Union Gen. Henry Prince’s Second Division, III Corps, marched in advance of the Federal army on the day of battle, but uncertainty over which roads to take and the presence of Confederates in force near the intersection caused Prince to halt and gave his opponent time to concentrate near the battlefield. Prince then advanced two brigades into a clearing on both sides of the road to the right front as Confederate Gen. George H. Steuart spread his brigade along the Raccoon Ford Road and attacked. The fighting seesawed as charge met countercharge, and the dense underbrush made advancing difficult, so Prince, despite his numerical superiority, could not exploit his advantage. After calling for reinforcements, he took up a defensive position near the clearing and waited, while Steuart’s men, their ammunition exhausted, were unable to renew the offensive. Steuart’s 1st and 3rd North Carolina regiments suffered more killed and wounded than any other Confederate units in the Mine Run Campaign.