Bentonville, NC

The Battle of Bentonville (March 19–21, 1865) was fought in Johnston County, North Carolina, near the village of Bentonville, as part of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the armies of Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.

As the right wing of Sherman's army under command of Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard marched toward Goldsboro, the left wing under command of Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum encountered the entrenched men of Johnston's army. On the first day of the battle, the Confederates attacked the XIV Corps and routed two divisions, but the rest of Sherman's army defended its positions successfully. The next day, as Sherman sent reinforcements to the battlefield and expected Johnston to withdraw, only minor sporadic fighting occurred. On the third day, as skirmishing continued, the division of Maj. Gen. Joseph A. Mower followed a path into the Confederate rear and attacked. The Confederates were able to repulse the attack as Sherman ordered Mower back to connect with his own corps. Johnston elected to withdraw from the battlefield that night.

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As a result of the overwhelming Union strength and the heavy casualties his army suffered in the battle, Johnston surrendered to Sherman little more than a month later at Bennett Place, near Durham Station. Coupled with Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9, Johnston's surrender represented the effective end of the war.

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During the battle, the Confederates suffered a total of nearly 2,600 casualties: 239 killed, 1,694 wounded and 673 missing. About half of the casualties were lost in the Army of Tennessee.[3] The Union army lost 194 killed, 1,112 wounded, and 221 missing, for a total of 1,527 casualties. The wounded were treated at the house of John Harper, with 360 unknown Confederates buried in a mass grave next to the Harper family cemetery.

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During the night of March 21 until the following dawn, Johnston withdrew his army across Mill Creek and burned the bridge behind him, leaving behind a cavalry detachment as a rearguard. The Union army failed to detect the Confederate retreat until it was over.[31] Sherman did not pursue the Confederates, but continued his march to Goldsboro, where he joined the Union forces under Terry and Schofield. After resting and refitting his combined forces, Sherman planned to continue onward to Petersburg, Virginia. However, following Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Johnston surrendered to Sherman at the Bennett Place, North Carolina on April 26.

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After the Confederate Army defeat at the Battle of Bentonville the army re-assembled around the grounds of the Everitt P. Stevens House where the last Grand Review of the army was held on April 6, 1865. In attendance at the review were Generals William J. Hardee, Joseph E. Johnston and Governor Zebulon Baird Vance.