Battle of Averasborough

The [Lebanon (Dunn, North Carolina)|]Battle of Averasborough fought March 16, 1865, in Harnett and Cumberland counties, North Carolina, as part of the Carolinas campaign of the American Civil War, was a prelude to the climactic Battle of Bentonville, which began three days later.

Opposing forces

Union

Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman was moving his army north towards Goldsboro in two columns. The right column was under the command of Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard and the left column was under Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum.

Confederate

Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston sent Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee's corps to attack Slocum's left wing while it was separated from the rest of Sherman's forces.

Battle

Slocum's troops had crossed the Cape Fear River at Fayetteville and were marching up the Raleigh plank road. Near Averasborough, they encountered Hardee's corps. On the morning of March 16, troops of the Union XX Corps under Maj. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams were driven back by a Confederate assault. When reinforcements arrived, the Union forces counterattacked and drove back two lines of Confederates, but were stopped by a third line. By this time, units from Maj. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis's XIV Corps began to arrive on the field. Outnumbered and in danger of being flanked, Hardee's troops withdrew.

Battlefield preservation

The Battle of Averasborough was fought on the grounds of Oak Grove, a former plantation of the John Smith family near Erwin, North Carolina.
Lebanon was used as a hospital. Prior to the battle, Union soldiers raided the Ellerslie Plantation for supplies and quartered troops in the plantation's main house. The Averasboro Battlefield Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved more than of the Averasborough battlefield as of mid-2023.