Online Exhibits > Civil War Photographs by George Barnard

LOCOMOTIVE "THE GENERAL"
Atlanta GA
1864

In 1862, twenty Union soldiers, led by a spy from Kentucky, infiltrated northern Georgia and hijacked a steam locomotive, "The General." They were captured and seven were hanged in Atlanta. Buster Keaton made a silent movie about the incident in 1927. Walt Disney also used the story for "The Great Locomotive Chase." The original engine is now in a museum in Kennesaw, Georgia.