1863 USMRR Rebuilding Potomac creek bridge w Smeed

The Potomac Creek Bridge (''Potomac Creek Viaduct or Potomac Run Bridge'') was first built in 1842 by the

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad co ...

across the

Potomac Creek Potomac Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tidal tributary of the Potomac River in King George and Stafford counties, Virginia. Potomac Creek's s ...

Stafford County, Virginia Stafford County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is approximately south of Washington, D.C. It is part of the Northern Virginia region, and the D.C area. It is one of the fastest-growing and highest-income counties in ...

, United States. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the bridge offered the only rail access between the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

and the cities of Fredericksburg and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, making it a vital supply line to both the

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

and Union armies. In the spring of 1862 as Confederate forces retreated to Fredericksburg the bridge was destroyed. In 1862, the

United States Military Railroad The U.S. Military Railroad (USMRR) was established by the United States War Department as a separate agency to operate any rail lines seized by the government during the American Civil War. An Act of Congress of 31 January 1862 authorized Presi ...

was formed under the command of General

Herman Haupt Herman Haupt (March 26, 1817 – December 14, 1905) was an American civil engineer and railroad construction engineer and executive. As an honorary Union Army General officer, General during the American Civil War, he revolutionized U.S. milita ...

. One of the first tasks was to restore the 13-mile stretch of railroad from

Aquia Creek Aquia Creek () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the tidal segment of the Potomac River and is located in Northern Virginia. The creek's ...

to Falmouth that was destroyed by the retreating Confederate Army. In May 1862, Herman Haupt supervised common Union infantrymen from the Army of the Rappahannock in harvesting two million feet of local lumber to construct the Potomac Creek Bridge, accomplishing this task in just nine working days. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

, on a visit on May 28, 1862, observed "That man Haupt has built a bridge four hundred feet long and one hundred feet high, across Potomac Creek, on which loaded trains are passing every hour, and upon my word, gentlemen, there is nothing in it but cornstalks and beanpoles." The Haupt bridge stood until June 1863. The Union Army built as many as four railroad bridges atop the same abutment over the remaining years of the war. Around 1899, the bridge was replaced and the south abutment and its approaching right-of-way were abandoned.

Images

Image:Potomac Creek Bridge 1863 B.jpg, The bridge of'' 'cornstalks and beanpoles', a temporary trestle over the abutments. '' Image:Potomac Creek Bridge South Abutment.jpg, Top of the abandoned south abutment with the replacement steel bridge now owned about

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

References

{{coord, 38, 21.401, N, 77, 24.533, W, display=title Transportation in Stafford County, Virginia Stafford County, Virginia, in the American Civil War Buildings and structures in Stafford County, Virginia Railroad bridges in Virginia 1842 establishments in Virginia Wooden bridges in Virginia Bridges completed in 1842 Buildings and structures demolished in 1862 Bridges completed in 1863 Buildings and structures demolished in 1863