General Judson Kilpatrick, commanding officer of the Union cavalry advance, forced Confederate forces, under the command of Generals Wade Hampton III and Joseph Wheeler, to withdraw in haste.

The Confederates were frantically trying to transport their remaining supplies and wounded westward, by rail, toward the final Confederate encampment in Greensboro, NC, which, unbeknownst to them, had fallen under attack by the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry as part of Stoneman's Raid.

Kilpatrick used artillery on the heights overlooking Morrisville Station and cavalry charges to push the Confederates out of the small village leaving many needed supplies behind.

Several days later the two generals met at Bennett Place on April 17, 1865 to begin discussing the terms of what would become the largest surrender of the war.

The North Carolina government has installed a sign marking the approximate location of the battle.