Averasborough NC019

supportedunresolved Hardee wrote at 3.30 p.m. on the 16th that the Union troops were passing him so closely he could not withdraw until night, and at 4.30 p.m. that Hampton reported the Union army across Black River at several places; on the 17th he said the Union loss was not known, and that Johnston's 4 p.m. dispatch countermanding the move to Smithfield reached him at 11 p.m., too late (its countermand being conditional). At 1.30 a.m. on the 17th he relayed Hampton's report that all the Union army had crossed except the Fourteenth Corps and one division of the Twentieth Corps, which were on the plank road and which 'we fought yesterday'. Slocum says that on leaving Fayetteville he was told Goldsborough was the next objective.

Attributed knowledge from interested dispatches and a report; the dispatches Hardee received were not inspected. Hampton's identification of the troops engaged is a relayed perception; it differs from Slocum's account of two divisions of each corps and is not adopted.

supportedunresolved Slocum says the commanding general instructed him to move with a strong column unencumbered by wagons, the trains going by a road to the right toward Cox's Bridge with the remaining division of each corps. Hardee reports that two guns were abandoned with the limber of one blown off and the horses of both killed, and that his trains had gone on to Elevation.

Movement and transport statements from interested reports; no transport or ordnance return inspected.

supportedunresolved Slocum says Goldsborough was the objective and that he ordered Case's brigade on the left to advance and, if possible, turn the Confederate line. Hardee asked Johnston to send a force to Elevation to insure a junction and said he would retire toward Smithfield that night. NPS says Hardee held up the Union advance for nearly two days.

Stated aims from interested accounts and a modern summary; NPS's two-day phrasing spans the frozen one-day interval.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Inconclusive and the live result Indecisive. Slocum says the Confederates retreated during the night through Averasborough and that he captured 3 guns, a caisson, several ambulances and 175 prisoners. Hardee reports that the Union troops were repulsed in every attempt to carry his lines or turn his flanks, that two guns were abandoned, and that he retired that night. NPS says the Federals drove Hardee from two lines but were repulsed at a third.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. Slocum's three captured guns and Hardee's two abandoned guns differ; both are preserved.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads '1,419 total' with no side split; the live field reads 1,547 (US 682; CS 865). Slocum gives the loss in the two corps as 564 killed and wounded, with a compiler's footnote referring to the revised table, and says 128 Confederate dead were buried on the field. In the No. 3 return the Twentieth Corps total line ends at 485 and the garbled Averasborough recapitulation (Fourteenth Corps, Twentieth Corps, cavalry, total) ends '116 485 81 682'. Hardee gives his loss as between 400 and 500, including Colonel Rhett missing.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. The No. 3 return is a later compilation from nominal lists; its regimental columns are largely garbled in OCR and only the final totals are relied on. The Kinston and Bentonville grand-total lines print killed, wounded and missing figures that sum to their totals; the Averasborough recapitulation is garbled and its final 682 is read by position. A live NPS figure that matches it is not independent corroboration. Slocum's 564 excludes the missing and the cavalry; the return's 682 includes both. Read by position, the recapitulation's aggregate column gives 116, 485 and 81, which sum to 682, and the 485 matches the Twentieth Corps total line.

supportedunresolved The frozen commanders are Major General Slocum (US) and Lieutenant General Hardee (CS). Slocum says that once the troops were posted he ordered Case's flanking attack, and he praises Kilpatrick's cavalry. Hardee reports Wheeler's help late in the day. NPS names Kilpatrick's first contact and Hardee's corps of Taliaferro's and McLaws's divisions with Wheeler's dismounted cavalry.

Direction is attributed as the sources state; Sherman's role on the field is not described in this record's families. No listed commander receives automatic sole credit.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.

disputedunresolved The frozen force text reads XX Corps and XIV Corps (25,992) against Hardee's Corps (5,400); the live field reads 31,392 (US 25,992; CS 5,400). Slocum says he sent two divisions of each corps on the Averasborough road without wagons, the remaining division of each corps going with the trains, and that the four divisions (Jackson's and Ward's of the Twentieth, Morgan's and Carlin's of the Fourteenth) camped near Taylor's Hole Creek on the 15th, with Hawley's brigade sent forward to support the cavalry. NPS says four divisions of the XX Corps arrived during the night. Hardee gives no strength for his own corps; he reports Wheeler coming to his help late on the 16th and later in his rear with 500 or 600 men.

The frozen US figure is labelled as two whole corps, while Slocum describes four divisions on this road; NPS's 'four divisions of the XX Corps' differs from Slocum's two of each corps. No date or basis for the frozen CS 5,400 was found in this record's families. None is adopted as a matched opening strength; live zeros are not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Slocum found the Confederates entrenched about a mile and a half from the fork of the Bentonville road; the roads were almost impassable and it was nearly 10 o'clock before his other troops reached the field; the Confederates were driven about a mile to a third line of works after a brief stand at a second. Hardee wrote on the 17th that the roads were almost impassable. NPS places Hardee across the Raleigh road near Smithville and says the XIV Corps could not deploy before dark because of the swampy ground.

The roads and swamp predate the action; when the three lines of works were built is not stated. The tag stays unresolved.