The Civil War Era
Monroe's Crossroads Battlefield, Ft. Bragg
The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads began at dawn on March 10, 1865 as Confederate cavalry stormed a Union encampment. The Union soldiers awoke to attack and scrambled for their weapons. A notable occurrence was when a Confederate Captain asked a Union soldier dressed only in his undergarments, "Where's General Kilpatrick?" The Union soldier, Kilpatrick himself, replied, "There he goes on that horse." This exchange is now known as "Kilpatrick's Skeedaddle." The Confederates promptly raced after the man on the horse. The battle lasted half a day and closed when Confederate forces were unable to continue offensives against the Union troops.
Open for escorted tours by special appointment on the first Monday of each month. Visit Fort Bragg Cultural Resources Office for more details on individual and group tours, or call 910-396-6680.
Sandy Grove Church (Fort Bragg)
Sandy Grove Presbyterian Church was founded and built in 1854, as a congregation off-shoot from Long Street Church. The land for this church was donated by Peter Monroe, who, along with his extended family is buried in the adjacent cemetery. This one-story wooden church served the rural Scottish community until it was purchased by the U.S. Army in 1922. The church was modified in the early 1900s by a vestibule and steeple addition, changing its appearance. The community/church cemetery contains 214 graves, the oldest of which dates 1759. Services are sometimes held here for descendant groups and visiting military units.
Open for escorted tours on the first Monday of each month or by special appointment. Visit Fort Bragg Cultural Resources Office for more details on individual and group tours, or call 910-396-6680.
Long Street Presbyterian Church (Fort Bragg)
Long Street Presbyterian Church is one of the first established in this area, along with Bluff and Barbeque churches, during the mid-1700s. The first congregation, composed of Highland Scots who settled in the area, met in 1756 in McKay’s meeting house, until 1765 when the first Long Street Church was built out of logs. Likely built with slave labor, the standing two-story wooden church was completed in 1847 and represents the third church of this Argyle Community. Built on land owned by Duncan McLaughlin, the building and 6 acres were sold to the congregation in 1850.
Nearby a cemetery was established to serve the community. Still visible today, the cemetery is protected by a dry-laid stone wall and contains the earliest marker of 1773, and one marker with a Gaelic inscription. Dry-laid walls of this type were common among Highland crofters, and represent a skill transplanted to America. The graves of many early Scottish setters and their descendants, and possibly their slaves, are buried in this graveyard, along with one mass burial of Confederate soldiers killed at the nearby Battle of Monroe’s Crossroads. The U.S. Army bought the church, cemetery and land from the congregation in 1923 to establish Camp Bragg. Descendants still hold annual services once a year here.
Open for escorted tours on the first Monday of each month or by special appointment. Visit Fort Bragg Cultural Resources Office for more details on individual and group tours, or call 910-396-6680.
The Fayetteville Arsenal
In 1836, Congress chose Fayetteville as the site of a U.S. Arsenal, and by 1858, a compound of multiple workshops created a manufactory. The arsenal achieved full manufactory capabilities under the Confederate States of America. It produced rifles, gun carriages, and ammunition for the Confederate forces. Hundreds of Fayetteville men joined the Confederate ranks. Local women worked at the arsenal rolling cartridges. Fayetteville operated hospitals for wounded soldiers. Much of the remnants of the U.S. Arsenal can be seen on display at the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex. 10 am - dusk. 910-486-1330
 Market House
The Market House built in 1832 on the site of the 1788 State House, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1831. At the State House, North Carolina ratified the US Constitution, chartered UNC, and ceded her western lands to form the State of Tennessee. Architecturally unique, the Market House is the only National Landmark in Cumberland County. Historically meat and produce and other goods were sold beneath, while the second floor was utilized as the town hall. Occasionally slaves were sold at Market Square and the vast majority of these sales were as a result of indebtedness or estate liquidation. During the Civil War, a skirmish took place around the Market House involving Confederate Hampton's and Union General Sherman's troops. After the Civil War, the Market House remained an important part of the civic and economic life of Fayetteville, functioning as an open market into the 20th century.
Today, the Market House is one of the 40 National Landmarks in North Carolina.
The upstairs room still serves as meeting space. Located at the intersection of Hay, Gillespie, Person and Green Streets. 910-483-2073.
 Sandford House
Sandford House is the main building on Heritage Square. Built in 1800, this Federal style home has been the residence for several prominent families of Scottish heritage who came up the Cape Fear River to settle in Fayetteville. The first to reside in this home was Duncan McLeran. He was a prominent citizen and one of the first elders of First Presbyterian Church. The next family to live here was John Adam and wife Sarah Donaldson. His father Robert Adam was an important local Scottish merchant and the first Commander of the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry (F.I.L.I.).
In 1820, the structure was purchased for use as the Bank of the United States, the first federal bank in North Carolina. John W. Sandford was the teller of the bank and he and his family resided upstairs on the top floor while the bank was in operation. The first floor was the bank and the basement held the vault. When the bank was discontinued in 1832, John W. Sandford purchased the building for his family home. Other prominent citizens lived in this home until it was purchased by The Woman’s Club of Fayetteville in 1945. According to local tradition, the residence was used as a barracks for Union troops during Gen. William T. Sherman’s occupation of Fayetteville in March 1865.
