Battle of Rivers' Bridge
1865 battle of the Western Theater of the American Civil War
The Battle of Rivers' Bridge (also known as the Action at Rivers' Bridge) took place during the American Civil War on February 3, 1865.
Order of battle
Confederate
Commander: Major General Lafayette McLaws
Harrison's Brigade: Colonel George Harrison Jr.
1st Georgia Regulars, Colonel Richard Wayne
5th Georgia Infantry, Colonel Charles Daniel
5th Georgia Reserves, Major Charles McGregor
32nd Georgia Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel E. H. Bacon Jr.
47th Georgia Infantry
Kirkland's Brigade: Brigadier General William Whedbee Kirkland
17th North Carolina Infantry, Captain Stuart L. Johnston
42nd North Carolina Infantry, Colonel John E. Brown
50th North Carolina Infantry, Colonel George Wortham
66th North Carolina/10th North Carolina Battalion, Colonel John H. Nethercutt
Logan's Brigade: Brigadier General Thomas M. Logan
1st South Carolina Cavalry: Lieutenant James A. Ratchford
2nd South Carolina Cavalry
3rd South Carolina Cavalry: Colonel Charles J. Colcock
Earle's (South Carolina) Battery: Captain William Earle
3rd Arkansas Cavalry: Major William Blackwell
Union
XVII Corps: Major General Francis Preston Blair Jr.
1st Division: Major General Joseph A. Mower
1st Brigade: Brigadier General John W. Fuller
64th Illinois Infantry
18th Missouri Infantry
27th Ohio Infantry
39th Ohio Infantry
2nd Brigade: Brigadier General John W. Sprague
35th New Jersey Infantry
43rd Ohio Infantry
63rd Ohio Infantry
25th Wisconsin Infantry
68 Ohio Infantry
3rd Brigade: Colonel Charles H. DeGroat
10th Illinois Infantry
25th Indiana Infantry
32nd Wisconsin Infantry
4th Division: Brevet Major General Giles Alexander Smith
1st Brigade: Brigadier General Benjamin F. Potts
14/15th Illinois Infantry
53rd Illinois Infantry
23rd Indiana Infantry
53rd Indiana Infantry
32nd Ohio Infantry
Work in progress
Engagement
While Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Union armies marched north across South Carolina, about 1,200 Confederates under Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws were posted at the crossing on the Salkehatchie River. Union soldiers began to build bridges to bypass McLaws on February 2.
The public source identifies “Battle of Rivers' Bridge” as 1865 battle of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Battle, Rivers' and Bridge.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2036970. Authority coordinates are 33.053, -81.100. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1865.
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This entry incorporates text from “Battle of Rivers' Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.