During the night of 6-7 April 1865, part of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia crossed the South Side Railroad's High Bridge three miles north of here as Union armies under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant pursued closely. After the last Confederate units crossed, elements of Maj. Gen. William Mahone's division set fire to the bridge, as well as the small wagon bridge downstream. About 7 A.M. on 7 April, Union Brig. Gen. Francis C. Barlow's 19th Maine Infantry arrived at the wagon bridge and extinguished the flames with their canteens and tents despite Confederate gunfire. Part of High Bridge burned and collapsed.
