Hugh B. Monroe was born around 1839 in Moore County, North Carolina, to Patrick and Catharine Monroe. His father was a farmer who owned $400 of real estate by 1850. He grew up and attended school in Moore County, and by the early 1860s, he was working as a farmer.
He enlisted in the Confederate army on March 13, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company D of the 49th North Carolina Infantry on April 23. The regiment took part in the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Bermuda Hundred campaign, and the defense of Petersburg. He was wounded on June 2, 1864, and Union forces captured him soon afterward. Surgeons amputated his right foot, but they were unable to save his life. He died on August 10, 1864, in Fortress Monroe, Virginia.