Bridges, Burnside Bridge, MD
Originally known as the Lower Rohrbach Bridge, this famous bridge was at the heart of the fighting at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. Four hundred Georgia sharpshooters commanded the heights west of the bridge when a corps of Union soldiers, two thousand men, commanded by Union General Ambrose Burnside, attempted to cross the bridge for three hours before finally succeeding. More than 23,000 men were killed, wounded, or missing during this bloodiest day in the history of the American Civil War. After Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia retreated, Union General McLellan failed to pursue them, prolonging the Civil War. After Antietam, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
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