"dunn north carolina" Dunn by doug48

dunn is a small town located near I-95 in central north carolina. the most famous resident of dunn was william c. lee known as the "father of the U. S. airborne". of interest to the tourist is the nearby averasboro civil war battlefield. for students of civil war history averasboro battlefield is worth the ten mile side trip when traveling on I-95 in central north carolina.

general joseph wheeler CSA

the most significant event in the dunn area was the battle of averasboro in march 1865. the forces of union general william t. sherman had recently taken columbia, the capital of south carolina and was marching north towards raleigh. the confederate attack at averasboro was the first deliberate tactical resistance to sherman's march in north carolina. on march 16 th 1865 2,800 confederate soldiers under the command of general william hardee attacked over 12,000 union troops commanded by generals henry slocum and oliver o. howard. sherman deployed the union 14 th corps to flank the confederate right line but they were decisively stopped by general joseph wheeler's dismounted cavalry. the union launched another attack at dawn march 17 th but during the night general hardee had withdrawn his troops north to bentonville. three days later the confederate forces of general joseph johnston were defeated by the union in the battle of bentonville which was the last major civil war battle in north carolina.