Knight Panorama--Raiders held in a below-ground room

Section of a panorama painted by Albert Ruger in the 1880's depicting an event known as the "Great Locomotive Chase" or "Andrews Raid." In 1862, Secret Service Agent James J. Andrews lead volunteer Union soldiers, mostly Ohioans, on a mission to steal a Confederate locomotive and drive from the south to the north, destroying the rail lines along the way. The mission failed shortly after it was begun and several of the captured men were hung while others were later exchanged and some escaped. This scene depicts raiders held in a below-ground room. William J. Knight was a private in the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company E, who participated in the raid. Knight escaped and in 1878 he began touring and giving lectures describing the raid. Ruger's panorama accompanied him for more than eighteen years. The panorama is now part of the museum collections of the Ohio Historical Society