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Marlands Bridge is the site of the civil war battle known as the Battle of Bayou Bourbeau. The battle occured on Tuesday, November 3, 1863. A large union camp of over 1,700 troops was camped on the western side of the bridge with union artillery on the north side. The battle itself started in the early morning hours around 4 a.m. with the worst fighting around 1 p.m. Union troops were taken completely by surprise by confederate troops that approached from the north, west and southwest. In the midst of panic, many union troops tried to run while many others tried to form a defensive line to try and repel the attack. Total chaos erupted as the Texas confederates descended on the yankees. It was a total disaster for the union commanders. Perhaps the only hero of the fiasco, and the man whom the bridge got its name, was 23 year old WIlliam Marland, a gunnery lieutenant in the 2nd Massachusetts artillery. Marland was trying to maneuver his big Parrott cannon off the field when several Texans come up and ordered him to the rear. Marland, seeing an opportunity for escape, charged the bridge with his eight horse team that was pulling the cannon. His lone charge accross the bridge astonished the Texans on the bridge and caused them to jump for their lives off the bridge into the bayou, which allowed Marland to escape. As a result, Marland was given the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery and he also had the honor of the bridge being named after him. All in all, there were 812 casualties, 124 wounded and 566 missing after the battle was done. It was a total victory for the Confederates. This historic bridge is said to be the location of several body dumpings over the years and people have claimed to see one of this figures, known as the "lady in white", roaming around the bridge. We have made several outings to this locale, looking for signs of activity. In one of Marks first visits, he claimed to have seen a large orange light crossing the bridge. Below is a recreation of what he saw. |
| Overhead view of Marland's Bridge located in Sunset, La. |
| Interesting day time shot of an orb-like anomaly |
