Kinston Battlefield

Four separate areas near Kinston, North Carolina, preserve the land and earthworks of the Civil War Battle of Kinston, fought December 13-14, 1862. Totaling about 614 acres, they include the Southwest Creek engagement site, a Confederate encampment ridge, the Upper Trent Road engagement site at Patterson's Chapel, and the final engagement area just south of the Neuse River. Confederate engineers built the earthworks to protect Kinston from Union forces based at New Bern. Surviving features include roughly 1,900 feet of earthworks at Southwest Creek, an earthen milldam that Union soldiers used as a bridge to flank the Confederate line, and a deeply entrenched remnant of the Wilmington Road. The battle was one of three fought during the Goldsboro Expedition and unfolded at several locations rather than on one field. The district was listed for its military significance and its relatively intact setting, despite an earlier survey that classed the battlefield's integrity as lost.