The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw recently placed on exhibition a second Medal of Honor connected to the Great Locomotive Chase.
Awarded to Wilson W. Brown, a Union soldier and Andrews Raider, the medal is on display next to the Medal of Honor of fellow Andrews Raider John Scott.
Brown was awarded the medal in 1863, for the role he played in seizing the General locomotive on April 12, 1862, as part of a daring bid to destroy the Western & Atlantic Railroad between Atlanta and Chattanooga. The theft kick-started the Great Locomotive Chase.
Credit: hpousner
Credit: hpousner
The Southern Museum has exhibited Scott’s award since 2003.
“To hold in the collection not one, but two of the first Medals of Honor ever awarded is a rare distinction,” curator Jonathan Scott said. “We’re proud to be able to exhibit both of these medals alongside each other and adjacent to the locomotive that their recipients stole in 1862.”
The medals will be on view in the museum’s General Gallery through 2015.
Added Southern Museum executive director Richard Banz, “These Medals of Honor, being among the first ever awarded, commemorate the start of one of the most revered traditions in American military history that still exists today.”
$7.50, $6.50 seniors, $5.50 ages 4-12. 2829 Cherokee St., Kennesaw (exit 273 on Interstate 75). 770-427-2117, www.southernmuseum.org.
