BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack)

MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack):

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Slide Show: Want to see the pictures as a slide show? [Slideshow]

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] ANTILO_120303_001.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[2] ANTILO_120303_002.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[3] ANTILO_120303_006.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[4] ANTILO_120303_008.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[5] ANTILO_120303_014.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[6] ANTILO_120303_017.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[7] ANTILO_120303_019.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[8] ANTILO_120303_022.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[9] ANTILO_120303_028.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[10] ANTILO_120303_031.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[11] ANTILO_120303_040.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[12] ANTILO_120303_041.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[13] ANTILO_120303_046.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[14] ANTILO_120303_048.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[15] ANTILO_120303_051.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[16] ANTILO_120303_054.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[17] ANTILO_120303_057.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[18] ANTILO_120303_060.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[19] ANTILO_120303_065.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[20] ANTILO_120303_070.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[21] ANTILO_120303_072.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[22] ANTILO_120303_087.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[23] ANTILO_120303_089.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[24] ANTILO_120303_095.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[25] ANTILO_120303_098.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[26] ANTILO_120303_105.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[27] ANTILO_120303_110.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[28] ANTILO_120303_114.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[29] ANTILO_120303_117.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[30] ANTILO_120303_120.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[31] ANTILO_120303_123.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[32] ANTILO_120303_134.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[33] ANTILO_120303_137.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[34] ANTILO_120303_147.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[35] ANTILO_120303_161.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[36] ANTILO_120303_212.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. ANTILO_120303_017.JPG: A Crucial Crossing, a General's Namesake, a Battlefield Icon Known at the time of the battle as the Rohrbach or Lower Bridge, this picturesque crossing over Antietam Creek was built in 1836 to connect Sharpsburg with Rohrersville, the next town to the south. It was actively used for traffic until 1966 when a bypass enabled the bridge to be restored to its 1862 appearance. For more than three hours on September 17, 1862, Confederate Gen. Robert Toombs and fewer than 500 Georgia soldiers manned this imposing position against three Federal assaults made by Gen. Ambrose Burnside's much larger Ninth Corps. Confederate General James Longstreet wrote of the action, "Gen. Toombs held the bridge and defended it most gallantly, driving back repeated attacks, and only yielded it after the force brought against him became overwhelming and threatened his flank and rear." About 1:00 p.m., with Union soldiers crossing downstream and another attack made on the bridge, Toombs and his men had to retreat. However, the strong delaying action provided much needed time to allow Gen. A.P. Hill's Confederate soldiers, marching from Harpers Ferry to arrive on the field.
2. ANTILO_120303_019.JPG: Repulsed Again and Again Gen. David R. Jones, Longstreet's Command (1) Throughout the early hours of the battle, Confederate Gen. Lee moved soldiers from this part of his line north toward the Cornfield and the West Woods. This shift resulted in one division, numbering about 3,000 men and commanded by Gen. David R. Jones, holding the southern end of Lee's line. (2) Fewer than 500 Confederate troops, commanded by Gen. Robert Toombs, lined Antietam Creek from this point southward to Snavely Ford. Col. Henry Benning commanded the men that were here guarding the bridge. A Union soldier, who attempted to cross the span, remembered that the Confederates "were snugly ensconced in their rude but substantial breastworks, in quarry holes, behind high ranks of cordwood, logs, stone piles, etc." (3) At about 9:30 a.m., the first of three major Federal assaults to take the bridge moved forward. The first attack, Toombs reported, "was repulsed with great slaughter and at regular intervals ... other attempts of the same kind, all of which were gallantly met and successfully repulsed..." After defending the area for over three hours, the Confederates began to run low on ammunition. (4) A Union division, commanded by Gen. Isaac P. Rodman, moved downstream in an attempt to ford the Antietam. The combination of Rodman's troops crossing Snavely Ford on their flank, depleted ammunition, and a third Federal assault toward the bridge, eventually forced Toombs' men from their overlook. At about 1:00 p.m. the Confederates pulled back toward the Harpers Ferry Road to await the final Union attack. Confederate Defenders Gen. David R. Jones This thirty-seven year old graduate of West Point was the division commander responsible for the Confederate right flank. He wrote that "on that morning my entire command of six brigades comprised only 2,430 men, the enormous disparity of force with which I contended can be seen." Jones' soldiers killed his brother-in-law, Col. Henry Kingsbury, who led the first Union attack on the bridge. Jones died four months after the battle from heart disease. Gen. Robert A. Toombs Fifty-two year old Toombs was a U.S. Congressman and Senator from Georgia. He served briefly as Confederate Secretary of State before resigning to take a military command. Toombs wrote in his official battle report that "the enemy were compelled to approach mainly by the road which led up the river for near 300 paces, parallel with my line of battle... exposing his flank to a destructive fire for most of that distance." Col. Henry L. Benning Nicknamed the "Rock," Benning was a lawyer, legislator, and justice on the Georgia Supreme Court before the war. Forty-eight years old at Antietam, Col. Benning commanded the troops defending the bridge. He stated: "During that long and terrible fire not a man, except a wounded one, fell out and went to the rear - not a man. The loss of the enemy was heavy. Near the bridge they lay in heaps." Fort Benning in Georgia is named for him. Bridge of Destiny Approximate Time of Action: 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Approximate Number of Soldiers engaged: Union 5,200 Confederate 500 Total 5,700 Approximate Number of Casualties for Each Army: Union Army of the Potomac 500 killed, wounded, missing Confederate Army of Northern Virginia 120 killed, wounded, missing
