Battle of Rivers' Bridge

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Battle of Rivers' Bridge Part of the American Civil War Date February 3, 1865 Location Bamberg County, South Carolina Result Union victory Belligerents United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy) Commanders Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Lafayette McLaws Strength 5,000 1,200 Casualties and losses 124 (18 killed, 106 wounded)[1] 97 (8 killed, 44 wounded, 45 captured/missing)[2]

v • d • e Carolinas Campaign Rivers' Bridge – Wyse Fork – Monroe's Cross Roads – Averasborough – Bentonville

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 into North Carolina.

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[edit] 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