James J. Andrews and William H. Campbell Congressional Gold Medal Act

(1) James J. Andrews was born in Holiday’s Cove, Virginia (now Weirton, West Virginia), in 1829. He eventually moved to Kentucky. During the Civil War, Andrews served as a civilian spy for the Union Army and was the leader and organizer of Andrews’ Raiders.

(2) William Hunter Campbell, born in Carroll County, Ohio, on September 9, 1839, was a unique addition to the raid. In 1862, he was visiting friends with the 2d Ohio Infantry in Kentucky when he was unexpectedly recruited for a daring mission.

(3) On March 25, 1862, James J. Andrews developed a plan to cut off the Western and Atlantic Rail Line supply line from Marietta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to allow the Union Army to attack and occupy the city. Andrews presented the plan to General Buell and General O.M. Mitchell, commanding the Union Army in North Alabama. The plan was accepted, and Andrews gathered 22 Union soldiers from 3 Ohio Regiments (2d Ohio Infantry, 21st Ohio Infantry, 33d Ohio Infantry). The plan was to work from northern Alabama in small groups, dressed in civilian clothes, and reach Marietta, Georgia, to gather and steal a train. They were to run the train toward Chattanooga, cut the telegraph lines, tear up railroad tracks, and, if possible, burn the bridges. This would cut off all troop movement and supplies from getting to Chattanooga. The capture of Chattanooga early in the war would cut off essential supplies and food from getting up to Virginia and the Confederate Army there.

(4) On April 12, 1862, 24 volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J. Andrews, commandeered a Confederate locomotive named the General outside of Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw), and took it northward toward Chattanooga, Tennessee, doing as much damage as possible to the vital Western and Atlantic Railroad line as they went. Out of fuel, Andrews and his men abandoned the locomotive and scattered into the woods before being captured by Confederate troops.

(5) All captured were put on trial and convicted for acts of unlawful belligerency or being unlawful combatants and spies. Shortly after that, Andrews and 7 of the Raiders were executed by hanging, with the remaining held as prisoners-of-war. Andrews’ body was taken down from the scaffold and buried. On October 16, 1887, his remains were recovered and taken to their final resting place at Chattanooga National Cemetery.

(6) William H. Campbell was hung with 6 of the military men on June 18, 1862. In April 1866, these men were relocated and interred in Chattanooga National Cemetery.

(7) On March 25, 1863, 6 members of Andrews’ Raiders were awarded the first Medals of Honor in our Nation’s history. Ultimately, 21 of the 24 members of Andrews’ Raiders would receive the Medal of Honor for their actions on that day. On July 3rd, 2024, President Biden awarded the most recent Medals of Honor to members of Andrews’ Raiders, stating Their heroic deeds went unacknowledged for over a century, but time did not erase their valor.

(8) Chattanooga, Tennessee, is recognized as the birthplace of the Medal of Honor.

(9) In 1956, Walt Disney made a movie about Andrews’ Raiders’ exploits called The Great Locomotive Chase, starring Fess Parker as Andrews. Buster Keaton's 1927 feature-length comedy masterpiece The General was loosely based on the incident.

(10) Today, the hijacked locomotive, General, is on display at The Southern Museum in Kennesaw, Georgia. Texas, the locomotive used to give chase, is on display at the Atlanta History Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

(11) The civilians of the Andrews’ Raiders, James J. Andrews and William Hunter Campbell, acted with extraordinary bravery and unwavering devotion to their Nation as they attempted to turn the tide of the Civil War.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design collectively in commemoration of James J. Andrews and William H. Campbell, in recognition of their extraordinary bravery and steadfast devotion to the Nation during the Civil War as the only civilian members of Andrews’ Raiders, who launched a daring military raid that became known as the Great Locomotive Chase.

For the purposes of the presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the Secretary) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary.

Following the award of the gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be available for display as appropriate and made available for research.

It is the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution shall make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) available for—

(A) display, particularly at the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Museum; and

(B) loan, as appropriate, so that the medal may be displayed elsewhere.

Medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under this Act.

Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.