To further examine this year’s Georgia History Festival theme, “From Marshes to Mountains, Georgia’s Changing Landscape: Geography, History, and Community,” this week’s #MarkerMonday highlights the Western & Atlantic Railroad Tunnel historical marker in Whitfield County. The Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A) was founded on December 21, 1836, as a state railroad that connected Atlanta, then known as Terminus, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. At 137 miles long, the W&A railroad line took a total of thirteen years to construct and cost more than four million dollars at the time. The W&A Tunnel in Whitfield County played a significant role in making the W&A line possible by connecting Atlanta with Chattanooga.
In 1848, the Tunnel Hill community developed as a result of the construction of the W&A Tunnel. The tunnel, completed in 1850, is 1,447 feet long and runs through Chetoogeta Mountain connecting Dalton to Ringgold. It was the first railroad tunnel completed south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Nearly a decade after the W&A Tunnel’s completion, it became part of the infamous Andrews Raid, also known as the Great Locomotive Chase. On April 12, 1862, US civilian scout James J. Andrews, along with about two dozen volunteers from the US Army known as Andrews’ Raiders, stole a train named the General and drove the locomotive 87 miles from Big Shanty (present-day Kennesaw) to Chattanooga. The goal of the raid was to destroy as much of the W&A railroad line as possible and prevent the Confederates from shipping supplies to the Confederate Army in Chattanooga. Andrews and his men were chased by Confederates on foot and by locomotives, and during the chase the General raced through the W&A Tunnel. It was the only locomotive chase to occur during the Civil War.
A few years later in May 1864 Tunnel Hill saw additional action as US General William Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign began along the W&A railroad route. After pushing the Confederate Army out of Tunnel Hill, Sherman established headquarters at the Clisby Austin House. The W&A Tunnel remained in use after the Civil War, until 1928, when a larger tunnel became necessary for larger locomotives. Currently, the W&A railroad line is still owned by the state of Georgia and is leased by CSX Transportation.
Explore the links below to learn more:
Related Marker Monday: The Andrews Raid
New Georgia Encyclopedia - Railroads
New Georgia Encyclopedia – Atlanta Campaign
New Georgia Encyclopedia – Whitfield County
New Georgia Encyclopedia – Andrews Raid
Civil Road Tunnel, Tunnel Hill Heritage Center & Museum
The Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History
American Battlefield Trust – Tunnel Hill
GHS houses several collections related to the Great Locomotive Chase.
Western and Atlantic Railroad of the state of Georgia/compiled by James Houstoun Johnston.
Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor/Russell S. Bonds.
The Georgia Historical Quarterly has published several articles relating to the Civil War, The Western & Atlantic Railroad, and The Great Locomotive Chase, which can be accessed on JSTOR. If your library does not have access to JSTOR, you can go to www.jstor.org and create a free MyJSTOR Account.
Davis, Stephen. “Joel Chandler Harris’s Version of the Andrews Raid: Writing History to Please the Participant.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 74, no. 1 (1990): 99–116. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40582102.
McGuire, Peter S. “THE RAILROADS OF GEORGIA, 1860-1880.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 16, no. 3 (1932): 179–213. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40576203.
Gates, Frederick B. “The Impact of the Western & Atlantic Railroad on the Development of the Georgia Upcountry, 1840-1860.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 91, no. 2 (2007): 169–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40584996.
Plus many others.