Rivers Bridge State Historic Site

Around the end of January Donna and I visited Rivers Bridge State Historic Site a bit south of Bamberg, SC. It was the site of one of the final battles of the Civil War, occurring right before Shermans's troops burned Columbia.



Earthen fortifications are still very much intact, an amazing fact considering that they're nearly 150 years old!







The swampy Salkehatchie River through which Union forces navigated to fight the Confederate forces and then move onward toward Columbia.





Lots of beautiful old moss-covered trees in the area.









It's a neat park to visit. There is half-mile trail around the fortifications that goes down to the river that is a pleasant walk and gives good views of what the soldiers saw. There is also a mass grave of Confederate soldiers who were killed in the battle with a monument reading, "Soldiers rest, your warfare o'er, Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, Dream of battle fields no more, Days of danger, nights of waking."