Rivers Bridge State Historic Site
325 State Park RD
Ehrhardt,SC 29081
803.267.3675

We invite you and your students to visit our park and participate in an educational program at Rivers Bridge State Historic Site. In the waning days of the Civil War, General William T. Sherman’s Union troops clashed with Confederate soldiers at a place called Rivers Bridge on the Salkehatchie River. Although vastly outnumbered, the southerners held the crossing for two days before being forced out of their breastworks. The battle of Rivers Bridge (February 2 -3, 1865) was the only major resistance encountered by Sherman’s army on its historic march through the state. The earthen fortifications that guarded this crossing remains today as a stark, silent monument to the battle. Rivers Bridge is the only state historic site in South Carolina that commemorates the Civil War. Periodic educational programs are held to interpret the battle and military life during the Civil War. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We encourage you to experience the site by participating in one of the following Discover Carolina programs. Pre-site, on-site and post-site lesson plans have been developed to ensure a quality educational experience for you and your students.

Park Interpreter Led Programs: Life of a Civil War Soldier
 

Pre-site Activities 1 Pre-site Activities 2 Pre-site Activities 3 On-site Activities 1 On-site Activities 2 On-site Activities 3 Post-site Activities 1 Post-site Activities 2

Welcome to the Army of Discover Carolina! During “Life of a Civil War Soldier”, students will be enlisted by the staff at Rivers Bridge SHS and march together into a better understanding of the hardships and tedium that soldiers in 1865 endured. Students will be engaged in some daily activities of a Civil War-era soldier and through these, they will be challenged to work as a cohesive unit to win the battle . . .

Grade Level: 4
Time to Complete: 45 minutes
Standards: 4.1.15, 4.1.18, 4.5.5
Setting: historic battle site