Mr. Russell Bonds will present "Stealing the General, The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor" to the Washington Civil War Round Table on Monday evening, February 23 at 6:00 p.m. at The Jockey Club restaurant on The Square in Washington, Ga.

Claibourne Darden, Round Table President, says that the public is invited and welcomed. The cost of the meeting is $10 per person and includes a very nice dinner. Please make reservations, as soon as possible, by e-mail at claibourne@dardenatlanta. net or by calling (404)210-5811 and leaving a message.

Mr. Bonds is the author of the book, Stealing the General which describes in detail what is known as Andrew's raid. This book received the 2007 Richard Barksdale Harwell Award for the Best Civil War Book of the Year and is a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, The History Book Club and The Military Book Club. The Wall Street Journal said it was," Masterful... magnificent and definitive."

Mr. Bonds will present the true story of what has been called "the boldest adventure of the Civil War." James Andrews, a union contraband trader, proposed a plan for Federal raiders to go into Georgia near Atlanta, seize a locomotive on the Western & Atlantic Railroad, and go north to Chattanooga burning the bridges behind them. This would isolate Chattanooga from Confederate reinforcement and thereby allow the Union forces advancing from the west to presumably capture it easily.

On the morning of April 12, 1862, the Union raiders took the locomotive, the General. The Confederates did not take the theft of the General lightly. They chased the General, first on foot, and then with three successive locomotives, the last of which was named the Texas. They caught up to the General two miles north of Ringgold. The raiders fled on foot but all sixteen of them were captured within a week. Andrews and seven others were hanged. A number of others escaped from prison and the re- mainder were exchanged in March 1863. A number of the participants in Andrew's raid received the "Medal of Honor", which later became known as the "Congressional Medal of Honor." This is the first time the "Medal of Honor" was ever given.

Mr. Bonds is an honor graduate from Georgia Tech and has a law degree from the University of Georgia. He is currently a lawyer for the Coca- Cola Company.

Mr. Bonds will have copies of his book available at the meeting for those who would want to purchase a personalized copy.

Membership in the Washington Civil War Round Table is open to everyone and new members can join at the meeting.