page_title: Battle of High Bridge
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of High Bridge / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: photographichist03mill (find matches) Title: The photographic history of the Civil War&#160;: thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities Year: 1911 (1910s) Authors: Miller, Francis Trevelyan, 1877-1959 Lanier, Robert S. (Robert Sampson), 1880- Subjects: United States -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Pictorial works United States -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Publisher: New York&#160;: Review of Reviews Co. Contributing Library: New York Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: MSN View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: ' Text Appearing After Image: THE LAiNOMARK OF THE CONFEDERATES LAST STAND The Union army, after the fall of Petersburg, followed the streaming Confederates, retreating westward, and came upon a part ofGordons troops near High Bridge over the Appomattox, where the South Side Railroad crosses the river on piers 60 feet high, Han-cooks (Second) Corps arrived on the south bank just after tlie Confederates had blown up the redoubt that formed the bridge head,and set fire to the bridge itself. The bridge was saved with the loss of four spans at the noith end, by Colonel Livermore, whose partyput out the-fire while Confederate skirmishers were fighting under their feet. A wagon bridge beside it was saved by the men of Bar-lows division. Mahones division of the Confederate army was drawn up on a hill, north of the river behind redoubts, but whenUnion troops appeared in force the Confederates again retreated westward along tlie river. Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The Battle of High Bridge refers to two engagements fought on April 6, 1865 and April 7, 1865, near the end of the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War about 4 miles northeast of Farmville, Virginia. The first battle is often the one identified as the Battle of High Bridge.
  On April 6, 1865, Confederate cavalry under Major General Thomas L. Rosser fought stubbornly to secure the South Side Railroad's High Bridge and lower wagon bridge over the Appomattox River near Farmville, Virginia. A large Union Army raiding party intended to destroy the bridges to prevent the Confederate Army from crossing back to the north side of the river. Both sides had several officers killed and wounded. The Union force suffered 42 killed and wounded. The entire surviving Union force of about 800 men was captured. The Confederates suffered about 100 casualties. Union Colonel Theodore Read and Confederate Colonel Reuben B. Boston were killed. Union Colonel Francis Washburn and Confederate Colonel James Dearing were mortally wounded in the engagement.
context_section_description: High Bridge, 2,500 feet (760 m) long and 126 feet (38 m) high, was the crossing of the South Side Railroad over the Appomattox River and its flood plain, 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Farmville, Virginia. A wooden bridge for wagons was located below the railroad bridge. During the retreat of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the Appomattox Campaign, the Confederates had moved north of the river, except for a rear guard provided by Longstreet's First Corps at Rice's Station on the southern bank. The bridges had to be protected on April 6 and then destroyed on April 7 to delay the pursuit of the Confederates by the Union Army (Army of the Potomac, Army of the James and Army of the Shenandoah) under Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant.
  On April 6, Longstreet dispatched 1,200 Confederate cavalry under Major General Thomas L. Rosser to protect the bridges from Union raiders. Union Major General Edward Ord, commanding the Army of the James, sent about 900 men under Colonel (Brevet Brigadier General) Theodore Read (Ord's chief of staff) to burn the bridge. This force consisted of the 123rd Ohio Infantry and the 54th Pennsylvania Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Horace Kellogg of the 123rd Ohio, and three companies (80 troopers) of the 4th Massachusetts Cavalry under Colonel Francis Washburn. The cavalry reached the bridge before the main Confederate force, chased away some poorly armed home guards, and secured the south end of the bridge.
caption: Another view of the High Bridge
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