William Pittenger (8/16) Daring And Suffering: A History Of The Great Railroad Adventure

DARING AND SUFFERING: A HISTORY OF THE GREAT RAILROAD ADVENTURE.....
Written a year after the events, this is an eyewitness account of the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862. Early in the American Civil War, in April 1862, Union volunteers led by a civilian, James J. Andrews, conducted a military mission to damage as much of the Western and Atlantic Railroad as possible. The aim was to sabotage the Confederate army. The Union raiders commandeered a train, The General, in Big Shanty, Georgia. Confederate forces quickly gave chase, both on foot and by locomotive. The result of the military raid and its aftermath are detailed in this book.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY.....
William Pittenger (January 31, 1840 - April 24, 1904) was an American soldier during the American Civil War. A member of the Union Army, he was one of the first recipients of the Medal of Honor.
The son of Thomas and Mary Mills Pittenger, Pittenger studied in the county schools until the age of sixteen. On the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted as a private in Company H of the 2nd Ohio Infantry Regiment on April 17, 1861, for three months of service, during which time he participated in the First Battle of Bull Run. He soon re-enlisted in the Army for a three-year term, being mustered in on September 11, 1861, at Camp Dennison, Ohio, and days later joining the reconstituted 2nd Ohio Infantry as a corporal in Company G. Promoted to sergeant on March 13, 1862, Pittenger saw action in Andrews' Raid, also referred to as the Great Locomotive Chase. Captured on April 15, 1862, near Lafayette, Georgia, he escaped execution as a spy and was imprisoned until March 18, 1863, when he was paroled via City Point, Virginia. Following his release and subsequent receipt of the Medal of Honor, Pittenger was promoted to lieutenant and served until impaired health forced him to resign. He was discharged with a disability on August 14, 1863, at Anderson Station, Tennessee. He married Wilhelmina "Winnie" Clyde Osborne of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1864; they had two sons and four daughters.
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