Known at the time of the battle as the Rohrbach or Lower Bridge, this crossing over Antietam Creek was built in 1836 to connect Sharpsburg with Rohrersville, the next town to the south. For more than three hours on September 17, 1862, Confederate Gen. Robert Toombs and fewer than 500 Georgia soldiers held this position against three Federal assaults by Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s much larger Ninth Corps. Confederate General James Longstreet wrote that Toombs held the bridge gallantly, driving back repeated attacks, and yielded it only after the force against him became overwhelming and threatened his flank and rear. About 1:00 p.m., with Union soldiers crossing downstream and another attack made on the bridge, Toombs and his men retreated. The delaying action gave needed time for Gen. A.P. Hill’s Confederate soldiers, marching from Harpers Ferry, to arrive on the field. The bridge remained in active use for traffic until 1966, when a bypass allowed it to be restored to its 1862 appearance.
