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Civil War bridge burns again
Commemoration of Gettysburg campaign
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Jun 29, 2013 00:04
Columbia
Originally Published Jun 28, 2013 23:31
By DAN NEPHIN
Staff Writer
[email protected]
As she waited with several friends on the deck of the present Columbia-Wrightsville bridge for the commemoration of the burning of the old Columbia-Wrightsville bridge 150 years ago, Nancy Peterson reflected.
While she's not much of a history buff, she is interested in the Civil War.
She knows the story of the burning of the bridge in 1863 — even if the intent was to destroy a section of it, not the entire structure.
"I though, they cut off their nose to spite their face, but they did it for a good cause," said Peterson, 63, of Manheim Township resident, from her folding chair.
To thwart advancing rebel troops intent on capturing the mile-long covered bridge, a plan was put in place.
Able-bodied men and boys would fight the Confederates until forced back. Then, a 200-foot section of the bridge would be destroyed to keep the Confederates from crossing the river.
Fighting began about 5:30 p.m. June 28, a Sunday. About an hour later, Union Col. Jacob Frick ordered the volunteers to retreat and blow up the bridge section.
Four men, John Q. Denny, John Rich, John Lockard and Jacob Miller, lit the fuses.
The powder exploded, but the bridge remained. The men then used torches, but the flames spread across the wooden structure, burning for four hours.
One man, a black defender, died in the fight and about 16 men were wounded.
Down the bridge a bit from Peterson, as crews began lighting braziers of wood on the piers of the old bridge, David Snyder was talking "what if" with his wife, Rachel.
"I'm a huge Civil War aficionado," said Snyder, 46, who builds sets at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre.
He used to think that, had the Confederates crossed the bridge, the course of the war might have changed. Now, with more reading, he doesn't think that would have been the case.
"For (the Confederates) to have held the bridge would have been a huge endeavor," he said.
While the burning of the bridge gets romanticized, he said the real stories are the saving of Wrightsville from fire and the remarkable stories of student and black brigades who fought the Confederates.
For the rest: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/866903_Civil-War-bridge-burns-again.html
Commemoration of Gettysburg campaign
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Jun 29, 2013 00:04
Columbia
- Expired Image RemovedThe Susquehanna Travellers perform for the crowd at John W...
By DAN NEPHIN
Staff Writer
[email protected]
As she waited with several friends on the deck of the present Columbia-Wrightsville bridge for the commemoration of the burning of the old Columbia-Wrightsville bridge 150 years ago, Nancy Peterson reflected.
While she's not much of a history buff, she is interested in the Civil War.
She knows the story of the burning of the bridge in 1863 — even if the intent was to destroy a section of it, not the entire structure.
"I though, they cut off their nose to spite their face, but they did it for a good cause," said Peterson, 63, of Manheim Township resident, from her folding chair.
To thwart advancing rebel troops intent on capturing the mile-long covered bridge, a plan was put in place.
Able-bodied men and boys would fight the Confederates until forced back. Then, a 200-foot section of the bridge would be destroyed to keep the Confederates from crossing the river.
Fighting began about 5:30 p.m. June 28, a Sunday. About an hour later, Union Col. Jacob Frick ordered the volunteers to retreat and blow up the bridge section.
Four men, John Q. Denny, John Rich, John Lockard and Jacob Miller, lit the fuses.
The powder exploded, but the bridge remained. The men then used torches, but the flames spread across the wooden structure, burning for four hours.
One man, a black defender, died in the fight and about 16 men were wounded.
Down the bridge a bit from Peterson, as crews began lighting braziers of wood on the piers of the old bridge, David Snyder was talking "what if" with his wife, Rachel.
"I'm a huge Civil War aficionado," said Snyder, 46, who builds sets at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre.
He used to think that, had the Confederates crossed the bridge, the course of the war might have changed. Now, with more reading, he doesn't think that would have been the case.
"For (the Confederates) to have held the bridge would have been a huge endeavor," he said.
While the burning of the bridge gets romanticized, he said the real stories are the saving of Wrightsville from fire and the remarkable stories of student and black brigades who fought the Confederates.
For the rest: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/866903_Civil-War-bridge-burns-again.html
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