American Civil War Battlefields

Sach’s Covered Bridge

Pumping Station Road

Adams County, PA

Photos and Text courtesy of LCWRT Member Charlie Moore

The 100-foot-long Sachs Covered Bridge was completed in 1854 at a cost of $1,544.  It crosses Marsh Creek approximately 1 mile west of the Peach Orchard on the southern end of the battlefield at Gettysburg.  On the battlefield, Pumping Station Road becomes Millerstown Rd, and then Wheatfield Road. During the Civil War the bridge was used by both the Union and Confederate Armies.  On the morning of July 1, the first day of the battle it was used by two Union brigades of the First Corps, under the command of Brig. Gen. Abner Doubleday.  These two brigades were rushing to aid  Brig. Gen. John Buford and his cavalry troops who were trying to keep the Confederates from taking the high ground south of town.  Late that evening and early the next morning, the Union III Corps under the command of Brig. Gen. Daniel Sickles, used the bridge to arrive at his designated position on Cemetery Ridge on the south end of the battlefield.  After the battle, the majority of the defeated army of Lt. Gen. Robert E. Lee used the bridge during their retreat to the south.  In 1938, it was voted Pennsylvania’s “most historic bridge”. In 1968, it was decided to close the bridge to vehicular traffic while leaving it open to pedestrians.