The Burnside Bridge, originally known as Rohrbach's or Lower Bridge, was built in 1836 by John Weaver at a cost of $3,200 as a crossing of Antietam Creek southeast of Sharpsburg. On the morning of September 17, 1862, the Union Ninth Corps, under the command of Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, faced the daunting task of attacking Confederate infantry and artillery located on the far side of the Lower Bridge.
Topography at the site heavily favored the few hundred Confederates who defended it. The road approaching the east end of the bridge swung on a course paralleling that of Antietam Creek; in the last few hundred yards before reaching the bridge, the road plunged into a funnel-like depression between the opposing bluffs of the creek. Confederate troops were in rifle pits on the west bluff overlooking the bridge and the approach road.
Even with a numerical advantage, the difficult terrain and stubborn Confederate defense kept Burnside from capturing this critical Antietam crossing for three hours. After the Bridge was captured it took another two hours to cross the Ninth Corps and reorganize for the final attack on the Confederate right flank. The delay proved costly, as Confederate reinforcements arrived from Harpers Ferry just as the Federal assault was finally meeting with success. More than 500 Union troops had been killed or wounded attempting to carry the crossing, known ever since as Burnside Bridge.
After the battle, the bridge was actively used for traffic until as recently as 1966. In an effort to preserve the bridge, a bypass was built to take cars on to a new bridge upstream. Today, visitors can once again quietly stroll across what has become the icon of Antietam Battlefield. The peaceful, bucolic setting belies the terrible struggle that took place nearly 150 years ago.
Substitute numbers from the marker with the heading beginning "A Crucial Crossing..." into the following Coordinates: N 39° 26.ABC W 077° 43.DEF where:
A = the second digit in the final year that car traffic was able to use this bridge.
B = the fourth digit in the final year that car traffic was able to use this bridge.
C = Fill in the blank... "About _:00 PM, with Union soldiers..."
D = the fourth digit in the date on the commemorative coin issued by the U.S. Mint for the 75th anniversary of the battle.
E = in the Kurz & Allison lithograph...the third digit MINUS the fourth digit.
F = Fill in the blank... "Confederate Gen. Robert Toombs and fewer than _00 Georgia soldiers..."
The cache you seeek is hidden just a short drive away from this historical marker. The container you seek is a large sized pill bottle containing a few logsheet/stashnote combinations but no room for a stylus so be sure to BYOP!