The Defense of the Altamaha Bridge

The Defense of the Altamaha Bridge is a Georgia historical marker in Long County, dedicated 1958.

On US 301, northeast of Rayonier Road in Jesup.

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On Dec. 1, 1864, while General Sherman's army [US] was on its destructive March to the Sea, the Fourth Brigade, Georgia Militia, Brig. Gen. H.K. McKay, reached Morgan's Lake (0.7 mile SE) to defend the Savannah and Gulf (ACL) RR bridge over the Altamaha River at Doctor Town (1.5 miles S). Earthworks were built on the north bank and two 32-pounder rifled guns mounted art Doctor Town to sweep the bridge. A light gun mounted on an engine supported two companies of infantry at Morgan's Lake. On the 16th, Gen. Sherman sent Hazen's division, 15th Corps, to destroy the railroad from Great Ogeechee River to McIntosh, and Mower's division, 17th Corps, to destroy it from that point to Doctor Town. By the 19th the work had been completed as far as Morgan's Lake when Mower, under previous orders, moved back to rejoin forces closing on Savannah, leaving the task of destroying the Altamaha Bridge to Atkins' Brigade of Kilpatrick's cavalry division which, with the 1st Alabama Cavalry [US], had been covering the infantry's working parties. Atkins succeeded in destroying the trestle work past Morgan's Lake but could neither capture the bridge nor cross the river and attack the Doctor Town battery from the rear. Unable to dislodge the Confederate defenders, Atkins finally withdrew, marched through Hinesville, and rejoined Kilpatrick at the Great Ogeechee River.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1856 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1864 · Colton's Georgia (1864) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1865 · Military map showing the marches of the United States Forces 1863-1865. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1866 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1869 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Georgia, 1866, covering the location of The Defense of the Altamaha Bridge, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Georgia, 1866, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Commission. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

The Defense of the Altamaha Bridge

Historical maps covering this location

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