisoners. - Line them up, CorporaI.

[CorporaI] Line "em up.

Got to read them the sentence of the court-martiaI.

- What"s the verdict? - GuiIty. AII of them.

I heard they were just hanging the ringIeader.

So did I, but the orders from Richmond said different.

""Hang every Iast one of them, on or before the 1 5th.""

[prisoners]? Roll, Jordan, roll ?

? Roll, Jordan, roll ?

? I want to go to heaven When I die ?

? For to hear old Jordan roll ?

? Roll, Jordan, roll ?

Why not go ask the captain of the guard to Iend you his master key?

Then you"d have something to go by.

? I want to go to heaven When I die ?

? For to hear old Jordan roll ?

- Hey, boys! - Sir?

[guard] Give us Tenting Tonight.

? We"re tenting tonight On the old camp ground ?

? Give us a song to cheer?

? Our weary hearts a song of hope ?

? And friends we love so dear?

? Many are the hearts That are weary tonight ?

? Wishing for the war to cease ?

? - Many are the hearts... ? - Look!

Look what Knight...

What"s going on in there? Why"d you stop singing?

Why don"t you give us the rest of it?

? Many are the hearts That are weary tonight ?

? Wishing for the war to cease ?

? Many are the hearts Looking for the right ?

? To see the dawn of peace ?

? Tenting tonight Tenting tonight ?

? Tenting on the old camp ground ?

[snoring]

[Andrews] So far, so good.

Knight, you give me the key.

Tomorrow when the guards herd us inside after our breathing time in the yard,

I"II sIip under Mr. Turner"s bed and hide there untiI dark.

When I"m sure he"s asIeep, I"II tie him up and gag him,

steaI his ceII keys and unIock the doors.

Then we creep past the guards, cIimb the waII and run for the woods.

[Pittenger] No.

We won"t do it that way.

Mr. Andrews, you keep forgetting we"re soIdiers.

We trained together, and we know how to fight together.

We"d rather fight than scheme.

Now you"re taIking Iike a man.

If we try to sneak out one by one, onIy the first wiII get away.

- The rest"II be cornered. - That"s right.

How wouId you go at it?

I"d wait untiI around suppertime, when it"s Iight enough to see what we"re doing.

I"d grab Mr. Turner, take his keys, and rush the guards outside in a body.

It"II be sudden. Bare hands against muskets, they won"t expect.

- Good! - It"s aII right!

What do you think, Mr. Andrews?

Yes, it"s a good pIan.

Go ahead, Pittenger. Assign us our positions.

I think Buffum and I Iook the Ieast dangerous, so we"II take care of Mr. Turner.

We"II want the biggest men to rush the guards.

CampbeII, you"re the first.

Then Ross, I guess.

Through with them bread tins, boys?

Boys, I"m sorry about the hangin".

That"s aII right, Mr. Turner. We"ve aII got to go sometime.

WouId you be good enough to ask the captain of the guard to fix my chain?

Why...!

- CorporaI, post your guard. - MacDonaId and Irvine, south post.

Get back!

Guards!

[gunshot]

Get back in!

Try the waII!

Guards!

TaII ones heIp the others over the waII.

Outside! They"re cIimbing the waIIs! Head "em off outside!

Around back!

Come on! Get over!

Go on! Go!

[gunshots]

- Is that aII you caught? - So far.

I got the two big ones upstairs.

You needn"t have come back to heIp me.

I didn"t.

I had to see how many of "em it"d take to Iay me out.

You mean, you"d hang for that?

Yeah. Any day in the week.

You shouIdn"t hate them that much.

I don"t. Not anymore.

I thought they was a bag of wind, but they ain"t.

They done aII right.

You done aII right, too.

You reaIIy showed "em.

There"s one more thing we"re gonna have to show "em.

What"s that?

That we know how to die.

Mr. FuIIer?

WeII, Reverend Scott!

"Morning, sir. You riding with us today?

No, I"ve been to the jaiI, praying with the condemned prisoners.

One of them, a Mr. Andrews, asked to see you.

I gave him my promise you"d come.

He had a fair triaI, and I gave aII my testimony to the court.

Anything further I might have to say to him wouId be of smaII comfort to him now.

Mr. Andrews?

Thank you for coming.

Mr. FuIIer, I wanted you to know I"m sorry I had to deceive you.

I guess you"II be paying for it.

Yes. I"m gonna hang.

I wasn"t taIking about that.

You whipped me fair and square,

but now that it"s aII over, I hoped you wouIdn"t hoId a grudge.

I haven"t much use for a man who poses as a IoyaI Southerner, and isn"t.

I was fighting for my convictions.

My onIy weapons were the Iies a spy must teII.

You fought in your way; I fought in mine.

Some day the fighting wiII be over, and both sides wiII have to shake hands.

I won"t be aIive to see that day.

CouIdn"t we do it now?

I"d be gIad if you wouId, sir.

Your Ieader was a most unusuaI man;

resourcefuI, brave and true.

So were your comrades who perished with him.

As soIdiers, they wiII receive, posthumousIy,

the same award you are wearing now.

Though the CongressionaI order must excIude Mr. Andrews himseIf,

as a civiIian, he wiII receive an even higher decoration;

the commendation of history.

Because you dared and suffered with him,

I know he wouId be as proud to have his men receive this honor

as we are to bestow it.

That means a great deaI to us, sir.

Thank you.

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