March 10, 1865---The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads, North Carolina

MARCH 10, 1865:     

The Battle of Monroe’s Crossroads:          

Perhaps General Sherman issued his “No Injury” order firmly believing that North Carolina was really a Unionist stronghold held captive by a Confederate oligarchy. If so, he was learning a different truth quickly. The region through which his men were marching was the staunchly Confederate center third of the State, and since entering North Carolina on the seventh of March, Sherman’s forces had been under constant attack. At this point in time, the Confederate forces are too attenuated to do much more than waste lives for no good purpose.  Sherman is becoming enraged at the pointless killing. When will these people give up?

Not today. Today, cavalry forces led by Wade Hampton raided Judson “Kill Cavalry” Kilpatrick’s camp just before dawn. Kilpatrick himself escaped capture in a nightshirt. The Confederates freed some Southerners taken prisoner, grabbed much needed supplies and food, and were preparing to withdraw when Kilpatrick (who had reorganized his men) led a counterattack wearing nothing but a shirt and a pair of purloined underdrawers.

The Confederates --- men and officers alike --- were taken by surprise and ridden down by Kilpatrick’s men. At that moment of seeming disaster Confederate reserves arrived, and the battle swung to the South’s advantage. But not for long. The sounds of intense firing drew nearby Union reserves, and the enlarged battle raged for hours.  Against all odds, Hampton wrung a victory out of the stones.

 

No one knows how many men were killed at Monroe’s Crossroads. Kilpatrick claimed to have lost 100 men killed, but many of those thought to be dead were probably captured. The Confederates claimed to have taken 500 Union prisoners. No count of Confederate losses was made.

It was a minor Confederate tactical victory, but Hampton did not have the troops to stand against the forces being sent to hunt him down and destroy him. He had no choice but to flee into Fayetteville; at most, he delayed the Union arrival at that city by a day.

The Monroe Crossroads Battlefield now lies (irony of ironies!) in the midst of Fort Bragg, where stands a memorial “To The American Soldier” honoring both the Blue and the Gray.