Battle of Rivers' Bridge

Battle of Rivers' Bridge
Part of the American Civil War
Charge of Weaver's Brigade Across the Salkehatchie
Date February 3, 1865 (1865-02-03) Location Bamberg County, South Carolina 33°3′10″N 81°5′59″W Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Francis Preston Blair, Jr. John A. Logan	Lafayette McLaws
Units involved
XVII Corps XV Corps	Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida
Strength
5,000	1,200
Casualties and losses
124 (18 killed, 106 wounded)	97 (8 killed, 44 wounded, 45 captured/missing)

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 towards the state capital Columbia.

The site is commemorated by the Rivers Bridge State Historical Site.

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
• CWSAC Report Update