Open by appointment. Call to schedule. 910-483-6009. www.womansclubfay.org
 Averasboro Battlefield Complex
The Averasboro Battlefield Site Complex marks the spot of a Civil War battle that began on March 15, 1865. The battle was the result of a Confederate offensive maneuver to delay Union General Sherman’s progress through the South. Battle casualties were high for both armies. The Yankees reported 477 casualties, while the Confederates lost approximately 500. A little over 24 hours after the battle began, it ended with the Confederacy withdrawing its troops after achieving its mission.The battlefield is marked with interpretive signage pinpointing key physical locations within the battle.
The site also contains two plantation homes: Oak Grove, which was built in 1793 and Lebanon, built in 1825.
Tues-Sat 10 am - 4pm; Sun 1pm - 4 pm. www.Averasboro.com
 Old Bluff Church
Organized in 1758, Old Bluff Presbyterian Church is one of oldest Presbyterian churches in Cumberland County. This church along with Long Street Presbyterian and Barbeque Presbyterian Churches provided the Scottish population of the Upper Cape Fear Valley with longtime formal congregations. The present Greek Revival structure was built in 1858. The present day Bluff Presbyterian Church congregation, located in nearby Wade, maintains the old church.
As you face north entering the Old Bluff churchyard and cemetery, you are pointed in the direction in which the lead element of Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s Left Wing advanced on March 14, 1865. Over two days, the wing’s 30,000 officers and men, with their supplies and equipment, passed by in the face of sporadic and increasing Confederate resistance. That resistance culminated in the Battle of Averasboro on March 15–16 and the Battle of Bentonville on March 19–21.
Early on March 15, half a mile north along the Fayetteville-Raleigh Stage Road, Confederate cavalrymen skirmished with the Union vanguard at Silver Run Creek and Mill Pond. Later, Sherman established temporary headquarters there. The rainy weather that week made the roadway nearly impassable and the soldiers miserable. Despite the terrible weather, at nightfall on March 15, Union Col. William Hawley’s brigade prepared for a hot meal and a night’s rest here at Bluff Church after working all day corduroying the road. At 7:30 p.m., however, the brigade was called forward to assist the Union cavalry, which was halted and engaged, as the Battle of Averasboro began. One of the soldiers described the seven-mile trek to the battle site by saying, "Men had their shoes sucked off by the mud, while others stumbled, lost their guns, and were thankful that they were not trampled under by the moving column and buried alive."
The adjacent cemetery is one of the oldest in the county. Many early Scottish settler and merchant families are buried there: including Colonel Alexander McAllister (a leading county patriot in the American Revolution), Farquhard Campbell and David Marshall (Carbine) Williams (helped develop the semi-automatic M1 Carbine rifle used in World War II).
This site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Internal tour by appointment. 910-891-5019.
 Confederate Monument/Cross Creek Cemetery
Founded in 1785, Cross Creek Cemetery is the oldest public cemetery in Fayetteville. Mrs. Anne K. Kyle, who served as a nurse during the Civil War, established the Confederate Burial Ground soon after Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his army left Fayetteville in March 1865. She and Fayetteville Mayor Archibald McLean selected a spot in the back section of the cemetery overlooking Cross Creek to inter the soldiers.
After the war, Mrs. Kyle and a group of Fayetteville women worked together to erect a monument in memoriam of the Confederate dead. To raise funds, the women raffled a homemade silk quilt and sold tickets for a dollar each. The monument was erected in 1868 and is the oldest Confederate monument in North Carolina.
Another memorial was dedicated by John R. Tolar in the late 1860s, in remembrance of his father and eight uncles who were killed or disabled during the war.
In addition to the Confederate dead, many other Civil War veterans, both Southern and Northern, are interred in the cemetery.
 Confederate Breastworks
As Union General Sherman was making his way through Fayetteville with his army during the Civil War, a number of battles and skirmishes occurred in the area. The Confederate soldiers threw up breastworks early in 1865 to defend Fayetteville from Sherman’s army.
Breastworks were aboveground trenches that provided basic protection against enemy attacks. They were usually built on top of waterlogged ground where it was difficult to dig trenches. The name breastwork comes from the fact that the fortifications are about breast high. Earth, rocks, sandbags, masonry, tree trunks and any other material that could be found in the area was used to provide cover for trenches 7 to 8 feet high. In some places breastworks were as high as 30 feet. Ramsey Street at Cochran Avenue
Confederate Women’s Home
The Confederate Women’s Home was built in 1915 for the widows and daughters of North Carolina’s Confederate veterans, but was torn down during the 1960’s. It was located in the open empty lot beside the school and was torn down in the 1960's. About 300 yards from this marker is the Confederate Women’s Cemetery, which dates back to the 1800's. It’s marked by a brick column archway entrance next to the Gee Graveyard. Even though it is overgrown, the stones are visible. Glenville Avenue
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Iron Mike Statue
Sicily Drop Zone
The first state park dedicated to military veterans — young and old... living or deceased... from all branches of the Armed Services: Army, Navy Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard.