The Burning of the Wrightsville Bridge: Gettysburg 160

On June 28, 1863, Pennsylvania Militia burned the Wrightsville Bridge to stop the Army of Northern Virginia from being able to reach the state capital of Harrisburg. Just a few days later, Robert E. Lee would call all of his forces back to Gettysburg for the most famous battle of the Civil War.
This video is part of our tour series commemorating the 160th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. View the full series here: • Gettysburg Campaign: 1...
The American Battlefield Trust preserves America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educates the public about what happened there and why it matters. We permanently protect these battlefields for future generations as a lasting and tangible memorial to the brave soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

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  • @davidwilhelm3431
    @davidwilhelm3431 Жыл бұрын

    I'm not certain how much preparation Kris does, but regardless, he is outstanding. His narrative is seamless, and what he is doing is not nearly as routine as he makes it appear. Outstanding knowledge and the ability to present it so very well.

  • @jennifermilano9165
    @jennifermilano9165 Жыл бұрын

    I absolutely love this channel. I also love Gary! Think he is soo awesome!

  • @robertwillhite9077
    @robertwillhite9077 Жыл бұрын

    It was nice seeing this video since I only live about 15 minutes away, just southeast of York. I drive across the Route 462 bridge you see in the background just about every day on my way to work in Lancaster County. I've lived in the area for 28 years and I am amazed at the amount of history York County holds, both during the American Revolution and the American Civil War. There are two books that I have read about the civil war in the Wrightsville area. One is "Flames Across the Susquehanna" by James McClure and "Beyond the Burning Bridge" by Scott Mingus. Thanks for the excellent video about a little known skirmish right before the battle of Gettysburg. I like how you told the tale of the buckets. I like to tell people about that when I mention the story to them. Bridge on fire, no buckets to be found. Town on fire, buckets come out of the woodwork. One more thing to note, those bridge piers that are sitting in the river have been there for almost 200 years. And I believe 5 different bridges have sat on those piers (including the burning bridge), the last being a railroad bridge that was torn down in the 1960s or 70s. By the way, thanks for pronouncing Lancaster correctly, as if you lived here. A lot of people pronounce it wrong, and there are others that try and still get it wrong. Lank-a-ster, not Lan-caster or Lan-kiss-ter.

  • @jwhite146
    @jwhite146 Жыл бұрын

    saw the ruins of the bridge a few years ago. Sadly did not know what they were. Was later told that the fire was the biggest fire in the US at the time.

  • @noahboughdy2648
    @noahboughdy2648 Жыл бұрын

    Kudos to the proper pronunciation of Lancaster. The locals get upset when you say it wrong!

  • @maggiemcmac8273
    @maggiemcmac8273 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for doing this. I believe Wrightsville was an important battle often overlooked. I was there for the Riverfest celebration last weekend in Columbia.

  • @johnbeigel7563
    @johnbeigel7563 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for making this video! Raised in york for all of my 36 years and had the unique opportunity to field trip to Gettysburg as a kid. I have been obsessed ever since.

  • @lamondracing9832
    @lamondracing9832 Жыл бұрын

    Man, this is 15 minutes from my house, but I am out of town and can't be there for the 160th. Thank you for the videos.

  • @COLTBECK13
    @COLTBECK13 Жыл бұрын

    Best Small Mouth Bass fishing in the world , I've ever experienced!!! all round those piers !!

  • @GhostofSicklesleg
    @GhostofSicklesleg Жыл бұрын

    Getting ready for a weekend of Gettysburg 160th new content! Thanks

  • @ianblake815
    @ianblake815 Жыл бұрын

    I’m a fanatic for civil war history and I love this channel! ✌️💯🔥

  • @dadsongs
    @dadsongs Жыл бұрын

    You did it again. What, you may ask? You have me another to praise ABT: Everywhere you go, you include local organizations in your videos, organizations that serve to preserve and protect history. Well done!

  • @chrishaines8842
    @chrishaines8842 Жыл бұрын

    Thank You for putting this on. This is so often overlooked.

  • @michaeldouglas1243
    @michaeldouglas1243 Жыл бұрын

    I just got John B. Gordons book, "reniniscences of the civil war" excellent read.

