Averasborough was a Civil War engagement fought in North Carolina, 1865. The outcome was inconclusive.
On the afternoon of March 15, Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry came up against Lt. Gen. William Hardee's corps-consisting of Taliaferro's and McLaw's infantry divisions and Wheeler's dismounted cavalry-deployed across the Raleigh Road near Smithville. After feeling out the Confederate defenses, Kilpatrick withdrew and called for infantry support. During the night, four divisions of the XX Corps arrived to confront the Confederates. At dawn, March 16, the Federals advanced on a division front, driving back skirmishers, but they were stopped by the main Confederate line and a counterattack. Mid-morning, the Federals renewed their advance with strong reinforcements and drove the Confederates from two lines of works, but were repulsed at a third line. Late afternoon, the Union XIV Corps began to arrive on the field but was unable to deploy before dark due to the swampy ground. Hardee retreated during the night after holding up the Union advance for nearly two days.
On March 16, 1865, fighting broke out at Averasborough, spanning parts of Harnett and Cumberland counties in North Carolina. This engagement formed part of the Carolinas campaign during the American Civil War and served as an opening act before the decisive clash at Bentonville, which erupted three days afterward.
Having pushed across the Cape Fear River at Fayetteville, Slocum's men pressed northward along the Raleigh plank road until Hardee's corps blocked their path near Averasborough. Fighting opened on the morning of March 16, when a Confederate assault pushed back Maj. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams's Union XX Corps troops. The tide turned once reinforcements reached the field, allowing Union soldiers to surge forward and break through two Confederate lines, though a third line held firm against them. Around this same time, Maj. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis's XIV Corps units began arriving to join the fight. Facing superior numbers and the threat of being outflanked, Hardee ordered his men to pull back.
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