President Joe Biden is set to award the Medal of Honor for 'conspicuous gallantry' to two Union soldiers who hijacked a locomotive deep within Confederate territory during the Civil War. They drove it 87 miles north, damaging railroad tracks and telegraph lines along the way. U.S. Army Privates Philip G. Shadrach and George D. Wilson were eventually captured and executed by the Confederates. Now, 162 years later, Biden will posthumously recognize their bravery with the nation’s highest military honour.

This recognition comes as the Civil War's legacy, which claimed over 600,000 lives between 1861 and 1865, continues to influence U.S. politics. In an election year marked by debates over race, constitutional rights, and presidential authority, Biden has often referred to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot as the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War. In contrast, Trump, the leading Republican candidate, recently mentioned the Battle of Gettysburg and Confederate General Robert E. Lee at a Pennsylvania rally.

Shadrach and Wilson’s actions were part of the 'Great Locomotive Chase,' an effort orchestrated by civilian spy and scout James J. Andrews. On April 12, 1862, 22 members of 'Andrews' Raiders' commandeered a train called 'The General' in Marietta, Georgia, sabotaging railway and telegraph lines as they headed north. The hijacking was dramatized in Walt Disney Corp.’s 1956 movie 'The Great Locomotive Chase' and the 1926 silent film 'The General.