There being no Internet possible at our campground in Carrol County, Georgia, I’m typing yesterday’s blog into Microsoft Word. Tomorrow, if the creeks don’t rise and we get closer to a cell tower, I’ll paste the blog contents into Blogspot, and you won’t miss any of the exciting adventures of the Happy Wanderers.
This morning our plans called for visiting a very large pile of dirt made by a tribe of prehistoric Indians. From our camp in Perry, Georgia, we had to drive about thirty-five miles north to the outskirts of Macon, Georgia, then head east on the Interstate 75 business bypass to the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park.
Though the traffic was hair-raising in Macon, we actually found our way to the Park without any real difficulty, other than the need to transit several miles of construction chaos. It was when we finally pulled off the neighborhood surface street and entered the park that our problems began in earnest.
At first we motored along a beautiful winding road with nothing but a leafy forest full of fall colors flanking the grounds. Rounding a curve we came upon a sign announcing that the “Visitor Center” was just ahead. When we reached the visitor center, we entered the parking lot and almost immediately had to stop.
Though the parking lot could have accommodated our rig if we used about four normal car spaces, there weren’t many normal car spaces available. Nearly every space was taken by either cars or a very large school bus. Even more depressing, two more school buses were parked on the exit road to an extent that insufficient room was left for a large vehicle to pass.
We thought briefly about trying to squeeze in behind either the bus parked across a half dozen car spaces, or behind the other two buses parked illegally in the exit. But in the end, we decided to just skip the Visitor Center and go visit the mound that purportedly was located further down the road.
Of course we were actually unable to leave because the two illegally-parked buses had blocked the exit. Throwing caution to the wind, we just rolled up on the lawn adjacent to the exit road and passed the buses that way.
At that point all did not appear to be lost, for just ahead lay the mound and we could perhaps catch the Visitor Center on our return trip when the children had left.
Imagine our surprise when a couple of minutes later we rounded and curve and were confronted with a sort of medieval castle portal, round in shape, through which we were expected to drive. Had our rig been shaped like an Oscar Meyer hot dog that idea might have worked. As it was, the rig was shaped more like a large block of cheese, and we suspected that we’d probably lose valuable sheet metal if we tried to squeeze through the round portal.
Now that the disappointment with the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park was complete, we jockeyed the rig this way and that way until we had turned completely around on the two-lane road, then we said adieu to the unseen mound of dirt and made our way back to the Park entrance.
Thankfully, when we rejoined the Interstate 75 business loop, we didn’t encounter much in the way of construction, and soon we rejoined the main Route 75 component and were headed for Atlanta just ninety minutes away.
Our next intended visit, as well as our lunch stop, was to be the Civil War and Railroad Museum in Kennesaw, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. In this endeavor we were much more lucky. Though we at first entered the wrong parking lot located next to the museum, we eventually noticed that a much larger parking area lay just across the street where we had the most elegant and level spot waiting for us.
Within minutes we were standing at the ticket counter just chaffing at the bit to get a look at their most treasured possession, a 1850s vintage locomotive called "The General" which was used during the Civil War
The General was built in 1855 by Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in New Jersey. The engine represented the now classic 4-4-0 wheel arrangement, meaning four smaller leading truck wheels, and four large drive wheels. She was a wood-burner and as such sported what was called a ‘balloon smokestack’ that included a mesh over the opening to discourage cinders being spread around the right-of-way.
The General spent its life on the 138-miles of rail between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia. The line was known as the Western and Atlantic and was constructed in 1836.
In January, 1856, the General was put into service hauling freight on the W&A and would eventually also earn its keep in passenger service. But the General would enter history as perhaps the most famous steam engine in America because of an incident that occurred on April 12, 1862.
On that day, 20 union soldiers and civilians, passing themselves off as southerners, infiltrated the Confederate lines, stole aboard a combination freight and passenger train pulled by the General, unhooked the passenger cars, and made off with the rest of the train.
The train had been stopped for a brief time to afford passengers an opportunity to grab a bite of breakfast before the train was on its way. So it was that the assembled passengers and crew of the Western & Atlantic were shocked as they suddenly saw their train pull out of the station and speed away.
The station where the General and her train of freight cars was stolen was in the town of Big Shanty, which was located directly across the street from the museum where the General is currently housed.
Most of the crew and passengers were so startled that they just stood and watched as the train pulled away from the station. But two men, conductor William A. Fuller and railroad Superintendent of Motive Power, Anthony Murphy set out on foot to catch the speedily departing train.
The Union raiders were supremely confident that if they stole the train, then cut the telegraph wires along the line to prevent the authorities telegraphing ahead to stop them, they could damage the rail line as they went without fear of apprehension.
Unfortunately, the raiders hadn’t counted on Fuller and Murphy. The two southern railroad men pursued the stolen train on foot, then with a barrowed handcar, and finally with three different locomotives over the 87 miles of the rail line until they eventually caught up with the fleeing raiders.
Though the raiders were somewhat successful in their cutting of the telegraph lines and tearing out rails, the constant pursuit by Fuller and Murphy unnerved them to the point that they simply couldn’t do the job that they had set out to do.
In the end, the raiders were caught to a man, and eventually suffered imprisonment or death by hanging. However, eight of the raiders did manage to escape imprisonment and make it back to Union lines. Six were eventually involved in a prisoner exchange. But James J. Andrews, the leader, and seven more of the raiders were hanged.
In modern times, the Andrews Raid has been portrayed in several films. The first film was known as “Railroad Raiders of ’62.” The second film stared Buster Keaton and was simply called “The General.” The third, and perhaps most famous of the films, was produced by Walt Disney and was called “The Great Locomotive Chase,” starring Fess Parker.
For my part, I have wanted to see the famous locomotive for many, many years. I traveled to the Atlanta area in the latter 1980s but missed seeing it. Concetta and I visited Atlanta in 2016, but we missed seeing it then as well. Additionally, I’ve never been able to see The Texas, which is the Western & Atlantic locomotive that Conductor Fuller and Superintendent Murphy were using in pursuit when they finally caught up with the General. The Texas resides in the Atlanta History Museum and was not on display when we visited there in 2016. Now that we've seen The General, perhaps a visit to Atlanta to see The Texas will someday be possible.
After our visit to the Kennesaw Museum, we traveled south and west toward Interstate 20 where we hoped to find a camp for the night. Though we arrived a bit late, we managed to find a very nice camp on a wooded hillside in the John Tanner Park in Carrollton, Georgia. Amazingly, our campsite was competely level, and the nearby neighbors welcomed us with smiles and waves. And though a little partying went on in the early evening at the neighbor's rig, by bedtime the camp had become one of the most quiet that we have experienced.
And when you hit the road on your own camping adventures, we wish you exiting adventures of your own. Ciao!
