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Fire erupted at 9 am with the first Union probe of the bridge. It would continue until 3 pm when the Federals would retake the bridge.
Lower Bridge was a bigger deal than what it was believed to be at the time and a long time after. It is only after years of analyzing and scrutinizing that its importance was realized. It and 500 Confederate troops were all that stood between the Union army and Lee's heavily exhausted and exposed right flank. If Lee's flank had fallen that day, the Confederate army would have been totally cut off from escape by a numerically superior force. The Civil War could have ended nearly two years early.
After the bridge was taken, the Union troops started to prepare for a counterattack that they were almost certain was coming. Little did they know, the Confederates didn't have the supplies to make a counterattack, much less hold their own ground. Ironically, they were in fear that the Union troops holding the bridge would advance and crush their positions! They had a lack of men and ammo that would make any commander shutter, much less fight off another attack.
Lower Bridge was a definite victory for the Confederates. Though they had ultimately withdrawn, their goal of stalling Burnside's forces was accomplished, and they managed to inflict heavy casualties along the way. The Union troops acted like vanquished ones as the crossed the creek. Of the 3,250 (approx.) men they had engaged, more than 600 had fallen to enemy guns. Five hundred stubborn Georgians had kept an entire corps at bay. The Rebs lost around 120 men, paying the price in ammunition. The 2nd Maryland alone lost 67 of 187 troops that had attempted to capture the bridge. The frustrated Yankees had wasted a large amount of ammo on a very small body of troops, which further dropped their morale.
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The Federal Army of
the Potomac
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The Confederate Army
of Northern Virginia
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3254 engaged 500
|
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(4% of engaged)
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139
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KIA
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-
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(16% of engaged)
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532
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WIA
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-
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(0.3% of engaged)
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11
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MIA
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-
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|||
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(21% of engaged)
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679
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120
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(24% of engaged)
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| Battle Home | Lower Bridge |
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