Battle of Rivers' Bridge

Battle of Rivers' Bridge Part of the American Civil War Charge of Weaver's Brigade Across the Salkehatchie Date February 3, 1865 Location Bamberg County, South Carolina 33°3′10″N 81°5′59″W / 33.05278°N 81.09972°WCoordinates: 33°3′10″N 81°5′59″W / 33.05278°N 81.09972°W Result Union victory Belligerents United States (Union)  Confederate States Commanders and leaders Francis Preston Blair, Jr. John A. Logan Lafayette McLaws Units involved XVII Corps XV Corps Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida Strength 5,000 1,200 Casualties and losses 124 (18 killed, 106 wounded)[1] 97 (8 killed, 44 wounded, 45 captured/missing)[1]

The Battle of Rivers' Bridge, also known as Salkehatchie River, Hickory Hill, Owen's Crossroads, Lawtonville, and Duck Creek, was a Union victory fought on February 3, 1865, during the Carolinas Campaign of the American Civil War.

While Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Union armies marched north across South Carolina, about 1,200 Confederates under Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws were posted at the crossing on the Salkehatchie River. Union soldiers began to build bridges to bypass McLaws on February 2. The next day two brigades under Maj. Gen. Francis P. Blair waded through the swamp and flanked the Confederates. McLaws withdrew toward Branchville after stalling Sherman's advance for only one day and Sherman's forces continued moving north towards the state capital Columbia.

The site is commemorated by the Rivers Bridge State Historical Site.^[2]

Notes

1. The Battle of Rivers Bridge-Reading 2
2. "Rivers Bridge State Historic Site". South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism. Retrieved September 10, 2011.

References

• National Park Service battle description
• The Battle for the Salkehatchie
• These Honored Dead: The Battle of Rivers Bridge and Civil War Combat Casualties, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
• CWSAC Report Update