City Center in Chattanooga in Hamilton County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Swaim's Jail
Confining Andrew's Raiders
Photographed By Judith Barber, January 14, 2012
1. Swaim's Jail Marker
Inscription.
Swaim's Jail. Confining Andrew's Raiders. Swaim’s Jail, a small two-story brick building set into the side of the slope and surrounded by a high board fence, stood across the street. Confederate authorities held Andrew’s Raiders there after their capture in April 1862. James J. Andrews, 22 soldiers from three Ohio infantry regiments, and a civilian names William Gunter Campbell stole a locomotive called The General of Big Shanty (present day Kennesaw), Georgia and traveled toward Chattanooga. They planned to disrupt Confederate communications by destroying Western and Atlantic Railroad bridges and cutting telegraph wires. Conductor William Allen Fuller led a close pursuit, and the raiders could not carry out their plan. They ran out of fuel north of Ringgold, Georgia, abandoned the engine, fled into the countryside around Chattanooga, and were soon captured. , The raiders were confined in the jail’s basement, only 13 square feet and accessed through a trap door and down a ladder. A raider wrote, “Though the night was cool outside, the heat here was more than that of a tropic noon and the perspiration soon oozed from every pore. The fetid air and the stench made me for a time deadly sick, and worst of all, there was an almost unbearable sense of suffocation.” , A Confederate court found Andrews guilty of spying and hanged him in Atlanta on June 7, 1862. On June 18, seven other raiders were also hanged. Eight others later escaped to the North. The last six raiders were exchanged as prisoners of war on March 17, 1863. Chattanooga National Cemetery contains the 1890 Ohio memorial to Andrew’s Raiders.
Swaim’s Jail, a small two-story brick building set into the side of the slope and surrounded by a high board fence, stood across the street. Confederate authorities held Andrew’s Raiders there after their capture in April 1862. James J. Andrews, 22 soldiers from three Ohio infantry regiments, and a civilian names William Gunter Campbell stole a locomotive called The General of Big Shanty (present day Kennesaw), Georgia and traveled toward Chattanooga. They planned to disrupt Confederate communications by destroying Western and Atlantic Railroad bridges and cutting telegraph wires. Conductor William Allen Fuller led a close pursuit, and the raiders could not carry out their plan. They ran out of fuel north of Ringgold, Georgia, abandoned the engine, fled into the countryside around Chattanooga, and were soon captured.
The raiders were confined in the jail’s basement, only 13 square feet and accessed through a trap door and down a ladder. A raider wrote, “Though the night was cool outside, the heat here was more than that of a tropic noon and the perspiration soon oozed from every pore. The fetid air and the stench made me for a time deadly sick, and worst of all, there was an almost unbearable sense of suffocation.”
A Confederate court found Andrews guilty of spying and hanged him in Atlanta on June 7,
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1862. On June 18, seven other raiders were also hanged. Eight others later escaped to the North. The last six raiders were exchanged as prisoners of war on March 17, 1863. Chattanooga National Cemetery contains the 1890 Ohio memorial to Andrew’s Raiders.
Erected by Tennessee Civil War Trails.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical date for this entry is March 17, 1863.
Location. 35° 3.099′ N, 85° 18.381′ W. Marker is in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Hamilton County. It is in City Center. Marker is on Lookout Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 450 Lookout Street, Chattanooga TN 37403, United States of America. Touch for directions.
View of the historic marker and the background area.
Photographed By Dale K. Benington, August 1, 2012
4. Swaim's Jail Marker
View of the historic marker looking south along Lookout Street.
Photographed By Dale K. Benington, August 1, 2012
5. Swaim's Jail Marker
View of the historic marker looking north along Lookout Street.
Photographed By Dale K. Benington, August 1, 2012
6. Swaim's Jail Marker
View of the backside of the historic marker in the left foreground and the original location of the jail in the background.
Photographed By Brandon Fletcher, July 29, 2010
7. James J. Andrews
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 17, 2012, by Judith Barber of Marietta, Georgia. This page has been viewed 1,252 times since then and 111 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on January 17, 2012, by Judith Barber of Marietta, Georgia. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on September 2, 2012, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio. 7. submitted on August 9, 2015, by Brandon Fletcher of Chattanooga, Tennessee. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.