Falling Waters - Williamsport, Maryland
Posted by: 
flyingmoose
N 39° 33.447 W 077° 53.075
18S E 252170 N 4382615
Located along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath where it intersects with an no longer used section of Falling Waters Road.
Waymark Code: WM156NY
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 10/26/2021
Views: 2
Marker Text:
The Potomac River trapped Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Confederate army during the retreat from Gettysburg. Flooded by torrential rains on July 4, 1863, the Potomac raged for more than a week, preventing Lee from crossing into present-day West Virginia. Complicating matters, on July 3, Union Cavalry operating behind Lee's army had destroyed the pontoon bridge located here, severing his umbilical cord to the Confederacy.
Finally, on July 10, the Confederates completed a pontoon bridge, but it took two days for the ambulances and hundreds f ordnance and artillery wagons to cross. By the early evening of Julyu 13, during another downpour, Gen. James Longstreet's infantry corps began tramping across, guided by bonfires on both shores and signal torches on the bridge. Gen. A.P. Hill's corps followed, and by mid-morning the next day, 30,000 Confederates were across.
Lee's army had escaped.
Type of site: Transportation Route or Facility
Admission Charged: No Charge
Website: [Web Link]
Address: Not listed
Phone Number: Not listed
Driving Directions: Not listed
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