Other side of the Fayetteville Road Fight
By Capt. Theo F. Northrop (Chief of Scouts, Kilpatrick's Division of Cavalry, Savannah to Goldsboro), Sussex, N. J.

Confederate Vetran
Volume, Number 9, Page 424
September 1912

The articles in the VETERAN on what is called the fight at Fayetteville, N. C. have interested me very much. I call it the fight at Monroe Crossroads, and the location of it was from fourteen to sixteen miles west of Fayetteville on the Morganton Road, and about the same distance east of what is now called Southern Pines. My knowledge of this fight begins shortly after our men had been driven from the camp.

The scouts which I had the honor of commanding at that time had spent more than half of the previous day on this battle ground. We had arrived before noon on the day before and remained there until dark, hourly expecting the arrival of the command. The house which afterwards became General Kilpatrick's headquarters would have been a very comfortable place for the scouts to spend the night, but I considered it too much exposed and crossed the swamp to a quiet place, where we were awakened early in the morning by fugitives who had escaped from the camp. They told us that General Kilpatrick, the 3d Brigade, and the dismounted men had all been captured, and they seemed to think that they alone had escaped.

We mounted and started for the camp, hoping that we might recapture some of the prisoners, but we soon heard the fighting and knew by that that all had not been captured. I decided to ride at a gallop until I reached the house which I knew would be headquarters. We were followed by from one hundred and fifty to two hundred mounted men who had escaped from this captured camp. We had to pass through the men who had been driven from the camp to the swamp, where they had made a stand and at this time were fighting on the defensive. When we dashed through them, they thought it was the arrival of the 1st Brigade, and they sang out, "Here comes the 1st Brigade!" and, led by General Kilpatrick, they followed us in a charge that won back the camp. The Confederates at this time were very much interested in finding out what was in the wagon trains, and they in turn were partly surprised.

There is quite a difference of opinion among your correspondents as to how many and who were engaged in the fight. I shall tell you about our side and refer you to "Official Records" for confirmation. I have no knowledge about the Southern side, but never have believed, nor do I now believe, that Generals Hampton and Wheeler were there with all their forces. If they had been, I do not believe we would have recaptured our camp.

Regarding the impassable swamp, that was there a sure thing, and it may have prevented a portion of Wheeler's command from hitting our camp at the right time. I visited this battleground about five years ago and was informed that skeletons of horse and rider, who had mired so quickly that the rider had not dismounted, had been found.

The part of General Kilpatrick's command that was engaged at this place consisted of the 3d Brigade, commanded by General Spencer, and the dismounted men commanded by Major Way. The 3d Brigade consisted of the 1st Alabama Cavalry, 5th Kentucky Cavalry, and the 5th Ohio Cavalry, about 800 or 900 men. The dismounted men numbered about three or four hundred, less than one third of General Kilpatrick's command, which on leaving Savannah numbered all told about five thousand men for duty.

One of your correspondents says that the 5th Kentucky Cavalry was captured the day or night before. He is surely mistaken, as they were very much engaged in a desperate fight iii their camp, and it was here that I saw the largest Confederate loss for any one point after the fight was over. It is a long time to remember all these things, but I am sure that I counted from sixty to eighty dead Confederates in this camp.

The information regarding what portion of General Kilpatrick's command was engaged at this point is contained in Volume XLVII., "Official Records," especially on page 42, Kilpatrick's report, page 859, also reports of Colonel Spencer, Col. William B. Way, and others.

When I saw General Kilpatrick, and before he had an opportunity of changing his clothes, he had on shirt, vest, trousers, and slippers or shoes. He was without hat, coat, and probably boots, no night shirt was in evidence. General Estes escaped from the camp and was not captured. Captain Hays, now a retired brigadier general and a great Indian fighter, with his Indian instincts to guide him, escaped to some hole in the garret, and was there when the scouts retook the house.

We had quite a number of Confederate prisoners that had been picked up from time to time on the march. Their lot was not a very happy one, and I was glad that they were released. We called their camp the "Bull Pen," and at times it was not better than one.