During the Carolinas Campaign, which began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman marched north from Savannah to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia against Gen. Robert E. Lee, Union Gen. John M. Schofield moved in early March from New Bern toward the vital rail junction at Goldsboro to open railroad communications and gather supplies for Sherman. Schofield sent Gen. Jacob D. Cox ahead, but along Southwest Creek near Kinston Confederate Gen. Robert F. Hoke’s division blocked the route. The Federals met the Confederates there on March 7, and Hoke struck their left flank the next morning. That afternoon Confederate Gen. D. H. Hill threatened the Federal right, but Gen. Braxton Bragg, in command at Kinston, recalled him, while Cox received reinforcements late in the day. On March 9, fighting was largely limited to skirmishing as Hoke tested the Federal right. Bragg then ordered Hoke to move his division to Lower Trent Road to attack the Federal rear near Wyse Fork, and after a night march Hoke’s men assaulted on the morning of March 10. They ran into a strong skirmish line, artillery, and fortifications and, despite Hill’s demonstration against the Federal center, could not break through. Cox held the position, the Confederates retreated to Kinston, and the Union force then fell back to Goldsboro before later taking part in the Battle of Bentonville. After bridges were repaired, Schofield occupied Kinston on March 19 and reached Goldsboro two days later. The nearby house was the home of Confederate Lt. Robert Bond Vause, who was killed at the Battle of Fort Anderson, and in 1862 it served as the headquarters of Gen. Robert Ransom, Jr.