Battle of Monroe's Crossroads | |||||||
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Part of the Campaign of the Carolinas | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Hugh Judson Kilpatrick | Wade Hampton Joseph Wheeler | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Kilpatrick's Cavalry Division | Wheeler's Cavalry Division Hampton's Cavalry Division | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,850 [2] | 3,000 [2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
183 [2] | 86 [2] |
The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads (also known as the Battle of Fayetteville Road, and colloquially in the North as Kilpatrick's Shirttail Skedaddle[ citation needed ]) took place during the Carolinas Campaign of the American Civil War in Cumberland County, North Carolina (now in Hoke County), on the grounds of the present day Fort Liberty Military Reservation. Involving about 4,500 men, it pitted mounted Confederate cavalry against dismounted Union cavalry. It was one of the last all-cavalry battles of the Civil War. The inconclusive fighting lasted for several hours early on the morning of March 10, 1865. The Confederate attack delayed the United States cavalry's movement toward Fayetteville, denying Brevet Maj. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick the honor of entering the town first.
The main Confederate assault was at dawn and against a poorly guarded and sleeping Union camp. In command of the Confederate forces were Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton and Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, who were operating together for the first time. One of the goals (not fulfilled) was the capture of Kilpatrick himself, using a small elite squadron of hand-picked troopers. Kilpatrick, ensconced with his mistress in a small log cabin near the farmhouse of Charles Monroe, managed to flee the chaotic scene in his nightshirt, hiding for a period in a nearby swamp before regaining his composure and reorganizing his troops. While initially routed, the Federal cavalry soon recovered and counterattacked, eventually pressuring the Confederates to withdraw from the camp. Anticipating the approach of Union infantry, the Confederate commanders ordered their troops to disengage from the action in the mid-morning. Hampton's cavalry finally withdrew in good order toward Fayetteville. Confederate Brig. Gen. Thomas Harrison, [3] Brig. Gen. William Y.C. Humes, Col. and brigade commander James Hagan and Col. and brigade commander Moses W. Hannon were wounded during the battle. [4] Brig. Gen. William W. Allen and Colonel and brigade commander Henry Marshall Ashby were injured when their horses were shot from under them. [4]
The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads gained the additional time needed for the Confederate infantry to conduct an organized crossing of the Cape Fear River at Fayetteville unmolested by the advancing Federals. With their troops and equipment east of the Cape Fear, the Confederates burned the bridges as Union forces entered the city.
The graves of several unidentified Union soldiers can still be seen today in the training area of Fort Liberty a few miles south of the Normandy Dropzone near the Coleman Impact Area. All visits must be approved by range control. [5]
The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. Of the major battles of the war, Stones River had the highest percentage of casualties on both sides. The battle ended in Union victory after the Confederate army's withdrawal on January 3, largely due to a series of tactical miscalculations by Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, but the victory was costly for the Union army. Nevertheless, it was an important victory for the Union because it provided a much-needed boost in morale after the Union's recent defeat at Fredericksburg and also reinforced President Abraham Lincoln's foundation for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which ultimately discouraged European powers from intervening on the Confederacy's behalf.
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Hugh Judson Kilpatrick was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, achieving the rank of brevet major general. He was later the United States Minister to Chile and an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Samuel Emerson Opdycke was a businessman and Union Army brigadier general during the American Civil War.
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James Hagan was a United States Army captain during the Mexican–American War and a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War. He was also a prosperous businessman and planter in Mobile, Alabama between both conflicts.
Moses Wright Hannon was a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War. In August 1864, he was assigned to duty as an acting brigadier general by General John Bell Hood, subject to appointment by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and confirmation by the Confederate Senate. Although Hannon commanded a brigade in the cavalry corps of the Army of Tennessee and in Major General Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps from June 1864 until the end of the war, he never was officially appointed by Jefferson Davis and confirmed by the Confederate Senate to brigadier general rank.