was ordered to draw back his cavalry and mass it on the extreme right, and, in concert with Jackson's right, to feel forward for the Goldsborough road. He got a oad, but it was attacked by McLaws' rebel division furiously, and though it fought well and hard the brigade drew back to the flank of the infantry, The whole line advanced late in the afternoon, drove the enemy well within his intrenched line, and pressed him so hard that next morning he was gone, having retreated in a miserable stormy night over the worst of roads. Ward's division of infantry followed to and through Averasborough, developing the fact that Hardee had retreated, not on Raleigh but on Smithfield. I had the night before directed Kilpatrick to cross South River at a mill-dam to our right rear and move up on the east side toward Elevation. General Slocum reports his aggregate loss in this affair, known as that of Averasborough, at 12 officers and 65 men killed and 477 wounded. * We lost no prisoners. The enemy's loss can be inferred from his dead (108) left for us to bury. Leaving Ward's division to keep up a show of pursuit, Slocum's column was turned to the right, built a bridge across the swollen South River, and took the Goldsborough road, Kilpatrick crossing to the north in the direction of Elevation, with orders to move eastward, watching that flank. In the meantime the wagon trains and guards, as also Howard's column, were wallowing along the miry roads toward Bentonville and Goldsborough. The enemy's infantry, as before stated, had retreated on Smithfield, and his cavalry retreated across our front in the same direction, burning the bridges across Mill Creek. I continued with the head of Slocum's column and camped the night of the 18th with him on the Goldsborough road, twenty-seven miles from Goldsborough, about five miles from Bentonville, and where the road from Clinton to Smithfield crosses the Goldsborough road. Howard was at Lee's Store, only two miles south, and both columns had pickets three miles forward to where the two roads came together and became common to Goldsborough.

All the signs induced me to believe that the enemy would make no further opposition to our progress, and would not attempt to strike us in flank while in motion. I therefore directed Howard to move his Right Wing by the new Goldsborough road, which goes by way of Falling Creek Church. I also left Slocum and joined Howard's column with a view to open communication with General Schofield, coming up from New Berne, and Terry from Wilmington. I found General Howard's column well strung out, owing to the very bad roads, and did not overtake him in person until he had reached Falling Creek Church, with one regiment forward to the cross-roads near Cox's Bridge across the Neuse. I had gone from General Slocum about six miles when I heard artillery in his direction, but was soon made easy by one of his staff officers overtaking me, explaining that his leading division (Carlin's) had encountered a division of rebel cavalry (Dibrell's), which he was driving easily. But soon other staff officers came up, reporting that he had developed near Bentonville the whole of the rebel army under General Johnston himself. I sent him orders to call up the two divisions guarding his wagon trains, and Hazen's division of the Fifteenth Corps, still back near Lee's Store, to fight defensively until I could draw up Blair's corps, then near Mount Olive Station, and with the remaining three divisions of the Fifteenth Corps come up on Johnston's left rear from the direction of Cox's Bridge. In the meantime, while on the road, I received couriers from both Generals Schofield and

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*But see revised table, p. 66.

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