A telling of the great Andrews raid during the Civil War, stealing a Confederate train and trying to take it back to Union lines, as told by one of the participants. It was written during the latter part of the war, and not only includes the raid itself, but the author's experiences both on the way to the raid, and later as a prisoner following his capture after the failure of the raid. There is also mention of the execution of seven members of the raiding party, including James Andrews, the raid's leader. This story was made into a movie at least twice, the first being the silent film "The General", starring Buster Keaton, and a later version.