  • @joshuaglaude1549
    @joshuaglaude15495 ай бұрын

    I wonder if Gary is always as he is on camera. He seems like a never ending ball of energy. I wish I had half that energy sometimes. I like it. You can tell he really loves what he's doing. I got into the trusts videos for the Gettysburg 158 live videos, normally people are really dry talking about history, especially military history, but gary and crew are great. I love their videos.

  • @tomdynia9951
    @tomdynia9951 Жыл бұрын

    Another great video guys! Guided by Scott Mingus' "Flames Beyond Gettysburg" I've visited a number of the sites between Gettysburg and Wrightsville, once while driving with me brother to see Reynold's grave in Lancaster. I need to get back to that area some day and soak up some of the Continental Congress history in York.

  • @Gitarzan66
    @Gitarzan6611 ай бұрын

    That painting of the burning is incredible!

  • @randcreek9613
    @randcreek9613 Жыл бұрын

    Great stuff, thank you so much from Germany for another inspirational history video. And I am the guy who writes the German language blog about Gettysburg160 with focus on leadership lessons.

  • @allgasnoclass
    @allgasnoclass Жыл бұрын

    greetings from columbia! i’ve lived in this area for years, and while i knew the general story about the fire, i never knew about the putting out of the fire. now it makes sense why i see so many rebel flags on that side of the river. 😂🤣

  • @thenebbish7709
    @thenebbish7709 Жыл бұрын

    LANC-A-STER

  • @Daina1278
    @Daina1278 Жыл бұрын

    Love how y’all were in my neighborhood. Thank you for sharing such an important part of history for our area of Lancaster!

  • @michaelmorgan9824
    @michaelmorgan9824 Жыл бұрын

    I wish I could be there Thanks for keeping me posted! Love this channel! Kudos to you all.

  • @jimmyjames9752
    @jimmyjames9752 Жыл бұрын

    SAVE OUR BATTLEFIELDS AMERICA 🇺🇸

  • @thenebbish7709
    @thenebbish7709 Жыл бұрын

    Greetings from York, pa . Yes today is that anniversary

  • @williamolenick7798
    @williamolenick7798 Жыл бұрын

    I believe the bridge was both wagon, feet and rail traffic. There are descriptions of it and the fight / burning in Scott Mingus book.

  • @SpartansAndHeroes
    @SpartansAndHeroes Жыл бұрын

    Another amazing video!

  • @joeritchie4554
    @joeritchie4554 Жыл бұрын

    That was so interesting because the burning of this bridge, and the impact it had on the confederate movements never get mentioned in our history classes or books. Thank you for educating us. t

  • @michaelchappell902
    @michaelchappell902 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for the history lesson, I did not know

  • @johnjacobs1625
    @johnjacobs1625 Жыл бұрын

    Very Nice Gary! Thx for the info. Cheers JJ

  • @zacscurlockshobbies2133
    @zacscurlockshobbies2133 Жыл бұрын

    I live only 20 mins from Wrightsville. And this one of my favorite events of the Gettysburg Campaign

  • @missmissy2490
    @missmissy2490 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you all so much!

  • @richsnyder8015
    @richsnyder8015 Жыл бұрын

    I’m born and raised and still live in York County PA. The burning of the Wrightsville Bridge is still a very big deal. Hope you guys ate at the Burning Bridge!

  • @2gnospam
    @2gnospam Жыл бұрын

    Great video guys!!!

  • @terryeustice5399
    @terryeustice5399 Жыл бұрын

    Great presentation men. This is a great and very informative.

  • @mikaelpettersson5916
    @mikaelpettersson5916 Жыл бұрын

    what a great story

  • @runningintohistory
    @runningintohistory Жыл бұрын

    Great video! I recently released a video about my 3x Great Grandfather's involvement in this approach on Harrisburg. Fascinating history.

  • @murphywood8556
    @murphywood855611 ай бұрын

    Actually, one unit who helped put out the fire was Company B 26th Georgia ( McIntosh Guards) from southeast Georgia, not northeast Georgia, and this happened on almost the exact same day that there homes were being burned ( Darien Georgia) by Federal troops under Col. James Montgomery and Col . Robert G. Shaw

  • @kevintempleton8671
    @kevintempleton86718 ай бұрын

    I would love to see a video on the WV soldiers that were at Gettysburg....

