BENTONVILLE AND THE FADING CONFEDERACY

Bentonville and the fading Confederacy

In the final spring of the Civil War, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s armies marched north from Georgia into the Carolinas, aiming to link up with Union forces advancing from Virginia. Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston gathered what troops he could to strike a concentrated blow against one wing of Sherman’s column near Bentonville, North Carolina. Over three days of fighting, Southern attacks achieved some local success but could not break the larger Union formations or dislodge them from the field. By March 21st, 1865, Union reinforcements had arrived, and Johnston’s outnumbered army withdrew, narrowly escaping encirclement in muddy woods and fields. The failed stand at Bentonville marked the last major Confederate attempt to halt Sherman’s advance. In the weeks that followed, Union forces captured more territory in the Carolinas, contributing directly to the string of surrenders that ended organized Confederate resistance.