The locomotive used during the 1862 train robbery carried out by supporters of the Union. The theft was meant to cripple the Confederacy by damaging the Western and Atlantic Railroad linking Atlanta with Chattanooga.

The locomotive used during the 1862 train robbery carried out by supporters of the Union. The theft was meant to cripple the Confederacy by damaging the Western and Atlantic Railroad linking Atlanta with Chattanooga. / The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History

This year marks 155 years since a daring operation happened in Georgia to try and end the Civil War. A team of Union soldiers planned to steal a train, and destroy railroad bridges, tunnels, and telegraph lines to the South. All of this was a plot to derail the Confederacy. The locomotive captured in that raid is now on display at the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History in Kennesaw. We talked with historian Marc Wortman, who wrote about the train robbery for The Daily Beast.

Tags: Marc Wortman  civil war  Atlanta  Georgia