There is a stunning new addition to the corpus of artifacts pertaining to the General and the "Great Locomotive Chase" – the first movie ever made about the famous Civil War Chase is now available on video from the Kennesaw Civil War Museum (home of the General). The silent movie, entitled "Railroad Raiders of ‘62", was made by Kalem in 1911. Two subsequent movies made about the raid, Buster Keaton’s "The General", and Walt Disney’s "The Great Locomotive Chase" have been widely available in recent years, but "Railroad Raiders of ‘62" has been more elusive. It is presented as part of a video collection entitled "Here Comes the General", produced for video by David Shepard. Also included on the video is a 1962 Louisville & Nashville film on the refurbishment of the General, and an abridged version of the Keaton film.
"Railroad Raiders of ‘62" begins with an explanation of how the film was "discovered" in the George Kleine Collection in the Library of Congress in 1958. The film had no main title or other markings. It is quite possible that the complete film has been lost, as the one reel "Railroad Raiders of ‘62" begins and ends rather abruptly. However, enough remains to capture the essence of the famous 1862 raid.
The film starts with a man dressed as a woman flagging down a locomotive. As the locomotive slows, the women "faints" by the side of the tracks. The helpful train crew jumps down to assist "her". The raiders of the title jump out of the bushes and steal the train at gunpoint. As the train speeds away amidst gunfire, the "women" jumps on the train and sheds "her" feminine garments.
The stolen locomotive has no markings, and we never get a side view. However, it is clearly very old (very possibly Civil War vintage), and appears to be a 4-4-0, remarkably similar in appearance to the General. (Of course, "Railroad Raiders of ‘62" was made in 1911, only 49 years after the raid, so it is quite possible that Civil War era locomotives were easily acquired for such movie efforts!) The stolen locomotive pulls a single flat car. The raiders are shown stopping a short time later to rip up a section of track.
The "Confederate engineer" and his train crew pursue the stolen train in a handcar. They find a locomotive on a siding that does not appear to be steamed up. As the crew builds up steam and loads wood into the tender, the Confederate engineer heads to a nearby Confederate camp, to ask for soldiers to pursue the train. His wish is granted. Soldiers and crew clamor aboard the train (which also pulls a single flat car), and the pursuit begins! The pursuing engine is also very possibly of Civil War vintage.
The pursuing Confederates are shown stopping to repair the rail that was pulled up by the raiders. In the longest single scene in the movie, they pull up a rail from behind the train, and carry it around front to repair the gap in the rails. The pursuit continues!
The raiders are next shown stopping for wood. The pursuing locomotive whistle is heard. The raiders jump aboard the stolen train and move forward. At this point, the pursuing train is no more than 100 yards behind. Gunfire breaks out between pursuers and pursued. The raiders uncouple their flat car to slow down the pursuing Confederates. The Confederates slow to couple the flat car onto the front of the engine.
Finally, the stolen train runs out of wood and water, and is abandoned at a road crossing. The pursuing train stops no more than 50 feet behind, and a gun battle ensues. Some of the raiders attempt to escape over a wooden bridge. Several are shot for their efforts. The last two surviving raiders run into a wooden shed or barn. The pursuing Confederates set fire to the structure, and the movie abruptly ends.
While the slightly-under 12-minute film takes some dramatic liberties with the story of Andrews Raiders (no Lacy Hotel, no three box cars on the stolen train, one pursuing locomotive instead of two etc.), there are a number of very realistic elements. As already mentioned, the locomotives are the correct type, and date from the correct period.
Elements that are especially true to the original raid include the pulling up of a rail and the uncoupling of a car to slow the pursuers, the pursuit by handcar and locomotive by the Confederate train crew, and the abandoning of the stolen train when it runs out of water and wood. Hardly a documentary, but a reasonable facsimile of the original raid. (Even the terrain in which the movie was filmed has a Georgia feel to it!) The print of the film is also in excellent condition.
The availability of this film on video is an important addition to the story of the General and the Great Locomotive Chase.