Daniel Allen Dorsey

Daniel Allen Dorsey served in the United States Army during the American Civil War and became one of the soldiers associated with the famous Great Locomotive Chase, also known as Andrews’ Raid. At the time of the action for which he received the Medal of Honor, Dorsey was serving as a Corporal in Company H, 33rd Ohio Infantry. He later advanced to the rank of First Lieutenant, which is his highest verified military rank. Dorsey’s military career became closely connected with one of the most unusual Union operations of the war. In April 1862, a small group of Union soldiers and civilians entered Confederate territory in Georgia with a plan to disrupt the Western and Atlantic Railroad, an important transportation route between Atlanta and Chattanooga. The operation became known as Andrews’ Raid after civilian scout James J. Andrews, who led the mission. The raiders traveled deep into Confederate territory in civilian clothes and gathered near Big Shanty, Georgia. Their objective was to seize a locomotive and use it to move north toward Chattanooga while damaging railroad tracks, telegraph lines, bridges, and other infrastructure along the route. The plan depended on speed, surprise, and precise timing. Daniel A. Dorsey was among the Union soldiers who volunteered for this dangerous mission. On April 12, 1862, the raiders seized the locomotive General at Big Shanty while its crew and passengers were away from the train. They then began moving northward along the railroad. As they traveled, the raiders attempted to interfere with Confederate communications and transportation. However, the theft was quickly discovered. Confederate railroad personnel began an extraordinary pursuit using a series of locomotives and other means of transportation. The Union raiders were forced to continue north while being pursued over a long distance. Their efforts to damage the railroad and delay pursuit were only partly successful. Eventually, the General ran out of fuel and could no longer continue. The raiders abandoned the locomotive and scattered in an attempt to escape back to Union lines. Dorsey, like the other members of the expedition, now faced an extremely dangerous situation. They were deep inside Confederate territory, without the protection of a large military force, and Confederate authorities were actively searching for them. Most of the raiders were eventually captured. The Andrews Raiders endured imprisonment under extremely harsh conditions. Some members of the group, including Andrews himself, were executed as spies. Others escaped from prison, while several remained prisoners until they were later released or exchanged. Dorsey survived the ordeal and eventually returned to Union service. His participation in the Great Locomotive Chase became the defining event of his military career. The raid had not achieved all of its original strategic goals, but the bravery of the participants was widely recognized. The operation required the volunteers to travel deep into enemy territory, seize Confederate transportation, attempt sabotage under pursuit, and then survive capture or escape. For his participation in the raid, Daniel Allen Dorsey received the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor had been created during the Civil War as the highest military decoration of the United States. The first Army Medals of Honor were closely connected with the Andrews Raiders. Several members of the expedition became among the earliest soldiers ever to receive the decoration. Dorsey’s own Medal of Honor was presented on September 17, 1863. Because his decoration was issued in 1863, the correct historical version for the final database profile is Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army. No verified clasp, star, bar, oak leaf cluster, or other device is associated with his Medal of Honor. His final verified medal rack should therefore display the Medal of Honor alone. Dorsey’s rank history also deserves careful distinction. At the time of the Great Locomotive Chase, his verified rank was Corporal. Later in his Army service, he reached the rank of First Lieutenant. For the final profile, Rank at Heroic Action should therefore be Corporal, while Highest Rank should be First Lieutenant. This distinction preserves the chronology of his military career and avoids treating his later commissioned rank as if he had already held it during the raid. Dorsey’s unit was Company H, 33rd Ohio Infantry. Although the Great Locomotive Chase itself was not a conventional infantry battle, his historical branch remained the United States Army and his parent unit remained an infantry regiment. The action was a special wartime raid conducted by volunteers drawn from Army units rather than a normal battlefield engagement. Dorsey survived the Civil War and lived for many decades afterward. He remained one of the veterans whose personal experience connected later generations with the extraordinary story of Andrews’ Raid. His later life extended well into the twentieth century. He died on May 10, 1918. Because Dorsey lived beyond 1907, he survived into the period when the Army Civil War Campaign Medal had been established. However, qualifying Civil War service and survival into the medal’s period of existence do not by themselves prove that he personally received or was issued that decoration. Recipient-specific evidence is required before a campaign medal can be included in the final rack. No sufficiently strong individual issuance or medal-roll evidence has been verified for Dorsey. For that reason, the Civil War Campaign Medal remains HOLD and should not be included in his final published medal rack. His final verified medal count therefore remains one. That one decoration is the Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army, awarded in 1863. Daniel Allen Dorsey’s military legacy is ultimately defined by his decision to volunteer for one of the most dangerous and unconventional missions undertaken by Union soldiers during the Civil War. As a Corporal in the 33rd Ohio Infantry, he entered Confederate territory with the Andrews Raiders, participated in the seizure of the locomotive General, took part in the attempt to disrupt Confederate railroad communications, and endured the dangers that followed the raid. His participation required courage before the mission even began. Unlike soldiers advancing as part of a large regiment, the raiders operated far from Union support. If captured, they faced the possibility of being treated not simply as prisoners of war but as spies or saboteurs. The executions of several members of the expedition demonstrated that this danger was very real. Dorsey survived the mission and later continued his military career, eventually reaching the rank of First Lieutenant. His Medal of Honor formally recognized the extraordinary risks he had accepted as part of Andrews’ Raid. For his final hero profile, the essential facts are clear. Daniel Allen Dorsey served in the United States Army. His rank at the Medal of Honor action was Corporal. His highest verified rank was First Lieutenant. His unit was Company H, 33rd Ohio Infantry. His defining action was his participation in the Great Locomotive Chase in Georgia in April 1862. His Medal of Honor was presented on September 17, 1863. The correct final decoration is Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army, with no verified device or clasp. No additional campaign medal should be included without recipient-specific documentary proof. Daniel Allen Dorsey is therefore remembered as a Union soldier, Andrews Raider, and Medal of Honor recipient whose courage during one of the Civil War’s most daring railroad operations secured his place in American military history.