Mower's Attack at Mill Creek Bridge

On March twenty-first, eighteen sixty-five, one of the Civil War's final dramatic moments played out near this spot. Major General Joseph Mower led his Union division slashing toward Mill Creek Bridge, the only road open to Confederate General Joseph Johnston's retreating army. It was a bold, unauthorized stroke, and it nearly worked.

Mower's men punched through the Confederate line and pushed to within about a mile of the bridge. For a moment the war in the Carolinas seemed about to end right here. But the Confederates held, and Sherman ordered Mower to pull back.

Johnston slipped away across Mill Creek that night, and surrendered to Sherman about five weeks later. The Battle of Bentonville, the largest Civil War engagement ever fought on North Carolina soil, was over.