Monroe's Crossroad, NC
Mar. 10, 1865

 


HISTORICAL NOTES:

The battle at Monroe's Crossroads, fought on March 10, 1865, was one of the largest all-cavalry engagements of the War. It was fought on 10 March 1865 by a Union cavalry force consisting of two brigades and one artillery section of the 3rd Cavalry Division under the direct command of Brevet Major General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, U.S.A., and Hampton’s Cavalry Command, consisting of Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps and Butler’s Cavalry Division, under the direct command of Lieutenant General Wade Hampton, C.S.A. The action was fought with both mounted and dismounted troops, the Federal troops dismounted and the Confederate troops generally mounted.

Early on the 10th, Confederate cavalry under the command of CSA Lieutenant General Wade Hampton surprised the Federals in their camps, driving them back in confusion and capturing wagons and artillery. The Federals regrouped and counterattacked, regaining their artillery and camps after a desperate fight. With Union reinforcements on the way, the Confederates withdrew.

OFFICIAL RECORDS:

  • Volume XLVII - in Three Parts. 1895. (Vol. 47, Chap. 59)
    • Chapter LIX - Operations in North Carolina (from February 1), South Carolina, Southern Georgia, and East Florida. January 1-June 30, 1865.
    Part I - Reports
    Part II - Union and Confederate Correspondence
    Part III - Union and Confederate Correspondence

FORCES ENGAGED:

Confederate Order of Battle
Union Order of Battle

CASUALTIES:

The total Federal casualties are estimated at 269 and the Confederate casualties 86. The graves of several unidentified Union soldiers can still be seen today in the training area of Ft. Bragg a few miles south of the Normandy Dropzone near the Coleman Impact Area. All visits must be approved by range control.

Neill S. Blue allegedly watched the battle from the swamp. After the battle, he marked mass graves with sandstone markers. Shortly after the war, many of the Confederate dead were moved to the Long Street Church by John McKellar and John H. Currie among others in the community. Many more are interred at the Cross Creek cemetery in Fayetteville. Union dead that remained on the field were buried in several mass graves at various locations on the battleground. Money was raised by the Gaelic Scot community of Argyle to erect a marble obelisk in 1870 that bears a simple inscription, “Confederate Soldiers” for about 30 unknown soldiers that rest in a mass grave at the Long Street Church.

A listing of the gravestones at the church reveal several other Confederate Soldiers, but none are identified who died at this battle.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCE:

    The Battle of Monroe's Crossroad
    - http://www.nps.gov/seac/cavclash/cav-index.htm
    http://americancivilwar.com/statepic/nc/nc018.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monroe's_Crossroads
    http://www.civilwar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=190
    http://www.ncgenweb.us/cumberland/longstreet.htm
    http://www.ncgenweb.us/cumberland/crosscoolspr.htm

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