The Battle of Rivers' Bridge (also known as the Action at Rivers' Bridge) was a battle of the American Civil War fought 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 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 next day two brigades under Maj. Gen. Francis P. Blair waded through the swamp and flanked the Confederates. McLaws withdrew toward Branchville after stalling Sherman's advance for only one day and Sherman's forces continued moving north towards the state capital Columbia. Mass grave In 1876 men from nearby communities reburied the Confederate dead from Rivers Bridge in a mass grave about a mile from the battlefield and began a tradition of annually commemorating the battle. The Rivers Bridge Memorial Association eventually obtained the battlefield and in 1945 turned the site over to South Carolina for a state park. The site is commemorated