  • @rolyatdivad
    @rolyatdivad Жыл бұрын

    Excellent presentation. Could you comment on the town of Westminster MD and it’s role in the Gettysburg campaign?

  • @gsilcoful
    @gsilcoful Жыл бұрын

    Cool.

  • @natewatts195
    @natewatts195 Жыл бұрын

    I drive across this bridge a ton. I was at a wedding at Wrightsville.

  • @shanestahl8788
    @shanestahl8788 Жыл бұрын

    It getting serious now my friends!

  • @davidlinux
    @davidlinux Жыл бұрын

    I grew up where the Susquehanna river started in UPSTATE NYS. You can walk across it and not get your ankles wet.

  • @jacobmasters438
    @jacobmasters438 Жыл бұрын

    What a river that is.

  • @jphil-mk8bw
    @jphil-mk8bw Жыл бұрын

    “Moving at-barely glacial pace” lmao

  • @kevinmcd5578
    @kevinmcd5578 Жыл бұрын

    Lenkister* everyone but our boy, Gary!

  • @troychrisman2035
    @troychrisman2035 Жыл бұрын

    Can anyone talk about the Battles of Funkstown? My ggg was captured in the first action at Funkstown. The second battle was much bigger, but the 6th US Cavalry took some heavy losses in the first encounter.

  • @markcampanelli
    @markcampanelli Жыл бұрын

    I love hearing the stories about how the Confederate Army proceeded through the countryside and towns of Pennsylvania, as well as how the Confederate soldiers found the place and people.

  • @obizzil
    @obizzil9 ай бұрын

    Hi Garry! Could you please do a video of the site of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and where he was in town? Thank you 🙏

  • @AmericanBattlefieldTrust

    @AmericanBattlefieldTrust

    9 ай бұрын

    Hello, we have several videos covering Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address. Try this one to start! kzread.info/dash/bejne/iHWJyZunmKzWadY.html

  • @robertmarshall537
    @robertmarshall537 Жыл бұрын

    A comment on the Sterrets Gap battle would be appreciated. It was part of the Gettysburg campaign. Very little is known about it.

  • @bigsarge2085
    @bigsarge2085 Жыл бұрын

    👍

  • @Nigelrathbone1
    @Nigelrathbone18 ай бұрын

    Very few American rivers are over a mile wide. Not very deep, but wide nevertheless is the Susquehanna River. The Continental Congress stopped briefly in Lancaster before wisely heading across the river to York County to write the Articles of Federation when they realized Lancaster was a hotbed of British loyalty with Tories all over the county - something Lancastrians tend to gloss over when recounting history.

  • @peterclague3539
    @peterclague3539 Жыл бұрын

    👏🇮🇲 from across the pond

  • @timboyle7085
    @timboyle7085 Жыл бұрын

    I'm a fan of Gordon's style. Especially what happened to him at Antiedam. But not a fan for what his boys did to Meager at Antiedam. Though the other brigades refused to engage.

  • @Shatamx
    @Shatamx Жыл бұрын

    Longest covered bridge in America?

  • @blakebufford6239
    @blakebufford6239 Жыл бұрын

    Is that a new hat?? I just noticed.!

  • @kreedur
    @kreedur Жыл бұрын

    YoCo represent! Lol...

  • @jakobnomlosiii9671
    @jakobnomlosiii9671 Жыл бұрын

    Not to be rude. But I drag raced my "made in York , PA" Harley Davidson across that very bridge. I never knew the history about the bridge. Thank You. PS: I lost to my cousin....ha ha ha

  • @thomasbedell4770
    @thomasbedell4770 Жыл бұрын

    LAN caster is correct. Went to college there and I know.

  • @erickrause2099
    @erickrause2099 Жыл бұрын

    Omg he was so close to my home wish I would have known I would Love to meet Garry. Thank you for doing this lesser known story about the battle of Gettysburg

  • @dustins.4666
    @dustins.4666 Жыл бұрын

    i live in Ohio but my faily on my moms side is from PA. Ohio has quite a few monuments even though we didnt fight here