The 21st Reg't Wisconsin Vol., crossing the pontoon bridge, at Cincinnati, Saturday, Sept. 13, 1862

 Alfred Edward Mathews

Middleton, Strobridge & Co.,, 1862

Colored lithograph.  24 x 17 3/4 inches.  Sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st Reg't. O.V.  Print showing Union soldiers of the 21st Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers marching across a pontoon bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lists field and staff officers, as well as officers of the line. Mounted, trimmed close. Some discoloration (white paint) to bottom corner edges, effecting margin and edge of text.  

In 1862 General Lew Wallace constructed a pontoon bridge over the Ohio River so that Union soldiers could cross the river to reach fortifications on the hills of Northern Kentucky.  Gen. Wallace "consulted Cincinnati architect Wesley Cameron on the feasibility of constructing a pontoon bridge across the broad Ohio, by using empty coal barges lashed side by side, and anchored securely onto both shores. Cameron's reply was...'You get me the material and manpower, and I'll get the job done.'"  Chester Geason, "Our Moment of Glory in the Civil War: When Cincinnati was Defended From the Hills of Northern Kentucky," 2007.  Cameron was able to finish the pontoon bridge in just 36 hours at the construction site of the Roebling bridge to Covington (construction of the bridge had been halted due to the war).  This engineering feat allowed for the successful defense of Cincinnati from Confederate General Edmund Kirby's offensive.  Kirby had captured the city of Richmond, Kentucky a few days before and Cincinnati was lightly defended and in imminent danger.  Much of the construction was carried out by the "Black Brigade of Cincinnati," one thousand volunteer, black laborers from the city.  Because of this bridge, Wallace's union forces were able to establish a defense in the Covington and Newport hills, allowing time for Union reinforcements to arrive and blunt the Confederate attempts to conquer the city.  

Subjects:     Pontoon bridges--Ohio--Cincinnati--1860-1870.  Soldiers--Union--Ohio--Cincinnati--1860-1870.      United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Military personnel--Union.   

21st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment mustered into Federal service on September 5, 1862.  After arriving in Cincinnati and Covington, were added to the Army of the Cumberland and served in the Atlanta Campaign with Sherman's army.