The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads (also known as the Battle of Fayetteville Road, and colloquially in the North as Kilpatrick's Shirttail Skedaddle) was a battle during the Carolinas Campaign of the American Civil War in Cumberland County, North Carolina, on the grounds of the present day Fort Bragg Military Reservation. Involving about 4,000 men, it pitted mounted Confederate cavalry against dismounted Union cavalry. It was one of the last all-cavalry battles of the Civil War. The fighting lasted for several hours early on the morning of March 10, 1865, and resulted in a minor Union victory, although the Confederate attack delayed the Federal cavalry's movement toward Fayetteville, denying Brevet Maj. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick the honor of entering the town first.
The main Confederate dawn assault, under famed generals Wade Hampton and Joseph Wheeler who were operating together for the first time, was against a poorly guarded and sleeping Union camp. One of the goals (not fulfilled) was the capture of General 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 relinquish 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.
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 Ft. Bragg a few miles south of the Normandy Dropzone near the Coleman Impact Area. All visits must be approved by range control. [1]