Eight days later they were presented the first Medals of Honor. The remaining six languished in a Southern prison until they were paroled in March 1863. Four months later eight escaped from prison. The raid failed, and on June 18, 1862, seven of the raiders were hanged as spies in Atlanta. If successful, they would isolate Chattanooga and facilitate its capture and further Union raids into Alabama. Their goal was to steal a train and head north for Chattanooga, disrupting rail service between the two cities by burning bridges, tearing up track, and cutting telegraph wires. During the evening of April 7, 1862, twenty-four men infiltrated the Confederate lines below Shelbyville, Tennessee, and traveled by separate routes toward Atlanta.
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