The "General" Stamp

On July 28, the U.S. Postal Service released a new booklet of 29-cent stamps that featured five different famous steam locomotives. First day of issue ceremonies were held in Charma, New Mexico, location of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, the longest and highest narrow-gauge railroad currently operating in the U.S.

The five locomotives in the set are the General, the Jupiter, Eddy's No. 242, Ely's No. 10, and Buchanan's No. 999. Of these, the oldest and most recognized is the General. The stamp shows a polished version of the locomotive, along with the caption "Hudson's General" and "1855, 1870." Actually, a more accurate caption would read "Rogers' General," because it was the famous locomotive builder Thomas Rogers who designed the General. William Hudson was the shop superintendent at the locomotive works of Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson, New Jersey.

The General was built for Georgia's Western & Atlantic Railroad, which connected the future site of Atlanta with Chattanooga. It was on this rail line that the General was involved in what became known as "The Great Locomotive Chase" in April 1862. [Click here for the story of the General and the chase.]

Since 1972, the General has been housed at the Kennesaw Civil War Museum. There, on July 29, 1994, special second-day-of-issue ceremonies for the new General stamp were staged in cooperation with the U.S. Postal Service [see cancel and souvenir cover]. Among those on hand for the celebration was then-museum director Cathy Fletcher, the driving force behind the Postal Service's decision to honor the General with a stamp.

(c) Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of Georgia

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Go to Story of the General page

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