Aqueduct Bridge Duty Roster

1352 THL

Scope and Content: This collection is comprised of the duty roster for December 9, 1863 to June 6, 1864 for guards on the Aqueduct Bridge at the north end (Georgetown?). The detachments for this duty include the 9^th Regiment (VRC), District of Alexandria, 19^th Regiment (VRC) Co. A, and 22^nd Regiment (VRC)—unit of the 4^th Brigade, Military District of Kentucky, Co. G. The roster also details the watches of the day, who was on them, how long they lasted, and who was in command.

(1 box) Last updated 04/04.

Biographical/Historical: The Aqueduct Bridge was designed by Major William Turnbull, built of wood with stone pilings, and completed in 1843. It was built to transport cargo-carrying boats on the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal in Georgetown across the Potomac River to what is now Virginia. The aqueduct brought water in from a reservoir in Maryland, through Georgetown, and into Washington, DC. During the Civil War, the aqueduct was drained and a roadway was built on it for Union troops. Later, the boat channel was restored to the bridge and the roadway was placed over the channel. In 1923, the bridge was closed when Francis Scott Key Bridge was built about a hundred feet east (downstream). In 1962, seven of the eight remaining pilings from the Aqueduct Bridge were removed.

Bibliography: Kelly, Charles Suddarth. Washington, D.C., Then and Now, 69 Sites Photographed in the Past and Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1984.

Cite As: Aqueduct Bridge Duty Roster, 1352 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

Organization:

Box 1

Duty roster for guards at the Aqueduct Bridge, Dec. 9, 1863–June 6, 1864, 1 volume, manuscript