SC site among Civil War sites being spruced up

ERHARDT, S.C. (AP) — The Rivers Bridge State Historic Site in Bamberg County is one of more than 100 Civil War sites nationwide set to be cleaned up by the Civil War Trust.

The battleground is near the village of Erhardt, and on Saturday volunteers will be cleaning the grounds. Those attending are being invited to bring weed eaters and pruning saws.

The battlefield was the site of one of the main Confederate attempts to stop Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman as he marched toward Columbia in 1865.

About 1,200 Confederates dug in at Rivers Bridge on the Salkehatchie River were attacked by about 5,000 federals.

The Confederates were finally forced to withdraw after the Union troops flanked them by crossing swamps both upstream and downstream from their position.