The Burning Bridge

The Ruins of the Columbia Wrightsville Covered bridge. I'm standing on one of the original piers for the bridge in addition to the other 25 as they cross the river. This almost mile long covered bridge was burned in 1863 to stop the advancement of the south's march on Lancaster. Look at the overhead photos on any of the map links and you'll see the other remaining remains of the bridge foundations. Next to these are the older replacement bridge and further upriver is the newest highway bridge.

Bio info:

By late June 1863, the Confederate Army had invaded Pennsylvania. After capturing York, the Rebels planned to take the state capital, Harrisburg, and possibly Philadelphia. To get there, they would need to cross the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville. Pennsylvania militiamen from Columbia, on the Lancaster County side of the river, vowed to block the Confederate advance. Union troops retreating from York joined them, as did a company of African American militiamen, the first Black troops from Camp William Penn. In all, they mustered fewer than 1,500 men.

When Confederate Brigadier General John Brown Gordon arrived on June 28 with approximately 1,800 troops, the Federals were waiting in their entrenchments. The Rebels opened up with artillery fire, and the Union position rapidly became untenable. The Federals decided to retreat to Columbia and blow up a section of the over mile-long bridge behind them, denying the Rebels access to Lancaster. The explosion failed to destroy the bridge, so the order to burn it was given. As the Confederates surged forward, the bridge erupted in flames. Gordon's men worked for hours to extinguish the blaze. They kept Wrightsville from going up in smoke, but the bridge, financed by the First National Bank of Columbia, was destroyed. Gordon's brigade was recalled to York the next day. The Pennsylvania militia had saved Lancaster.

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USA-Canada / USA-Pennsylvania

Lat: 40° 1' 53.8" N
Long: 77° 31' 36.07" W

Elevation: 210 ft

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

Canon 4TI, costal optics lens and rotator, pano2vr, PTGui, photoshop,