Battle of River’s Bridge

The Confederates led by Colonel George P. Harrison and The Union led by Gen. William
Tecumseh Sherman. Met at River’s Bridge and this is where the battle concluded. River’s Bridge
is located in Bamberg County in South Carolina.Although River’s Bridge was not a large battle,
the Battle at River’s Bridge was significant in that it offered the only true resistance to Sherman’s
March.
To begin,there was little to no resistance towards William T. Sherman’s March in other
places. Sherman’s march is classified to have had more than 1,300 casualties, with the
Confederacy suffering around 2,300 casualties. This is one of the many reasons that there was
little to no resistance against sherman. Another reason is that William T.Sherman was a very
violent man and was responsible for a lot of deaths from Georgia to South Carolina. That was
until Major General George Thomas led troops to River’s Bridge to go up against General
Willliam T. Sherman. Sherman’s march did over $100 million in damage (more than $1.5 billion
in the 21st century).
To continue, the location of the battle was perfect to resist Shermen’s March. A map
shows that before Sherman got to Columbia there was a small area where the Confederacy was
waiting. River’s Bridge was a good place to try and resist Sherman’s March since it was on a
bridge. Since they had no way to go around the confederacy they had to fight. Since Sherman
and his troops were unaware that they were going to have to fight they couldn’t choose a
different route. River’s Bridge was also thin and sitting on the water it could not hold everyone
so it restricted Sherman’s troop from attacking at full force when they saw the Confederacy.
Lastly, even though the confederacy put up a fight they still surrendered. The confederacy
lost the battle and Sherman and his troops kept going. Sherman and his troops first came upon
Columbia,South Carolina and burned everywhere from factories to homes. As Sherman and his
troops left South Carolina they came into Charlotte, North Carolina and burned everything in
their path theri as well. All while the Confederacy was on their tails trying to find a way to stop
them. Eventually after Sherman and his troops left Charlotte, North Carolina, the Confederacy
caught them in Appomattox, Virginia. The Confederacy surrendered to Sherman and his troops.