Wheeler ordered his men to circle to the left, while he went to find Butler and report what had happened. Butler told him that his command was’scattered like the devil.’

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Harrison’s brigade of Texans, who had charged the swamp, now circled north to the head of the swamp to rejoin the fighting. But by the time they reached the rear of Butler’s division, the tide of battle had turned. The fighting became desperate, and encounters between the two fighting forces were reduced to hand-to-hand combat.

Lieutenant Ebenezer W. Stetson of the 10th Wisconsin Battery crept unnoticed through the ranks of the Confederates on his hands and knees and managed to reach the artillery fieldpieces parked on the ridge. Entirely alone, he unlimbered one of the pieces, loaded it and then fired it into a mass of Confederates. Sergeant John Swartz and a few other men then ran to Stetson’s location to assist in firing two more rounds at the Confederates. As the small group of Federals discharged double loads of shot at the Confederate troopers, the remnants of Kilpatrick’s cavalry took heart, regrouped and prepared to counterattack.

Some of Butler’s men concentrated their fire at the battery to knock it out. Then, with drawn sabers, they charged and swept down toward the camp; but they were met with such a shower of bullets from the swamp that they were hurled backward. The Federals moved up the rise from the swamp to the battery, and both cannons were then fired down at the Rebels. The Confederates again charged and attempted to take the battery. They managed to reach within 20 yards, but again were stopped by the withering fire.

The Confederates moved a column around the house in an attempt to take the battery from the rear, but Stetson noticed the movement and let go another round. It was at this point that the Federals started to move back into camp. Captain Theodore F. Northrop and his scouts vigorously attacked the Confederate left flank, driving them beyond the camp. Wheeler reformed his men twice and charged the Federals during the advance, but to no avail.

The solid line of Federal troops advanced slowly toward the mounted Confederates and poured a deadly fire into the enemy line, killing or wounding many of them. One account stated, ‘General Kilpatrick, mounted on a mule without a saddle with his drawers and shirt on and barefooted, advanced leading 150-200 men.’

The Confederates formed a line with their horses. With pistols and carbines they fired volleys of hot lead into the Federal line, but between 7:30 and 8 a.m. they began to slowly yield the field. About 9 o’clock the firing slackened, and the Battle of Monroe’s Cross Roads was over.

Kilpatrick ordered no pursuit–his troops were not only exhausted but also out of ammunition, and most were only half-dressed. Instead, Kilpatrick remained on the battlefield until about 3 p.m., burying the dead and caring for the wounded. The Monroe house was used as a hospital, and the dead were buried in shallow pits and covered with white sand.

Late in the afternoon, Kilpatrick ordered a cavalry division to march to the point where Chicken Road crossed Little Rockfish Creek. There they built a circle of log breastworks and camped for the night. Several of the mortally wounded died and were buried there. Spencer’s 3rd Brigade rode about five miles in the direction of Fayetteville, where he joined Kilpatrick’s other two brigades and camped for the night.

Meanwhile, the Confederates retreated north of the Little River and on to Fayetteville, where they joined up with Hardee. There the Confederates made a hospital in a flour warehouse on Person Street, cared for their wounded and buried the dead. Spencer reported 103 dead left on the field, a large number wounded and 30 prisoners of war.

The actual loss to the Confederate forces during the Battle of Monroe’s Cross Roads is unknown, but it was said that every house along the road was full of killed and wounded soldiers. Out of Hampton’s two brigades, 86 troops were reported left dead on the field. Major Christopher T. Cheek of the 5th Kentucky reported counting 33 dead Confederates within the limits of his camp, including many officers. Ten days after the battle, a commissioned officer, William F. Sewell of the 5th Georgia Cavalry, was found lying about a half mile from the battlefield within arm’s reach of a small stream called Persimmon Branch. His body was lying on a pallet made from a small part of a tent with a collapsible rubber cup lying by his side. His black horse, his only companion, had remained near him, cropping the wire grass for a considerable space around.

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