{{short description|Historic bridge in Maryland, United States}} {{For|the bridge in Portland, Oregon|Burnside Bridge}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox bridge | bridge_name = Burnside's Bridge | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Burnside's Bridge, Sharpsburg, MD.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | official_name = | other_name = | carries = Pedestrians | crosses = [[Antietam Creek]] | locale = Sharpsburg, Maryland | owner = | maint = | id = | architect = | designer = | engineering = | design = Arch | material = Stone | length = | width = | height = | mainspan = | spans = | pierswater = | load = | clearance = | below = | life = | builder = | fabricator = | begin = | complete = | cost = | open = 1836 | inaugurated = | toll = | traffic = | preceded = | followed = | heritage = | collapsed = | closed = | replaces = | map_cue = | map_image = | map_alt = | map_text = | map_width = | coordinates = {{coord|39|27|02|N|77|43|55|W|region:US-MD_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | lat = | long = | references = | extra = }} '''Burnside's Bridge''' is a landmark on the [[U.S. Civil War]] [[Antietam National Battlefield]] near [[Sharpsburg, Maryland|Sharpsburg]], northwestern [[Maryland]]. Built in 1836, it played a notable role in the [[Battle of Antietam|1862 battle]].
==History==
===Construction===
Seeking to improve connections between roads in [[Washington County, Maryland|Washington County]], fourteen bridges were commissioned to be constructed.{{where|date=January 2024}}<!--throughout the county? over this creek? and when was the decision made?--> It is one of five bridges designed by master bridge builder John Weaver, and construction was completed in 1836. It was constructed by local [[Church of God (New Dunkers)|Dunker]] farmers. The three-arched, {{convert|12|ft|m|adj=on}}-wide, {{convert|125|ft|m|adj=on}}-long bridge provided a passageway over [[Antietam Creek]] for farmers to take their produce and livestock to market in nearby [[Sharpsburg, Maryland|Sharpsburg]]. The bridge's three arches are constructed of locally quarried coursed [[limestone]], with masonry walls containing the roadbed and surmounted by parapets. The original cost of construction was $3,200 (now between $73,000 and $84,000).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=59 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411071631/http://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=59 | url-status=dead | archive-date=April 11, 2012 | title=Antietam Battlefield - Burnside Bridge | publisher=National Park Service | accessdate=13 July 2013}}</ref>
The bridge has two other names: "Rohrbach's Bridge", after a local farmer, Henry Rohrbach, and "Lower Bridge", which is relative to the Upper Bridge and Middle Bridge located further upstream.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=59 | title=Antietam Battlefield - Burnside Bridge | publisher=National Park Service | access-date=13 July 2013}}</ref>
===Battle of Antietam=== [[Image:Edwin Forbes - The Charge across the Burnside Bridge.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Charge of the [[51st New York Volunteer Infantry|51st New York Infantry]] and [[51st Pennsylvania Infantry]] regiments across Burnside's Bridge, by [[Edwin Forbes]].]] Crossing over Antietam Creek, the bridge played a key role in the September 1862 [[Battle of Antietam]] during the [[American Civil War]] when around 500 [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] soldiers from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] under General [[Robert Toombs]] and [[Henry Benning]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=cB8nxjuHaFMC&pg=PA176 Damage Them All You Can, p. 176]</ref> for several hours held off repeated attempts by elements of the [[Union Army]]'s IX Army Corps, whose leader was Major General [[Ambrose E. Burnside]], to take the bridge.{{citation needed|date = January 2024}}
The first attempt was by Colonel [[George Crook]]'s Ohio brigade, partially supported by Edward Harland's brigade of Rodman's Division, but the Ohioans emerged too far upstream. The [[11th Connecticut Infantry Regiment|11th Connecticut Infantry]] found the bridge, and engaged the Georgians under Toombs. After taking heavy casualties, the 11th Connecticut withdrew in all haste.{{citation needed|date = January 2024}} [[File:BurnsideBridge01a.jpg|thumb|Confederate guns on the hill above poured fire into the Union ranks at Burnside's bridge. Photo taken just after the Battle of Antietam, 1862.]] The second try to carry the bridge was by the 2nd Division's 1st Brigade under James Nagle – the 2nd Maryland & the 6th New Hampshire Infantry rushed to the bridge via a nearby farm road but was stopped by the Georgia sharpshooters before getting halfway to the bridge. Toombs's 450 Georgians held off 14,000 Union attackers.{{citation needed|date = January 2024}}
Finally, the [[51st New York Volunteer Infantry]] and the [[51st Pennsylvania Infantry]], from Brigadier General [[Edward Ferrero]]'s brigade, attacked from the field on the Union side of the creek, stopped briefly at the walls near the bridge to duel with the sharpshooters, and then charged the bridge and seized it, but not before the attack had been delayed for several hours beyond what had been expected.{{citation needed|date = January 2024}}
===Landmark=== [[File:Battle of antietam half dollar commemorative reverse.jpg|thumb|left|1937 commemorative half dollar]] After the war, the U.S. government acquired the bridge and adjoining land, now in [[Antietam National Battlefield]]. Vehicular traffic across the bridge was stopped and the original farm lanes leading to the bridge were allowed to grow over with grass. Foot traffic is still permitted on the structure. It remains as one of the most photographed bridges of the Civil War. In 1937, the bridge was depicted on the reverse of the [[Battle of Antietam half dollar]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://coinweek.com/us-coins/1937-battle-of-antietam-half-dollar/|title=1937 Battle of Antietam Half Dollar|magazine=[[CoinWeek]]|accessdate=18 April 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Burnside's Bridge}} *[http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=34216 1862 Americanart.si.edu: photo] *{{HABS |survey=MD-937 |id=md1081 |title=Burnside Bridge, Burnside Bridge Road, Sharpsburg vicinity, Washington, MD |photos=2 |color=3 |dwgs=3 |data=4 |cap=2}} *{{HALS |survey=MD-8 |id=md1748 |title=Burnside Bridge Sycamore, Southwest of Burnside Bridge Historic Burnside Bridge Road, Sharpsburg vicinity, Washington, MD |photos=3 |color=1 |data=7 |cap=1}}
{{Clear}} {{Maryland in the Civil War}}
[[Category:Landmarks in Maryland]] [[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Washington County, Maryland]] [[Category:Battle of Antietam]] [[Category:Bridges completed in 1836]] [[Category:Tourist attractions in Washington County, Maryland]] [[Category:Road bridges in Maryland]] [[Category:Pedestrian bridges in Maryland]] [[Category:Former road bridges in the United States]] [[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland]] [[Category:Historic American Landscapes Survey in Maryland]] [[Category:1836 establishments in Maryland]]