5,000 1,200 Result Union victory | Date 3 February 1865 | |
 | ||
124
(18 killed,
106 wounded) 97
(8 killed,
44 wounded,
45 captured/missing) Location Bamberg County, South Carolina, United States Combatants Confederate States of America, Union Similar American Civil War, Battle of Monroe's Crossroads, Carolinas Campaign, Battle of Simmon's Bluff, Battle of Averasborough | ||
Battle of rivers bridge
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.
Contents
Engagement
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.
Mass Grave
In 1876 men from nearby communities reburied the Confederate dead from Rivers Bridge in a mass grave about a mile from the battlefield and began a tradition of annually commemorating the battle. The Rivers Bridge Memorial Association eventually obtained the battlefield and in 1945 turned the site over to South Carolina for a state park. The site is commemorated by the Rivers Bridge State Historic Site.
Battlefield Condition
Earthworks used by the Confederate defenders are preserved at the historic site. Unfortunately, a portion of the bluff overlooking the river (upon which several Confederate earthworks were located) was significantly altered by the operations of a logging railroad that paralleled the Salkehatchie River during the late 19th Century.
