Photograph of Harper's Ferry, West Virginia
and the ruins of the railroad bridge over the Potomac River

The view is from the Maryland bank of the Potomac River at the foot of the cliffs of Maryland Heights. It looks south toward Harpers Ferry past the ruins of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Bridge. One span of the bridge at the far side of the river still stands. Directly in front of the camera is the drained, debris-filled bed of the C&O canal. Both canal and railroad were important transportation arteries for the North and frequent targets for Confederate destruction. Compare with this scene of the bridge still standing.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Civil War Photographs, LC-DIG-cwpb-04106