The Great Locomotive Chase: First Medals of Honor | US Train History | Extra History
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
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Join us on an adrenaline-fueled journey through one of the most daring and audacious acts of sabotage in Civil War history as you step aboard a hijacked Confederate train. The General, as Union spy James J. Andrews and his strike team will embark on a perilous mission to cripple enemy infrastructure and turn the tide of war as conductor William A. Fuller races against time to reclaim his beloved engine.
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Artist: Ali R Thome I Writer: Robert Rath I Voice: Matthew Krol I Video Editor: Devon House Creative I Audio Editor: Clean Waves I Studio Director: Geoffry Zatkin I Social Media: Kat Rider I ♪ Music by Demetori: bit.ly/1EQA5N7 I ♪ "Extra History Theme" by Sean & Dean Kiner
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The sprinting to railcar to train pipeline was insane 😭 I got a laugh out of it! Never mess with someone who doesn't skip leg day!
Excuse me, is this an error or something? Your video has been uploaded an hour ago, but it says that your video is uploaded a day ago.
I actually own a model of the General
How he ran was amazing! You guys always make Me laugh! Never skip leg day🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I laughed out loud seeing Fuller chase the train.
Yea me too 😂😂😂
MAN. That dude was devoted to his train
“FLINT LOCKWOOOOD!”
That was full on Loony Tunes.
I didn't initially.
Then he got the handcar.
Fuller is the ancestor to the security guard from Subway Surfers
Some say they are the same person. He just never stopped.
Fuller had been training for this his whole lofe
Fuller is literally my great-great-grandfather. Sadly, I’m no subway surfer.
@@MilkUnderTheDam lies you are THE subway surfer
Oh, they steal a train, they get the medal. I steal a train, I get five stars.
join the military then try it
Five Starz? Congratulations, super general!
My dumb brain thought "five stars" meant a one-tribute Monster card.
E
To be honest they did also get five stars
You have to respect Fuller's determination. Come hell or high water, he was going to get that train.
He got it
E
running one 100% spite
Y'know if someone stole your beloved locomotive you'd be mad too
True😅😅😅
All ya all gonna say how Loony Toon the conductor was, going after the train.... But y'all not considering that it was HIS Train! The conductor isn't just some oldy-timie steward. Conductors are THE BOSS on the train. Not the train engineer, they're just the operator of the locomotive.
So the hijacked train was a PERSONAL insult.
E
It's the equivalent of a captain commandeering a motorboat to chase after some pirates.
@@justanothercommenter5835 More like jumping after it into the water, comadeering a fisher along the way, and then showing up next time standing at the bow of a cruiser still shouting to give back that thrawler.
To be fair they were trying to cut off one line of accessing resources
The Buster Keaton movie is also really impressive because a lot of those stunts are real. That movie also contains the most expensive shot in film history: when a bridge collapses with a train driving overtop, they actually destroyed a steam locomotive to get the most realistic "trainwreck". The dedication!!
It'd probably be the most expensive scene shot in silent film history - but not history overall.
That'd either be The Battle of the Borodino in "War and Peace" or Ney's cavalry charge in "Waterloo".
How Expensive you might ask? $42,000. In 2024 dollars, that $741,126.78. I doubt any film make today would physically destroy something worth 3/4th of a million dollars for just one scene.The film itself had a beefy budget at $750,000. Granted, that's not huge by today's standards (With inflation it's in the $14 Million range) but still, a lot of money was put into it.
@@Toonrick12 It's estimated that Speed 2 spent about 25 million to partially build a cruise ship and then destroy it. Movies can be stupid expensive.
it was shot in oregon and the small town by where they were filming came out to see it, they had a dummy in the drivers seat , and when it went down some of the people freaked out. also there was a forest fire that all the people filming stopped and put out the fire! PBS did a documentary on it.
Huh, sorta like the precursor to Tom Cruise’s steam train destruction.
Okay, this one could have been a comedy thanks to that tenacious train conducter!
The ending was somber though.
A very good comedy was made based on this, its called "The General" by Buster Keaton, one of his best films. I would highly recommend a watch, its on youtube, one version even has the original Piano Score
Fuller better have gotten an employee of the month or something because he was one dedicated conductor.
