"Bridges are one of the major symbols of our Civil War. Lew Wallace's defense of the bridge at Monocacy, Grant's bridge over the James that enabled him to sustain his famous siege at Petersburg, and a host of bridges in the western theater that gave mobility to both sides, all call to mind famous wartime scenes. Experienced engineer historian Phillip Thienel here brings into one volume the first ever complete story of the engineers, the soldiers who worked with them, and of the structures themselves.

He first explains the American and foreign engineering that made those bridges possible. Thienel then interweaves the parallel efforts in the eastern and western theaters of operations to show how not only the engineering evolved, but also how the personalities of the different generals affected that war effort."--BOOK JACKET.