Capturing a Locomotive: A History of Secret Service in the Late War.

In March 1862, deep in Confederate territory, a handful of Union soldiers embarked on a mission that would become legend. William Pittenger, who actually participated in the raid, writes with the authority of a man who lived through hell: the daring attempt to steal the Confederate locomotive "The General," destroy rail lines critical to the South's supply chain, and slip back behind Union lines. The plan was audacious, the odds catastrophic. What follows is a minute-by-minute account of espionage, desperate courage, and the brutal mathematics of war where capture meant execution as a spy. Pittenger captures not just the mechanical excitement of the chase itself but the far more interesting human drama: the fellowship between men who volunteered for what they knew might be a one-way mission, the creeping dread as the net tightened, and the strange honor of men who chose duty over survival. Written in 1880, just fifteen years after the events, this is history told by someone who was there.