I don't know if he ever got employee of the month, but, he does get to be remembered for hundreds of years solely for his tenacity with a near 0% chance of having his name tarnished anymore than for being a confederate sympathizer. Thats seems like the better achievement.
@@madisons2117- I’m a direct descendant of Captain Fuller. I still have a lot of his papers. He was recognized by the State of Georgia with their own medal. Later he even did a speaking circuit with some of the surviving raiders. While I cannot endorse his probable sympathies I do admire his sense of determination.
@@MilkUnderTheDam thats awesome! I am glad to hear that he got his recognition!
@@MilkUnderTheDamwe can all respect his work ethic regardless of who he would vote for.
"I say i say i say i say boy our train being stolen"-foghorn longhorn
I scream, you scream, we all scream icecream!
By a tiny chicken hawk?
E
Activate T9000 run!
victor tanzig reference
I'm guessing I'm not the only person who saw that title and had high/middle school band flashbacks.
Fr
YES
Never played it but man, it was still a huge joke for us
Thank you
Best song I have currently played in high school
Love the image of Fuller chasing the train and getting upgrades! 🤣🤣🤣
Where did he even get them from?
@@ChrisKetchersideout of his inventory
If you don't allow the train to stop and eat breakfast it will eventually become enraged and start attacking the townspeople out of Hanger. Always feed your locomotive.
not too far from what actually happened: as they were constantly being chased, the General eventually ran out of fuel as the Union raiders couldn't stop to resupply.
Funniest thing is that this isn’t even a single time occurrence in Us history . US Seabees also managed to steal a train from behind North Korean lines during the Korean Wat
Stole the train and some booze, plus they repaired the sabotaged tracks.
So you're saying that the USA produces the world's finest train robbers? ...I suppose that tracks.
@@05Matz bud dum tss
I believe MacArthur got his first Medal of Honor stealing a train in Veracruz as well
‘It’s those damn Seabees again!’ - unnamed US general in Korea
Lesson learned.
NEVER STEAL FULLER'S TRAIN!
I'm sorry, I kinda cheer for Fuller. I know that confederacy=bad, but he was a man of focus, commitment and sheer effin' will. Gotta admire that.
Question: do Gen Washington and the patriot rebellion equal bad or good in the binary logic?
To put in perspective of how important Buster Keaton's "The General" is, it was one of THE first movies selected to be added to the National Film Registry, right next to Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, and A New Hope (Star Wars IV).
Yea, that puts it into perspective of being the only one on that list I haven't seen and after this video I'll have to change that.
One of the few times Walt Disney made the more accurate film, but BKs movie was a great romp.
William "Not On My Watch" Fuller
GTA Star system
"I say, I say, I-Isay, I say, I say, I say BOY! I think our train's been stolen!"
-William Fuller, probably...
*hiccup*
The ultimate cop: Fuller. Run until you get an upgrade 😂😂
"See ya Johnny Reb! Thanks for the train!"
"Curse ya Billy Yank! I'm comin' fer y'all! Gimme back my train!"
Too bad the series has been concluded, because now I'd love for Billy Yank and Johnny Reb to talk about that raid xD
The parody of the Inglorious Basterds speech got me. Flawless
The whole video I was thinking to myself, "This should be a movie!" I'll definitely have to watch the film adaptations mentioned here.
Fortunately, The General is public domain and you can watch it anywhere for free. Hell, it's available on Wikipedia.
There's also a Disney version that punches well above its weight
The Buster Keaton version is a really good comedy,and was ground breaking in its day. Keaton plays a character based on Fuller. Just bear in mind going in that it is a product of its time (1920s) and has Gone With the Wind levels of South good, North bad protagonist centric morality. I found it watchable despite that but your milage may vary.
@claireotoole2934
It’s far more pro Confederacy than Gone With the Wind. It has a Confederate happy ending and nothing negative mentioned of Confederacy, the love interest also rejects main character played by Keaton at first because he didn’t enlist in the army like her family (but he wanted to! He just could not because he was a valuable engineer!).
Gone with the Wind is more about societal collapse and horrors of war. It does make South look cleaner (Ashley says he would have freed the slaves after he inherited them for example). But it never acts like South didn’t start the war or that it wasn’t foolish or that most slaves didn’t just ran away the first moment they got. And Scarlett doesn’t really care of anything but herself.
