Harriet’s Chapel stood at the center of a Confederate line defended by three infantry regiments and two artillery batteries. A heavily wooded wetland lay in front of the line, with the Neuse River behind it. The Confederate earthworks stretched from the Neuse River on the east to a deep swamp on the west, crossing the Wilmington road, now US 258, which in 1862 made a sharp turn to the west just south of Harriet’s Chapel. The Confederates used a fence row on the north side of the road and the deep swamp to the west to their advantage. From the near ninety-degree bend in the road, the line stretched east in front of Harriet’s Chapel, then bent north to the Neuse River. Gen. Nathan Evans placed the 61st North Carolina Infantry under Col. James D. Radcliffe at the center of the line, and Starr’s Battery, Battery B, 13th North Carolina Artillery, commanded by Capt. Joseph B. Starr, was also positioned near Harriet’s Chapel. Three South Carolina regiments held the eastern end of the Confederate line, including the 17th South Carolina under Col. Fitz W. McMasters.