This bridge was originally known as the Rohrbach Bridge, named after the local farm family. It was built in 1836-37 by the county for $2,300. But ever since the battle it has carried the name of Union Major General Ambrose Burnside, whose Ninth Corps forced its way across after several hours of fighting. This was the southernmost of three stone bridges that Union forces used to cross Antietam Creek during the battle.

The bridge carried vehicular traffic until a bypass was built in the 1960’s. For many years each corner of the bridge served as the base for four monuments. When the vehicular traffic was rerouted and the bridge was restored to its 1862 appearance the monuments were moved to the east side of the creek, where they can be seen in the photo, almost obscured by the stone wall to the left of the bridge.

The photo looks east from the Confederate-held side of the bridge and shows the ground crossed by the Union troops as they attacked the bridge. The last stretch was open and flat with no cover. The walls of the narrow bridge also provided little cover as some of the Confederate defenders could shoot straight down it and all were firing from above.

The photo below is from the east side of Antietam Creek. It shows the bluff immediately behind the bridge. The road (now a footpath) makes a hard turn to the north and runs between the foot of the bluff and the creek for some distance. Confederate sharpshooters dug into the face of and atop the bluff and were able to use the cover very effectively to keep the Federals from crossing for several hours.