A Confederate Built the First Suspension Bridge Over Hudson River-- Part 2: A Railroad Opportunity

When the Civil War broke out, Robert Gilchrist,  though opposed to secession,  stayed in Charleston and sided with the Confederacy.  He fought to defend the Fort Sumter and Charleston Harbor.   He was commissioned an officer and rose to the rank of major under general Beauregard, the commander in Charleston.

The city held out until 1865, when it was abandoned as Sherman marched his Union force through South Carolina.

When the war ended, Robert, his wife and young family, traveled to The Glen to inspect the property owned by his uncle (also named Robert Gilchrist) and Mother (Mary Gilchrist).

Dr. Thomas Durant  by then had the Adirondack Railroad, whose completion had been delayed because of the war and was planning to expand his railroad from Saratoga to North Creek.  Robert Gilchrist was now in the Adirondacks and had plans to expand into the  forest, tourism and resort industries and saw an opportunity with the railroad.

Robert decided to help the railroad locate and had a bridge built across the Hudson River on his property.  The project cost $8,000 and was a John A. Roebling-style bridge and hired engineer Charles McDonald to supervise it.

--Old Secesh

A Confederate Built First Suspension Bridge Over Hudson River-- Part 1: Robert Gilchrest

From the December 20, 2020, Adirondack Almanack "Uncovering the mysteries behind a bridge's remains" by Mike Prescott.

Robert Codgell Gilchrest was of a wealthy, well-connected Charleston, S.C., family and born kin 1829.  His father had received  a federal judgeship from President Martin Van Buren and owned an opulent home.  Each summer his family journeyed north to avoid the hot and dangerous Charleston summers.

They would stay with his mother's relatives in the Great Northern Wilderness of New York.

Hus father, Robert Budd Gilchrest had married his first cousin, Mary Gilchrest in 1827.  At the time it was not uncommon for first cousins to marry to consolidate family wealth.  She was related to the Thurman family of the southern Adirondacks, and it is through marriage and family connections that Gilchrest inherited thousands of acres in the Adirondacks upon his mother's death in 1869.

As a young man of great wealth the young Robert led a privileged life.  He graduated from the College of Charleston, studied law and took up a lucrative law practice.  He joined the city's militia group, the Washington Light Infantry.

During this time, the nation became more divided.

--Old Secesh