Wilson W. Brown

U.S. Army
Medal Of Honor, Civil War

 Photo Courtesy of HomeOfHeroes.com

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In April 1862 General Mitchell and General Buell tasked 22 volunteers (including 2 civilians) under the leadership of James Andrews, with a daring raid. The men, later known as "Andrews' Raiders" penetrated 200 miles into enemy territory to capture a railroad train at Big Shanty, Georgia. Their mission was to destroy vital railroad lines and bridges between Chattanooga and Atlanta to disrupt movement of Confederate soldiers and supplies. Only partially successful, their capture of the locomotive "The General" resulted in a nearly 100 mile race that became known as "The Great Locomotive Chase". Private Brown was one of these raiders, traveling in small groups for 4 days to reach Big Shanty and then joining the reunited group in the daring sabotage mission wherein he was one of two who engineered the captured train. In the ensuing race, a limited amount of damage was accomplished to bridges and rail lines, and in the end all members of the Andrew's Raid were captured and confined in Confederate prisons. On June 7th James Andrews was hanged as a spy, and on the 18th seven more raiders (including the civilian members) were hanged. Brown spent more than a year in Confederate prisons.

In the years after the war, Wilson Brown remained friends with fellow raider Jacob Parrott. Edith Gertrude Brown, one of his eight children, subsequently married Jacob Parrott's only son, John Marion Parrott. In the 1950s Disney Studios released the movie "The Great Locomotive Chase" to herald the exploits of the Andrews Raid.

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