Battle of Wyse Fork The Battle of Wyse Fork was a battle fought in the Carolinas Campaign of the American Civil War , resulting in a Union Army victory . Background . At the end of February 1865 the port city of Wilmington had fallen to Union troops under the command of Maj . Gen . John M . Schofield . Schofield was then to move his forces inland from the coast and join with Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s forces at Goldsboro , North Carolina , where three Union armies would move against a Confederate army being gathered under Confederate General Joseph E . Johnston . Schofield , with the units from Alfred Terry ' s Expeditionary Corps , moved north from Wilmington , while Maj . Gen . Jacob D . Cox took his XXIII Corps division and sailed up the coast and landed at New Bern , North Carolina . At New Bern , the Union forces were increased to three divisions and formed into a Provisional Corps with Cox in command . Moving towards Goldsboro , the Union forces repaired the railroad which was to function as a supply route for Sherman ' s Army Group . Johnston ' s army was too far away to move against Schofield ' s divided forces , but General Braxton Bragg ' s forces , falling back from Wilmington , were within striking distance . Bragg moved against Cox near Kinston . Battle . On March 7 , Federal advance units encountered Bragg ' s entrenched forces along Southwest Creek east of Kinston . Bragg ' s position not only blocked Cox ' s path but threatened a vital cross road and the New Bern - Goldsboro Railroad . Cox saw the importance of this position and moved forward the divisions of Brig . Gen . Innis N . Palmer to protect the railroad and Maj . Gen . Samuel P . Carter to protect the roads . Bragg ' s forces were also reinforced by veterans from the Army of Tennessee and the North Carolina Junior Reserves , all under the command of General D . H . Hill . Reinforced , Bragg went on the offensive and sent a division under North Carolina native Robert Hoke into the Union left flank . Hoke ' s attack hit a New England brigade in Carter ' s division , capturing an entire regiment . Hill joined the advance with the Junior Reserves but they panicked and refused to go any further . Hill left them behind and moved on with his veterans , hitting the Union brigade and defeating it . Disaster threatened the Union flank when Bragg stopped Hill ' s advance and sent him far to the north to counterattack a Union threat . When Hill arrived he found no Federals in sight . At this time Cox , who had been away from the front lines , returned and moved up his reserve division under Maj . Gen . Thomas H . Ruger to plug the gap between Palmer and Carter . Skirmishing continued for the next few days until Hoke tried again to turn the Federal left flank on March 10 . The Federal position had been strongly fortified by artillery and repulsed Hoke ' s attack within an hour . Hill then moved against the Union center but again Federal artillery proved decisive and the attackers were repulsed . The remaining elements from the Federal XXIII Corps , which had just arrived in New Bern from Tennessee , were moving on Kinston . Facing five Union divisions , Bragg withdrew . Aftermath . Bragg had only momentarily been able to check Cox ' s advance . Schofield ' s forces reached two full corps and were organized into the Army of the Ohio . Sherman ' s armies , which had just defeated Johnston ' s army at Bentonville , joined with Schofield at Goldsboro on March 23 . Facing three Union armies , Johnston retreated to the north and on April 26 Johnston surrendered to Sherman . Alternative names . The battle was also known by the following names :