The General is a type 4-4-0 steam locomotive that was the subject of the Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War The locomotive is preserved at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia , and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Before the Civil War
Built in 1855 by Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson, New Jersey The General provided freight and passenger service between Atlanta, Georgia , and Chattanooga, Tennessee ,before the Civil War on the Western and Atlantic Railroad
Civil War
During the Civil War The General was stolen by Northern spies led by James J. Andrews at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw, Georgia )and abandoned north of Ringgold , after being pursued by William Allen Fuller and the Texas .Low on water and wood, the General eventually lost steam pressure and speed, and slowed to a halt two miles north of Ringgold, where Andrews and his raiders abandoned the locomotive and tried to flee.
Later, the General narrowly escaped destruction when General John Bell Hood ordered the ordnance depot destroyed as he left Atlanta on September 1, 1864