The General is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman. The film is based on the Great Locomotive Chase, a true story about an event during the American Civil War. The story follows Johnnie Gray, a train engineer who is rejected from enlisting in the Confederate Army because he is deemed more valuable as an engineer. However, when his beloved locomotive, "The General," is stolen by Union spies with his girlfriend on board, Johnnie sets out on a daring mission to rescue both his train and his love.