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| Bridging the morass From the necessity of getting an army across such barriers as this Chickahominy morass arise the most difficult problems of the army engineer. Here is shown Woodbury's Bridge, across the Chickahominy, named after its builder, which was flanked on either side by bottom lands, in some places forming a swamp stretching nearly a mile back from the stream proper. In the depths of this morass, surrounded by multitudes of reptiles, breathing the stagnant air, shrouded in a pall of mist, and accompanied by an immense orchestra of double-bass bullfrogs, the soldiers worked for weeks constructing causeways and bridges for the advance of the army toward Richmond, in 1862. The cutting of dams above, and the heavy rains, several times swept away the half-finished constructions, likewise the reserve material which had been gathered at immense cost in labor. |
