Burnside's Bridge

Burnside's Bridge, the arched stone walkway over Antietam Creek made famous during the Battle of Antietam, is the subject of this glass-plate image by photographer Alexander Gardner. Troops under Union general Ambrose E. Burnside faced fierce resistance in trying to secure and cross the narrow bridge. They had to storm it three times before they succeeded in taking it. Gardner took a number of views of the bridge on September 21, 1862, four days after the battle, which resulted in Confederate general Robert E. Lee's retreat from Maryland.