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.
