James J. Andrews leads twenty-two volunteer Union…

James J. Andrews leads twenty-two volunteer Union soldiers deep into Confederate territory to cut the rail line between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Matietta, Georgia on the night of April 22, 1862.

The soldiers hijack a Western & Atlantic railway train pulled by a locomotive called the General and proceed to Chattanooga with the intention of destroying bridges and communication lines.

Confederate soldiers give chase in another locomotive, the Texas, and catch them after about ninety miles when the General runs out of fuel.

Andrews and seven other Unionists are executed as spies; the rest are sent to Confederate prison. (Those who survive their prison ordeal will become the first recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor.)