# Burnside's Bridge > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Burnside's_Bridge > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Burnside's_Bridge.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnside's_Bridge > Source revision: 1342757688 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Historic bridge in Maryland, United States For the bridge in Portland, Oregon, see [Burnside Bridge](/source/Burnside_Bridge). Burnside's Bridge Coordinates 39°27′02″N 77°43′55″W / 39.45056°N 77.73194°W / 39.45056; -77.73194 Carries Pedestrians Crosses Antietam Creek Locale Sharpsburg, Maryland Characteristics Design Arch Material Stone History Opened 1836 Location Interactive map of Burnside's Bridge **Burnside's Bridge** is a landmark on the [U.S. Civil War](/source/U.S._Civil_War) [Antietam National Battlefield](/source/Antietam_National_Battlefield) near [Sharpsburg](/source/Sharpsburg%2C_Maryland), northwestern [Maryland](/source/Maryland). Built in 1836, it played a notable role in the [1862 battle](/source/Battle_of_Antietam). ## History ### Construction Seeking to improve connections between roads in [Washington County](/source/Washington_County%2C_Maryland), fourteen bridges were commissioned to be constructed.[*[where?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(geographic_names))*] It is one of five bridges designed by master bridge builder John Weaver, and construction was completed in 1836. It was constructed by local [Dunker](/source/Church_of_God_(New_Dunkers)) farmers. The three-arched, 12-foot (3.7 m)-wide, 125-foot (38 m)-long bridge provided a passageway over [Antietam Creek](/source/Antietam_Creek) for farmers to take their produce and livestock to market in nearby [Sharpsburg](/source/Sharpsburg%2C_Maryland). The bridge's three arches are constructed of locally quarried coursed [limestone](/source/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).[1] 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.[2] ### Battle of Antietam Charge of the [51st New York Infantry](/source/51st_New_York_Volunteer_Infantry) and [51st Pennsylvania Infantry](/source/51st_Pennsylvania_Infantry) regiments across Burnside's Bridge, by [Edwin Forbes](/source/Edwin_Forbes). Crossing over Antietam Creek, the bridge played a key role in the September 1862 [Battle of Antietam](/source/Battle_of_Antietam) during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) when around 500 [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_Army) soldiers from [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)) under General [Robert Toombs](/source/Robert_Toombs) and [Henry Benning](/source/Henry_Benning),[3] for several hours held off repeated attempts by elements of the [Union Army](/source/Union_Army)'s IX Army Corps, whose leader was Major General [Ambrose E. Burnside](/source/Ambrose_E._Burnside), to take the bridge.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] The first attempt was by Colonel [George Crook](/source/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](/source/11th_Connecticut_Infantry_Regiment) found the bridge, and engaged the Georgians under Toombs. After taking heavy casualties, the 11th Connecticut withdrew in all haste.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Finally, the [51st New York Volunteer Infantry](/source/51st_New_York_Volunteer_Infantry) and the [51st Pennsylvania Infantry](/source/51st_Pennsylvania_Infantry), from Brigadier General [Edward Ferrero](/source/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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] ### Landmark 1937 commemorative half dollar After the war, the U.S. government acquired the bridge and adjoining land, now in [Antietam National Battlefield](/source/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](/source/Battle_of_Antietam_half_dollar).[4] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Antietam Battlefield - Burnside Bridge"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120411071631/http://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=59). National Park Service. Archived from [the original](http://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=59) on April 11, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Antietam Battlefield - Burnside Bridge"](https://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=59). National Park Service. Retrieved July 13, 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Damage Them All You Can, p. 176](https://books.google.com/books?id=cB8nxjuHaFMC&pg=PA176) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["1937 Battle of Antietam Half Dollar"](https://coinweek.com/us-coins/1937-battle-of-antietam-half-dollar/). *[CoinWeek](/source/CoinWeek)*. Retrieved April 18, 2022. ## External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Burnside's Bridge](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Burnside%27s_Bridge). - [1862 Americanart.si.edu: photo](http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=34216) - [Historic American Buildings Survey](/source/Heritage_Documentation_Programs#Historic_American_Buildings_Survey) (HABS) No. MD-937, "[Burnside Bridge, Burnside Bridge Road, Sharpsburg vicinity, Washington, MD](https://loc.gov/pictures/item/md1081/)", 2 photos, 3 color transparencies, 3 measured drawings, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages - [Historic American Landscapes Survey](/source/Heritage_Documentation_Programs#Historic_American_Landscapes_Survey) (HALS) No. MD-8, "[Burnside Bridge Sycamore, Southwest of Burnside Bridge Historic Burnside Bridge Road, Sharpsburg vicinity, Washington, MD](https://loc.gov/pictures/item/md1748/)", 3 photos, 1 color transparency, 7 data pages, 1 photo caption page v t e Maryland in the American Civil War Battles Maryland Campaign Antietam Boonsboro Crampton's Gap Folck's Mill Funkstown Hancock Monocacy South Mountain Williamsport Events Baltimore Riot of 1861 Ex parte Merryman Special Order 191 Maryland Constitution of 1864 Miscellaneous "Maryland, My Maryland" Museums Baltimore Civil War Museum National Museum of Civil War Medicine President Street Station Surratt House Museum USS Constellation People Union regiments Confederate regiments Soldiers and civilians Places Antietam Battlefield Bloody Lane Burnside's Bridge Dunker Church Fort Marshall Fort McHenry Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area Loudon Park Cemetery Miller's Cornfield Monocacy Battlefield Point Lookout State Park West Woods --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Burnside's Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnside's_Bridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnside's_Bridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.