On the morning of March 6, 1862, Gen. Franz Sigel was eating breakfast at the Eagle Hotel on this site. He had remained there with 600 men and a battery of six pieces after the main column of his army had passed through Bentonville on its way to Sugar Creek. Confederate troops under Gen. Van Dorn surprised him and forced a hasty retreat. In 1887 Sigel returned to retrace his route and remarked that he had come back to finish his breakfast.