3. ANTILO_120303_054.JPG: We Showered the Lead Across that Creek -- Lt. George W. Whitman, 51st New York Infantry At 10:00 a.m., as the fighting raged as the Sunken Road, Ninth Corps commander Gen. Ambrose Burnside received orders to begin his attack against the Lower Bridge and the right flank of Lee's army. Recognizing the great difficulty in successfully carrying the bridge by a direct, frontal attack, Burnside sent Gen. Isaac Rodman with 3,200 soldiers downstream. These troops were to cross Antietam Creek and outflank the Confederate troops in position on the high bluffs on the west side of Antietam Creek. While Rodman's men moved south, smaller attacks were sent against the bridge. Over the course of the next three hours, at least three separate attacks were launched against the bridge, each one resulting in heavy loss. (1) The first attack on the bridge started at 10:00 a.m. and was led by the 11th Connecticut Infantry followed by Crook's Brigade. Col. Crook advanced his men and mistakenly ended 300 yards upstream pinned down by Confederate fire. This uncoordinated first assault was just one example of how confusion, difficult terrain, and Confederate firepower broke down the Union attacks. (2) Closely following Crook's attempt, Gen. Nagle's Brigade was ordered forward at 11:00 a.m. They too were pinned down by the well concealed Confederates. (3) The third, and eventually successful, attack on the bridge was made by Gen. Ferrero's veteran brigade. The 51st New York and the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments, with about 650 men, charged down the hill directly toward the bridge. At first the Confederate resistance was still strong enough to force them to a halt, but with ammunition running low and Rodman's men finally crossing downstream, Toombs' men retreated and Union soldiers finally captured this crucial Antietam crossing at about 1:00 p.m. Before the battle the bridge was known as the Rohrbach Bridge. The armies referred to it as the Lower Bridge. After the battle it was renamed after Gen. Ambrose Burnside who commanded the soldiers that fought so desperately to cross it. This sketch was originally created by prominent Civil War artist Edwin Forbes.
4. ANTILO_120303_057.JPG: Bridge of Destiny "I do not know the name of the creek, but I have named it the creek of death. Such a slaughter I hope never to witness again." Pvt. George Lewis Bronson, 11th Connecticut Infantry A Divided Nation - A Divided Family Union Col. Henry W. Kingsbury (left) and Confederate Gen. David R. Jones (right) married sisters Eva and Rebecca Taylor. At Antietam, Col. Kingsbury, described as a "brilliant, honorable and brave soldier," commanded the 11th Connecticut Infantry that made the first attack on Burnside Bridge. Gen. Jones was nicknamed "Neighbor" Jones for his friendly, outgoing personality. Gen. Jones and the soldiers of his division defended the bridge. While leading his men, Col. Kingsbury was wounded four times, "suffered great pain during the dressing of his wounds, and survived but twenty-four hours." For months later, Jones, whose soldiers had killed his brother-in-law, died of a heart attack at age thirty seven. Bodies of the men who died attacking the bridge were initially buried along this wall until they were later reinterred. Many of the headstones were simply planks ripped from the Burnside Bridge.
Multi Column: Number of columns of thumbnails to appear per page (normally defaults to 3): [1 col] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack)) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2019_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (43 photos from 2019)
- 2017_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (20 photos from 2017)
- 2016_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (37 photos from 2016)
- 2013_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (64 photos from 2013)
- 2011_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (2 photos from 2011)
- 2009_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (21 photos from 2009)
- 2008_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (30 photos from 2008)
- 2006_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (1 photo from 2006)
- 2005_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (22 photos from 2005)
- 2004_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (18 photos from 2004)
- 2002_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (7 photos from 2002)
- 1999_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (68 photos from 1999)
- 1998_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (5 photos from 1998)
- 1997_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (77 photos from 1997)
- 1992_MD_Antietam_Lower: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge/Flank Attack) (6 photos from 1992)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(NPS) Antietam Natl Battlefield] [Display ALL (NPS) Antietam Natl Battlefield photos] [Civil War] [Park (National Park Service)]
2012 photos: Equipment this year: My mainstays were the Fuji S100fs, Nikon D7000, and the new Fuji X-S1. I also used an underwater Fuji XP50 and a Nikon D600. The first three cameras all broke this year and had to be repaired. Trips this year: three Civil War Trust conferences (Shepherdstown, WV, Richmond, VA, and Williamsburg, VA), a week-long family reunion cruise of the Caribbean, another week-long family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells (with lots of in-transit time in Ohio and Indiana), and my 7th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including side trips to Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon, etc). Ego strokes: I had a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post. I had a photograph of the George Segal San Francisco Holocaust memorial used as the cover of Quebec Francais (issue 165). Not being able to read French, I'm not entirely sure what the article is about but, hey! And I guess what could be considered to be a positive thing, my site is now established enough that spammers have noticed it and I had to block 17,000 file description postings for Viagra and whatever else.. Number of photos taken this year: just below 410,000.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Limiting Text: You can turn off all of this text by clicking this link: [Thumbnails Only]
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].