The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads: The Civil War's Last Campaign

Typical of Eric J. Wittenberg's other books this is a remarkably fine work. Fought 14 miles west of Fayetteville, North Carolina, the Battle at Monroe's Crossroads was the last large scale cavalry engagement of the American Civil War.At dawn of March 9th 1865, Wade Hampton and Joe Wheeler's men attack Judson Kilpatrick's unguarded, sleeping camp and completely rout the Federals. But the Confederates fail to follow up on their initial success, stopping instead to loot the Federal encampment of the captured food, weapons, horses and equipage. This gives Kilpatrick time to form a line of battle which increasingly rallies the disorganized Federal troops. With the aid of recaptured Federal guns and dismounted cavalry who are mistaken for infantry support, the Union subsequently succeeds in driving their attackers from the field.As all battles go it was a very close thing, embarrassing to Kilpatrick, and frustrating to Hampton and Wheeler. Pitting 4,000 Confederates against 3,000 Federals, the Confederate cavalry give their infantry one additional day of time to withdraw from Fayetteville, avoiding entanglement with left wing of Sherman's Army commanded by Henry Slocum. It was one of the last battles fought by General Sherman in his march through the Carolinas, setting up the final engagement with Joe Johnston at Bentonville a few weeks later.This is a wonderfully researched book and Eric Wittenberg is at his absolute best in describing the battle, the backgrounds of the primary participants and the meaning of this engagement in what turned out to be the final campaign for the Confederacy. Very well done.

Excellent & Detailed Information on this Civil War battle. I happen to live only 8 line of sight miles from the location of the Battle for Monroe's Crossroads. I have actually visited the site in person many times. I can confirm first hand that the information published in this book is spot on accurate. It even includes detailed information on the Church my wife and I were married in, where General Sherman and his men spent the night while marching enroute to get to the Cape Fear River to cross it on their way to Averasboro and Bentonville. I have been to both of the burial grounds where both Confederate and Union soldiers are still buried to this day. The extensive maps in the book are spot on accurate. Having trained in this area during my military days, I can say by using modern maps to verify them, and after seeing it first hand that the maps of the actual battleground are accurate to this day. Thanks to military protection, & preservation, the battleground is largely undisturbed and probably looks much like it did during the battle. Authorized digs have produced hundreds of battle field artifacts. This is a modern day book of information that happened over 150 years ago.

Eric Wittenberg solidifies his standing as our best Civil War Cavalry author by continuing to produce high quality, well-researched, readable histories that are both informative and fun. Using Savas Beatie as his publisher is a "Dream Team" for enthusiasts. Maps, maps and more maps ensure that you will never be lost and will instantly understand what retaking the guns means. The list of illustrations is one and a half pages; the list of maps is two and a half pages. Clearly stating that both the author and publisher understand what is nice, illustrations and what is necessary, maps. Since most of us will never get into Fort Bragg to walk the battle field, the maps substitute nicely keeping us orientated and in position.The book is well researched, footnoted and complete within the time we are considering. The confrontation between Hampton and Kilpatrick outside the Bennett home, capture the men, their feelings and the time. It provides a logical beginning to the story, even if it occurs at the end. While presenting the reader with clear concise portraits of the major figures, the supporting cast is not ignored. The strengths and weakness of each Cavalry force is clearly described. This introduction gives us the needed background to understand the depth of feeling and desperation that contributes to the battle.Weather and terrain conspire to hinder both sides building a waterlogged hell for man and beast. This produces a major impact on the campaign and the battle, becoming a story within the story. J.E. Johnston's army must cross over the Cape Fear River, Hampton's cavalry is trying to screen this movement and delay Sherman's army. Judson Kilpatrick, commanding Sherman's cavalry almost by default, is trying to get around Hampton while protecting Sherman's foraging parties and supply trains.Kilpatrick allows his cavalry to spread out, become badly separated and fails to protect the approaches to the camps. Wade Hampton and Joe Wheeler size an opportunity and attack a portion of Kilpatrick's command. The resulting battle is at close quarters, fought by veterans is a stand up fight with neither side stepping back. Eric Wittenberg details what the commanders do right; wrong and where they lose control. This results in an understandable sew-saw battle narrative as first one side and than the other attacks. Here the detailed maps are as valuable as the writing. Working together, the reader never gets lost always using one to support the other.This is more than a battle book as the battle is placed within the context of the campaign and the war. This placement, allows us the answer the very complex question; "Who won?" The last chapters cover the aftermath of the battle, what it did to and for Johnston & Sherman and give us a glimpse of the participant's later life. An Order of battle and detailed list of causalities complete the history of the battle. Appendix C & D, answer a couple of questions that are not technically part of the battle but relate to it. Both provide us with Human Interests items and make the story personal and complete. One deals with who was the woman in Kilpatrick's HQ and the other with "Fighting" Joe Wheeler's rank.

Wonderful story, informative, and well written. However the constant mistakes in kindle were VERY distracting. Wrong names under pictures, misspellings, and most infuriating, the splitting of multi syllable words. Example: the word infantry in the book repeatedly is printed in a sentence as 3 words: in fan try. Not just once but throughout the book...

Highly detailed and researched account of the last major duel between the horse soldiers of the North and South. The author provides detailed maps and writes with an engaging style to bring the reader to the battlefield. I appreciated the contest of personalities and how it contributed to the conduct of the pursuit and fight.