Fuller has that indomitable human spirit in him
Fuller chasing the train was hilarious 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
4:27 Never ever steal the train, because the conductor will find you.
That sounded like a chase sequences out of a cartoon. Or perhaps that chase sequence inspired cartoon ones.
Can we take a second to appreciate the fact that they uploaded this on National Train Day?
I live right by where all this took place. Every year we even have a locomotive chase festival.
Historian and Georgia native here! One of the best sources we have on this raid is the firsthand published account of one of the raiders, William Pittenger. His work on it, "The Great Locomotive Chase: A History of the Andrews Raid," is a nice read, which is pretty widely available. We also have a nice museum here in Big Shanty (modern day Kennesaw) with a lot of memorabilia of the raid :)
I visited the museum in Kennesaw once knowing the story of the General but assuming it no longer existed. You can imagine my surprise walking into the exhibit with the fully intact locomotive standing before me!
I was so excited to see this video show up in my feed today. Fuller is my great-great grandfather. I still have some of his papers but most went to the Atlanta History Center in 1970. Would love see any local or regional history you’ve been working on or can recommend.
Oh thats Awesome. Big Shanty is now the city of Kennesaw, where a really big battle took place. Would love for you guys to cover it! Lived there for many years.
Am I the only person who thinks the entire heist feels very Looney Tunes?
The Buster Keaton version is as full on Looney Tunes as you can get without being animated.
Maybe because how this short depicted the chase.
If anyone wanted to learn more about the event and see the actual General, I would highly recommend the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotives in Kennesaw, Georgia. Built on the actual site of the robbery, the museum has everything from the medals of honer given, to a model of the robbery. It's likely one of the best museums in Georgia.
Fuller is the original officer Earl
I can imagine him running after the train screaming “FLINT LOCKWOOOOOD!”
This or "LEROOYYYJENKINSS"
"because Fuller had upgraded again" is it just me or is there an idle game in this story? 🤣
Look at Fuller, becoming the first superconductor back in 1862. It would take the rest of the world another 50 years to rediscover this tech.
I lived in Kennesaw for a while. The Southern Museum there has the General locomotive. It’s really cool!
Yup. Same here. Would highly recommend.
Man, fuller is determined😂😂😂
I must ask, do you list down all the sources and citations every time you do a standalone history video like this? For series like Fredrick the Great and Ned Kelly, you did put a "Recommended Reading" section in your lies video. Is this where you cite the sources of your information?
Note: I am asking all of this because I just wanted to know where you cite the sources.
There's also a great Disney adaptation that punches WAAAAAAAYYY above its weight
One of the locomotives used was B&O no 25 aka the William Mason, It's now on display at the B&O museum and was used to be fired up for events at the museum grounds and also was in the Will Smith movie Wild Wild West
During the main titles I thought, “One of the *last* people you want to piss off through theft is a TRAIN LOVER”, and William Fuller went above and beyond. CHOO CHOO CHARLES!
Do you think Fuller’s story contributed to the archetype of the passionate train devotee?
Fuller is just some kind of a cartoonish villain.
While Buster Keaton's "The General" is undoubtedly a classic, the 1956 Disney film, "The Great Locomotive Chase," is a more accurate (if less artistic) retelling of the events. They used 3 steam locomotives for the film. The 'General' was portrayed by Baltimore and Ohio #25, the 'William Mason,' which was actually older than the 'General' by one year. Most of the other locomotives, including the 'Texas' were portrayed by Virginia and Truckee #22, the 'Inyo,' a passenger locomotive originally from the Comstock region that I have a personal connection to as she was the icon of the Nevada State Railroad Museum as I grew up in that area. I credit the moment I learned she was in the movie as the beginning of my love for film.
The fact that the General and the Texas is still around today is unbelievable
Here's some more info about the general
The locomotive was restored in the 1960s for the anniversary of the great locomotive chase footage of it can be found on TH-cam
@@kadenrobinson7067- My family was there for that in person. I still remember stories about it.
See kids this is why you never skip leg day. How else can you out run train jakers on foot?
Had i been a member of the crew... i would've given my medal to Fuller. Talk about doing your job boy ol boy lol
A train seems kind of easy to catch, but idk wtf you do when you get there
Oh, obviously you get yourself a train, fuller I'd I'd gangster
As an expert of the Great Locomotive Chase, I can say that a lot of details were missed, but, for the sake of time, this was a well done history short about the event. I will say though, that while Parrot was the first man to have the Medal of Honor pinned on him, all seven of the Raiders were the first to receive the medal. Secretary of State Stanton said "Your party shall be the first to receive it." Meaning, that they were all the first, together. Stanton did not say "You are the first." Obviously, someone had to be pinned first because Stanton only had two hands, but the seven Union Raiders were all the first to receive the Medal of Honor together.
@extrahistory I just watched The General (1926) on Matt's suggestion. I watch silent films rather regularly for WW1 era research fairly frequently so the format isn't much an issue for me, but I've got to say I can see why this one was a box office flop when it released. Sure it has some rather interesting technical aspects... but they messed with the history far too much to make a good story. Spoiler alert, the fact that they destroy the Texas is silly considering that it is on display in a museum.
At 4:51 Fuller DID NOT have a handcar but he actually had a pull car. A pull car is like a flatbed but only two axles and you would use a pull(made of wood) to push the car. They are lighter than a handcar too. Also at 6:11 the raiders ran out of wood and water. They didn’t see smoke from other locomotives.
Very true! Not many people know that detail. This story is part of my family history so I kind of feel out when it gets mentioned in public.
Missouri, Kentucky, and West Virginia did not secede from the union 1:55
And again at 7:05
2:25 nice basterds reference lmao
I used to watch the Disney depiction of this event on DVD when I was kid. Had no idea what was going on, but it had trains in it so…
The way my brain started playing Thomas and Friends chase music when they stole the train at the start...
Fun fact; fueller acutally became friends with one of the raiders after the war no i am not kidding!
And now two more of their number have been posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
I saw a movie about this train heist. One that Disney made in the 60's. It was an awesome watch for me when I was a kid. I still have fond memories of watching this movie.
1950s actually late in the decade, One of the locomotives used was B&O no 25 which has a name William Mason and it was used to be fired up at the B&O museum until it's boiler flues expired
@@Railhog2102---Oh really. Didn't know that.
@brokenbridge6316 Yup and it also ran with St Elizabeth no 4 a 0-4-0 saddle tank that was built in the 50s
Screw Fuller as a Confederate, but damn have to admit that’s impressive.
Yeah, I know. Fuller was an enemy but they should have awarded him a medal too.
In 1950, the state of Georgia commissioned a special gold medal in honor of Fuller's work during the Great Locomotive Chase. It was presented to his son, William Alford Fuller
I am convinced that Fuller played a much larger part in the punishments. He probably made it to the court faster than the cart that hauled the train snatchers in.
I love this and it should be made into a hilarious Quentin Tarantino comedy as his last film.
Heard all about this growing up in Ringgold, went by the monument just about every day! Thanks for covering this story.
A uttp thats actually civil?aint that a rarity
@@zyancuerdo1615 UTTP.
@@UTTPOfficerBennie still one that actually inst spamming is a rare I seen so many of you lot that do that and other...shady things
Great story! I loved it.
Note (Not trying to be annoying): The raiders only gave up when the General ran out of water because they never had time to refuel their engine.
Ranked below the greater locomotive chase, but above the lame locomotive chase
I Like trains
*suddenly an ASDF movie drawn train appears, driving over @the-man-of-mystery*
You know, Fuller Chasing the train reminds me of another TH-cam channel i watch, called "history in the dark". He has a running gag of the railway president Alfred e Pearlman, Who was the president of new york central railroad (and the man responsible for there being a lack of preserved steam locomotives from that railroad), Anytime he shows up in a video, The first thing on his mind is Destroying any steam engine He can get his hands on, often screaming "I WANT THAT STEAM ENGINE!!" Of course unlike pearlman, Fuller is trying to save it steam engine, It's not tear it apart with a chain Saw.
As for the movies, The General by Buster Keaton is a great piece of entertainment, but The Great Locomotive Chase by Walt Disney is a much better film. It incredibly shows the events before, during, and after the chase almost 100% accurately, with only a few small liberties. It's an underrated gem of motion picture production.
4:31 - “Oooooohhh, there’s no stopping the Batman!”
"You, all twenty of you, each owe me one hundred Confederate locomotives."
"Sir, I'm pretty sure the South doesn't have that many."
"Then this isn't going to work out very well for us."
The museum that The General is in is in Kennesaw, GA. Pretty cool place, highly recommend if you're ever in the area, went there quite a few times growing up and have taken a few friends there over the years as an adult. There's also a Klan museum around the corner, which I find to be historically important if not the most "professionally" done, and would recommend discretion on whether to go or not, as some of the stuff there can be quite jarring for anyone not prepared for the things there or the people you're likely to interact with while there.
You guys should do a 5-6 episode serious on the invasion of Afghanistan. From the 1977 coup to the withdrawal of Soviet soldiers in 1989.
Great video as always but I have an important question. IS SAM ONELLA UPLOADING ON NEBULA?????
OK, you gotta make a video on the next train heist but this was very successful! The fighting sea bees stole a train in the Korean War and took it back to South Korea. It’s an amazing story. I would love for you guys to make a video on it!
If you all want to learn more, I recommend the book 'Stealing the General' by Russel S. Bonds. It covers the even in great detail, and prisoner escapes, and what happens to the feature players after the war.
That train chase is the most looney toons thing possible lmao
I want to see a full animated movie about this
Yay! Its Time for the Greatest Show is Back!
Fuller had that dawg in em for sure 💀💀💀
This is actually one of my favorite music compositions, I’ve been waiting years for this video
I absolutely love the timing of this. This is the second year where I go to all the Medal of Honor burial sites at the Chattanooga National Cemetery and read off the commendations of the MOH recipient there during memorial day to honor them. This was a wonderful retelling of the valor and bravery these men possessed.
In my town theres a memorial to where the chase ended. Ive even pointed tourists from as far away as england to view it. I pass by it every day on the way to work. Its in Ringgold Ga
I was one of the volunteer who help restored the Texas which is a 4-4-0. The locomotive can't run again due to the boiler is not safe to run.
4:52 its like that dang clip from teen titans go where batman gets blown up, and continues following in something new and more ridiculous
This is so cartoonish. That said, the thing I'm most interested in is those two men who were pressed into an artillery regiment. What happened to them before they managed to defect?
One of the members of this mission wrote a book about it and Walt Disney made a very good film about it, staring Fess Parker
As a huge train buff, this Locomotive Chase is such an amazing history in railroading. It’s also amazing that those engines are preserved as well
Feminds me of the russian driver fruitlessly chasing his armoured vehicle in Ukraine as it was towed by a tractor.
What a coincidence, I’m in Resaca preparing for our annual Civil War reenactment here, and will soon be heading home to Atlanta along the exact route 😂
One of the raiders, Corporal William Henry Harrison Reddick was the 6th man to recieve the MoH and is buried close to my hometown in Iowa
Love your content guys! You always make My day ! Hearth please ❤❤❤❤❤
Ah a wacky heist plot, and wow Bestie Boys reference ( I wonder how many that flew past).
How ironic to be recommended this while being on a train…
I think youtube is trying to tell me something
Fun fact: back in the 1960s, the General locomotive was actually fired up to pull some excursion trains during the 100th anniversary of the Great Locomotive Chase
So this is where Dutch’s obsession of robbing trains comes from
8:54 how could you not mention the most historically accurate war movie of all time!? Dudes!
Even Matt's casual southern accent is till better than Hollywood actors these days :D
4:46 what? Fuller is evolving!
4:53 what? Fuller is evolving!
5:42 what? Fuller is evolving!
The president absolutely watches this show because the two civvies just got their medal
7:05 i can make out the borders of Orange Virginia where i live perfectly thats because the Rapidan River is our northern border and was a decent defensive position during the war as you can clearly see bc it was significant enough to make it on this map
If yall are at all interested look up the video "A Brief History of Orange County, VA"
The channel is History-to-go, its run by the Orange County Historical Society, its a good video
I really hope Fuller shows up randomly running in the background in future episodes
Could you one day make a video about Skanderberg? He’s an Albanian icon and me and my dad would be honoured if you made a video about him.