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11 Posts in this Thread 20/pg 1 Jump down to your Entry Post into this Thread Shots at the Burnside Bridge[post=56189 /] 534 Views The bridge is bigger than it traditionally appears in photographs. From ohio-state.edu Burnside's Bridge, September 17, 1862 Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside has received much scorn for his decision to have his Ninth Corps charge across the Lower Bridge at Antietam Creek rather than simply ford the stream. "Go and look at it," sniffed Confederate staff officer Henry Kyd Douglas, "and tell me if you don't think Burnside and his corps might have executed a hop, skip, and jump and landed on the other side. One thing is certain, they might have waded it that day without getting their waist belts wet in any place." The chief military obstacle to crossing Antietam Creek, however, is not the creek itself but the steep banks on either side. These would have severely disrupted any Union line of battle, particularly on the far side where the soldiers would have had difficulty clambering out, and the brogans of hundreds of men would quickly have churned the bank into a slippery ooze. In November 1994, twenty-five West Point cadets and their instructors tried crossing Antietam Creek at the point from which this photo was taken (about 75 yards downstream from the bridge). The water at its deepest point was only about three feet deep, but it required fully three minutes for everyone to get on-line and wade to the opposite shore, and a further minute or so to clamber up the far bank. Some cadets had to help their comrades exit the stream, and in general their orderly line evaporated in the course of reaching dry ground. What the experience would have been like, with arms raised to keep cartridge boxes, weapons, and haversacks dry, under a severe small arms fire, with wounded soldiers having to be held above the water or allowed to drown, was sobering to contemplate. The cadets and their instructors concluded that, while Burnside may have erred in his decision to storm the bridge, it was a reasonable course to have taken. Only 500 C Join free for top speed and maximum content.
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Join free for top speed and maximum content. [post=56196 /] 534 Views Great pictures! I really want to go here soon. I especially like picture 11282. The way you focus on the center and the black and white is a good job. I want to get the fishing boots on and take some pictures of under the bridge like we did at the Merryman Project. It looks like you all had a good time. Do let me know next time you go and I'll tag along too. I promise to be real quiet.(yea right). Thanks for sharing,keep coming back! Join free for top speed and maximum content. [post=56203 /] 534 Views
[post=56262 /] 534 Views
I haven't been out to Sharpsburg in too long... maybe next weekend. Join free for top speed and maximum content. [post=56269 /] 534 Views Good pictures. The water level looks low, doesn't it? It took 25 cadets three minutes to wade the creek in 1994. Had someone been shooting at them, their time would have been under 1 minute, I bet. The bridge looks exactly as it does in the old photos. It's a nicely built but modest structure, typically pre-war. By no means could one call it "massive." The open ground to the east made the Union assault on the bridge even harder. No cover. HOWEVER... General Burnside acted reasonably, did he? All these years later, and West Point is still trying to go easy on one of its own! I'm kidding. Nonetheless, Burnside should have acted more aggressively and shown more initiative than he did. Snavely Ford, a couple of miles away, was eventually crossed by units of Burnside's corps, but too late in the day. Had Burnside done a better job reconnoitering the entire length of the creek to his front, he might have discovered Snavely Ford earlier. Or, had Burnside sent his entire command at once across the creek, the Confederates could not have defended against such a sweeping move. Let's face it, in boxing terms, McClellan-Burnside did not make a very potent one-two punch. And in three months, Burnside would show that his uninspired generalship at Antietam was no fluke. Can anybody say, "Fredericksburg"? Join free for top speed and maximum content. [post=56283 /] 534 Views Here's a watercolor painting of Burnside Bridge by a local artist, as well as one of my own photos from last year.
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Beautiful pictures. I was there in 1990 on the way home from a wedding. I was in the area again in 2006, but in a hurry to get to Gettysburg. Sorry I did not stop in. I forgot much about the bridge and area around it. Does it stay open late? As in 10 PM? I may make future plans to visit. Much like Gettysburg of course with its history and strange feelings about it. I have no paranormal pictures though. Join free for top speed and maximum content. [post=59897 /] 534 Views You can get to the bridge after dark. I've never gone then, but I don't think the Park Service at Antietam closes any of its roads at night. If the park-owned road to the overlook is blocked, you can always pull off the public state road (Burnside Bridge Road) several hundred yards north of the bridge, park, and walk to the bridge easily. It's not a nocturnal walk for the faint-hearted (!), but it's doable. Join free for top speed and maximum content. [post=77117 /] 534 Views
See also Re: Hot Antietam 4, July 2007 http://www.eastghost.com/post/77083 Join free for top speed and maximum content. [post=104001 /] 534 Views
Hello: Thank you for the answer to the Burnside Bridge info. My husband and I as empty nesters are seriously considering moving east to the Baltimore area so that we can make nice day trips to Antietam or Gettysburg. We live in the Cincinnati/N KY area and always talk about how we love Gettysburg and the area. I will try Burnside Bridge again and stay longer. Join free for top speed and maximum content.
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