The Battle of Kinston was fought on December 14, 1862, in Lenoir County, North Carolina, near the town of Kinston, as part of the Goldsboro Expedition of the American Civil War.
A Union expedition led by Brig. Gen. John G. Foster left New Bern in December to disrupt the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad at Goldsborough. The advance was stubbornly contested by Brig. Gen. Nathan Evans's brigade near Kinston Bridge on December 14, but the Confederates were outnumbered and withdrew north of the Neuse River in the direction of Goldsborough. Foster continued his movement the next day, taking the River Road, south of the Neuse River.