Background
Daniel A. Dorsey was a member of Andrews' Chattanooga Railroad
Expedition of 1862, a Union Civil War raid. Brig. General Ormsby M. Mitchell,
ordered Union spy, James J. Andrews, to take some men, capture a train, and
isolate Chattanooga by destroying telegraph lines and burning bridges on the
northern section of the Georgia State Railroad and the East Tennessee Railroad
near the Georgia state line. Andrews put together an expedition of 24 (some
sources say 22 men) Union Army volunteers from the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. On
April 12, 1862, disguised as Southerners, they made their way in small groups
to Marietta, Georgia. The men planned to board the train at Marietta and ride
to Big Shanty (now Kennesaw), Georgia, a meal stop without telegraph
communications. Heavy rains delayed them, but they gathered as planned. At Big
Shanty passengers went into the station for breakfast except Andrews and his
men, who left the train from the side opposite the station, dashed to the
engine called "General," uncoupled it, its tender, and three boxcars and drove
off. Wilson W. Brown, acted as engineer, William Knight as Assistant, Alfred
Wilson as fireman, others served as brakemen on top of the cars, while others
were along to blow up bridges and to supply cover fire under attack.