The Ohio Memorial

THE OHIO MEMORIAL

Out of this service grew an active movement to build a suitable memorial to Andrews Raiders. Within Post 45, a committee of five was appointed as a standing "Andrews Monument Committee." Major C.W. Norwood was chairman of this committee, and his efforts culminated in action by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio about three years later. That body, on March 20, 1889, passed a law authorizing the expenditure of $5,000 for a monument to the Andrews Raiders to be erected in the National Cemetery at Chattanooga. The design finally chosen called for a miniature of the General to be cast in bronze to surmount a Vermont marble pedestal nine feet, six inches long; five feet, three inches wide; and seven feet, six inches high; the whole to be twelve feet from the ground. The monument was unveiled on Memorial Day, May 30, 1891, and the speaker for the occasion was J.R. Foraker, former Governor of Ohio and later Senator from that State.

Another interesting coincidence comes to light here. Governor Foraker was a first cousin of Captain Green J. Foreacre, CSA, who was Provost Marshal of the Military Post of Atlanta in June, 1862, and who had been in charge of the execution of the seven raiders. The two cousins did not see eye to eye on many things including the spelling of the family name!

The likeness of the General which stands atop this beautiful monument is not that of the 1860's when the balloon stack prevailed and wood was the fuel. Rather the likeness is of the 1880's when that most colorful part of the steam locomotive had been replaced by a functional straight diamond shaped stack more suitable for the burning of coal.

Inscribed on the sides of this monument are the names of the raiders and the organizations in which they served. The names of two are missing: James Smith and Samuel Llewellyn.

The year 1897 recorded the death of the first major participant on the Confederate side, Jeff Cain, the engineer of the General. He lies buried in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. His tombstone bears the following inscription, indicating that someone failed to get the facts of the raid straight before undertaking such a lasting task.

Jeff Cain

The historic engineer of the W&ARR manned the famous "General" on the thrilling war time run. It was he who drove the locomotive in the historic chase of the Andrews raiders, May 12, 1862.

In 1903, William H. Reddick died in Letts County, Iowa, and his tombstone states he was a "Member of the Andrews Raiders." In 1904, at Fallbrook, California, William Pittenger died and was buried with this notation on his gravestone, "One of the Andrews Raiders." He was the man who had done so much to record the actions of the Raiders and who had gone on to lead a very successful life in the ministry.