[2] When the Union Army under the command of Major general William Tecumseh Sherman reached the Confederate defenses on 2 February, Sherman decided to send his left wing, consisting of the Army's First Division under the command of Major General Joseph A. Mower, to march on Broxton Bridge while the rest of the XVII Corps would attempt to capture Rivers' Bridge which lay upstream.

The Salkehatchie River was the final defense line before the Union Army could march on Columbia, so the capture of at least one crossing proved crucial if the campaign was to succeed.

Following this loss, Mower ordered his troops to instead march six miles upstream to assist his comrades in the Battle of Rivers' Bridge.

As a full frontal charge was deemed impossible due to the Confederates strongly entrenched positions, an attack was delayed until the next day when the Union forces crossed the Rivers' Bridge by plowing through a nearby swamp.

This time the attack proved successful, and as a result forced the Confederate Army to abandon their positions and retreat toward Columbia.