Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston sent Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee's corps to attack Slocum's left wing while it was separated from the rest of Sherman's forces.

Slocum's troops had crossed the Cape Fear River at Fayetteville and were marching up the Raleigh plank road.

On the morning of March 16, troops of the Union XX Corps under Maj. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams were driven back by a Confederate assault.

By this time, units from Maj. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis's XIV Corps began to arrive on the field.

The Battle of Averasborough was fought on the grounds of Oak Grove, near Erwin, North Carolina.