The General- Kennesaw, Georgia

One of the coolest relics of the Civil war, in my opinion, is housed in Kennesaw Georgia.  At the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History you can see "The General."

In April of 1862, James Andrews (a civilian) led a group of Union soldiers to swipe a train from the Kennesaw area, not far from Atlanta.  The plan was to drive it towards Chattanooga, and to do as much damage along the way as possible, in an effort to handicap the Confederates ability to move troops north.

Though they were able to hijack the train, and even to get within 20 miles of Chattanooga, their plan was not a success.  They really had too few participants in the plot, not much time, and the train ran out of gas.

A couple of significant movies have been made about the chase (one staring my favorite actor, Buster Keaton).  It is very hard to imagine a movie about a train chase during the Civil War being made now... unless the trains transformed..... and were sports cars, and not trains.


The main attraction at the museum is easily the General, but there are some great basic displays on the Civil War too, and there is a huge play area for kids.

This area is a bit of a Mecca for Civil War fans.  We had a great time in Kennesaw, Marietta, and at the National Park battlefield.