Eleven years after the battle of Rivers Bridge,
a group of local young men formed the Rivers
Bridge Confederate Memorial Association and
reburied the Confederate dead here, about a
mile from the battlefield. The Memorial
Association began to . . . — — Map (db m15671) HM
[Photo of guest room]
Ehrhardt Hall
This restored 19th century mansion located in
the town of Ehrhardt is a bed and breakfast
and features six guest rooms with amenities
including fireplaces.
[Photo of Sinclair . . . — — Map (db m27445) HM
Battle At Rivers Bridge
On February 2 ~ 3, 1865, as Gen. W.T. Sherman's
Federals advanced toward Columbia, units of
Gen. F.P. Blair's XVII Corps attempted to cross
the Salkehatchie River at Rivers Bridge. The
Confederate defenders . . . — — Map (db m7708) HM
Invasion! In January 1865, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's army of 60,000 Union soldiers invaded South Carolina. Its goals: to link up with Ulysses S. Grant's forces opposing Robert E. Lee's Confederates in Virginia and destroy the South's . . . — — Map (db m7437) HM
Crucial Routes to the Heart of the State: The Salkehatchie River Crossings As Sherman's right wing- about 28,000 men underGen. Oliver Otis Howard- advanced up the south side of the Salkehatchie, Gen. Lafayette McLaws' Confederate division . . . — — Map (db m7440) HM
Dig In Part of McLaws' division protected the middle crossing of the Salkehatchie at Rivers Bridge. This small force, consisting of a brigade of Georgia infantrymen, South Carolina cavalrymen and four cannons of the South Carolina Light . . . — — Map (db m7441) HM
"This Indescribably Ugly Salkehatchie " At Rivers Bridge the Salkehatchie flowed though a swamp a
half mile wide. The only road through it was a narrow earthen causeway with multiple wooden bridges. The Confederates hoped the thick swamp and . . . — — Map (db m7455) HM
Attack! Gen. Joseph A. Mower's Union division advanced rapidly to Rivers Bridge on the afternoon of Feb. 2 and charged down a narrow causeway. Confederate cannon fire stopped the attack and forced the Yankees to take cover in the cold swamp. The . . . — — Map (db m7456) HM
A Running Battle on the River Road On Feb.2, Union troops moved up the road on the opposite bank of the Salkehatchie, fighting a running battle with the Confederate cavalrymen who tried to slow their advance. Among the casualties was Pvt. John . . . — — Map (db m7457) HM
A Vulnerable Stronghold The Confederates were confident they could stop another head-on Union assault. But they feared for the safety of their flanks, knowing they did not have enough men to resist attacks that might strike the ends of their . . . — — Map (db m7458) HM
Death and Defeat
As Mower's troops flanked the Confederate right, another Union division crossed several miles downstream to flank the Confederate left. Under a smokescreen created by a rapid artillery and rifle volleys, the Southerners . . . — — Map (db m7464) HM
The End is Near
The Union Victory broke the main Confederate line of defense in lower South Carolina. McLaws' troops retreated to another line behind the Edisto River about 20 miles northeast of here, then continued to fall back as . . . — — Map (db m7467) HM
Here on February 3, 1865, the 17th U.S. Army Corps led by Major General Joseph A. Mower and Lieut. Gen. Giles A. Smith attacked the Confederate division of Major General Lafayette McLaws and forced the crossing of Salkehatchie River, after a gallant . . . — — Map (db m11318) HM
Colleton County
In Memory Of Our
Confederate Soldiers
Who Here Gave Their Lives
In Defense Of
A Righteous Cause
Feb. 3 and 4, 1865 — — Map (db m53729) HM
Conrad Ehrhardt was born in Weiterade Kuhrhessen Germany on December 13, 1832 and left home at the age of 19 to come to America. He came with only 25 cents in his pocket and skills that he aquired from the mills, in which he had worked, in Germany. . . . — — Map (db m7602) HM
Ehrhardt Hall was built in 1903 with Victorian style architecture. The owner, Dr. James Haynes Roberts, born March 2, 1863, was originally from the Allendale area. Following in his father's footsteps, who was a self taught dentist and 2nd lieutenant . . . — — Map (db m20908) HM
In 1835 St. Bartholomew Lutheran Church
moved here from about 1 mi. south and
changed its name to Mt. Pleasant.
It is generally accepted that this
congregation was organized ca. 1750
and that John George Bamberg
preached there shortly after . . . — — Map (db m8795) HM
Most of the Confederates killed here were Georgians,
and most were unknown when they were reburied. But
the local community remembered them as " our
Confederate dead, " the fallen heroes of a common cause. The monument placed over their mass . . . — — Map (db m15650) HM
( Front face )
In Memory
of our
Confederate Dead
who fell in battle at
River's Bridges
Feb. 4, 1865.
(Reverse face ) Soldier's rest, your welfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep . . . — — Map (db m15652) HM
( Left side )
The Legacy of Total War
From January to March in 1865 more than
60,000 Union soldiers led by General
William Tecumseh Sherman marched
across South Carolina. They brought
total war to the state, . . . — — Map (db m15646) HM
(Front text) This church, established 1829 30, was first named Three Mile Creek Church and held early services in a brush arbor 4 mi. W on the Salkehatchie River. In 1839 it moved to this site donated by George Kinard, and was renamed St. . . . — — Map (db m32605) HM
Eight Hundred fifty-three feet west of
this marker lies the Northwest corner
of the three hundred acre tract
granted by
The Colonial Governor's Council
to John Jacob Heyer, Sr.
and his wife Mary Magdalene Wagner
of . . . — — Map (db m18422) HM
