What Happened On the Way to Gettysburg: the Burning of the Columbia Wrightsville Bridge
A Little History
The bridge that is associated with the events just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg is technically the second Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge. The first was destroyed by ice in the early 1830’s. The second Columbia–Wrightsville Bridge, a covered bridge just like the first, was begun in mid-1832 and was completed in 1834.
The bridge was built by James Moore and John Evans and cost $157,300. The bridge was more than a mile long and held the distinction of being the world’s longest covered bridge.
The bridge was constructed of wood and stone and included a carriageway, walkway, and two towpaths to guide canal traffic across the river. Tolls were equal to $23 today for a wagon with 6 horses and equal to $1.40 today for each pedestrian.
The Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and the Civil War
The bridge played its role in the advancement of the Civil War when it was burned on June 28, 1863. Union militia leaders Maj. Granville O. Haller and Col. Jacob G. Frick led the civilian volunteers from Columbia, on the Lancaster County side of the Susquehanna River, in mining the bridge to deter the advance of Confederate troops looking to move East or North. When the volunteers detonated the explosives, however, only part of the bridge was destroyed, leaving enough still passable.
The Confederate troops advanced, confirming the fears that the people of Columbia had held for days. As a last effort to destroy the bridge, the volunteers set fire to it near the Wrightsville (York County) side where they had saturated it with oil from a nearby refinery.
It took six hours for the bridge to be reduced to ash, thwarting the plans of Confederate generals Jubal A. Early and John B. Gordon to save it.
In preventing General Early’s march eastward, the burning of the bridge set the stage for the location of the Battle of Gettysburg—which in turn changed the direction of the Civil War.
The Anniversary Events
This year, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the both the burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and the Battle of Gettysburg, the town of Columbia will be hosting events.
According to an article from the Morning Call, an Allentown newspaper, the events will take place on June 28 and will start around 7:00 p.m. This event should be worth the time of anyone arriving in the area for the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.



