| North Carolina (Cumberland County), Fayetteville — The Battle of Bentonville — March 19, 20, and 21, 1865 |
| | At Bentonville, General William T. Sherman's Union Army, advancing from Fayetteville toward Goldsboro, met and battled the Confederate Army of General Joseph E. Johnston. General Robert E. Lee had directed the Confederates to make a stand in North Carolina to prevent Sherman from joining General U.S. Grant in front of Lee's Army at Petersburg, Virginia.
Johnston had been able to raise nearly 30,000 men from South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and eastern North Carolina. His army . . . — Map (db m20535) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Sherman |
| | Gen. Wm. T. Sherman camped in this area with his Left Wing on the night of March 18, 1865. The following morning, the Left Wing continued east along this road, meeting Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederates in the Battle of Bentonville, 2 miles east. Meanwhile, Sherman joined his Right Wing, marching toward Goldsboro on another road, and thus missed the first day of the battle. — Map (db m14430) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — H 1 — Battle of Bentonville |
| | Johnston's Confederates checked Sherman's Union army, March 19-21, 1865. Historic site 2½ Mi. E. — Map (db m5855) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Battle of Bentonville — “In suffering condition” — Carolinas Campaign |
| | (Preface):The Carolinas Campaign began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman led his army north from Savannah, Georgia, after the “March to the Sea.” Sherman's objective was to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia to crush Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Carolina, the Confederacy's logistical lifeline, where Sherman defeated Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at Bentonville. After . . . — Map (db m3738) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — North Carolina Monument |
| | In memory of the North Carolina soldiers who fought and died so courageously and the civilians who suffered so grievously during the Battle of Bentonville. March 19-21, 1865. — Map (db m6067) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Texas |
| | (Front Inscription):Texas remembers the valor and devotion of her sons who served at Bentonville March 19-21, 1865 The eighth Texas cavalry was engaged with the left wing of Sherman’s Union army on the eve of the Battle of Bentonville. During the battle on March 21, the eighth Texas again performed valuable service in the Confederate attack on Union General Mower’s Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps. Lieutenant-General William J. Hardee commanding a corps in the battle, ordered . . . — Map (db m6066) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Union Artillery at the Morris Farm |
| | A point approximately 400 yards in front of you marks the center of a line of Union cannons positioned on the Morris Farm on March 19, 1865. These massed guns played a significant role in blunting the final Confederate attacks on the first day of fighting at Bentonville. Four batteries (of four guns each) were arrayed on both sides of a ravine, north of the Goldsboro Road. These sixteen guns held commanding angles of fire across the open fields to your right and behind you. An additional . . . — Map (db m5851) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Confederate High Tide |
| | You are standing at the Morris farm, where part of the Union XX Corps arrived late in the afternoon on March 19,1865, to stop the main Confederate assault, which had crushed Carlin’s division of the XIV Corps at the Cole plantation. In the morning the Morris farmhouse was the XIV Corps field hospital, but it was abandoned and its wounded moved to the John Harper farm a half-mile west when Carlin’s men came streaming back and Confederate bullets began hitting the structure.
“The . . . — Map (db m5847) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Fighting at the Cole Plantation: The “Battle of Acorn Run” |
| | You are looking north of the Goldsboro Road at the site of the former Willis Cole plantation. Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton chose this ground (a mixture of dense vegetation and open fields) as an ideal location for Confederate forces to block the advance of the Union army (Sherman’s Left Wing). Deploying north of the Goldsboro Road on March 19, 1865, Union Brig. Gen. William P. Carlin’s division (of the Union XIV Corps) sought shelter in a Y-shaped ravine from the incoming barrage by the Confederate . . . — Map (db m5880) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Fighting South of the Goldsboro Road: The “Bull Pen” |
| | You are looking south of the Goldsboro Road at the area where Union Brig. Gen. James D. Morgan’s division began a defensive position facing Gen. Robert F. Hoke’s division after being deflected by the main Confederate line. These battle-hardened Union veterans had difficulty fortifying their position in the swampy, dense mass of trees and briars. Because of this harsh terrain, Morgan’s division was without artillery support. One participant in the fighting referred to this hotly contested area . . . — Map (db m5881) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Confederate Line Crossing the Goldsboro Road |
| | Directly in front and to your left, Confederate Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke’s division, on loan from the Army of Northern Virginia, blocked the old Goldsboro Road (now Harper House Road) to deflect the oncoming Union advance. The division was a mixed bag of veterans of Gettysburg and Cold Harbor, “Red Infantry” (artillery units from Fort Fisher and other coastal forts who served as infantry during the battle), and teenage boys formed into three regiments as a last-ditch Southern . . . — Map (db m5882) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Confederate North Carolina Junior Reserve Line |
| | In front of you is where the North Carolina Junior Reserves stood as the Army of Tennessee made its last grand charge against Carlin’s division at the Cole plantation on March 19, 1865. Three regiments and one battalion of Junior Reserves were assigned to Hoke’s Division – the 70th, 71st, and 72nd North Carolina regiments (1st, 2nd, and 3rd Junior Reserves); and Millard’s (20th) Battalion. The Junior Reserves, assigned to Hoke’s Division, numbered nearly 1,000 muskets in the field. . . . — Map (db m5845) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Merging of the Armies — Sherman’s Right Wing Arrives — Carolinas Campaign |
| | (Preface):The Carolinas Campaign began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman led his army north from Savannah, Georgia, after the “March to the Sea.” Sherman's objective was to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia to crush Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Carolina, the Confederacy's logistical lifeline, where Sherman defeated Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at Bentonville. After . . . — Map (db m5844) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Bentonville |
| | This memorial marks the battlefield of Bentonville where, on March 19-21, 1865, General Joseph E. Johnston, with about 15,000 Confederate troops, principally from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, checked the advance of Major-General W.T. Sherman’s army of United States troops until confronted with overwhelming numbers. Conspicuous in this battle were three regiments and one battalion of North Carolina Junior Reserves in Major-General Robert F. Hoke’s . . . — Map (db m5843) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Johnston’s Headquarters |
| | Established here on the night of March 18, 1865 and remained during the battle. Mower’s Division came within 200 yards of this point in the Union assault of March 21. — Map (db m14427) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Mower’s Charge Reaches Johnston’s Headquarters |
| | In the field in front of you skirmishers from the 64th Illinois, armed with Henry repeating rifles, overran Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s headquarters, forcing the general and his staff to flee on foot toward Bentonville (to your left). Maj. Gen. Joseph Mower had set out to do a “little reconnaissance” of the Confederate left flank on the morning of March 21, 1865. Due to driving rain and difficult terrain (deep swamps, briars, and dense undergrowth), it took Fuller’s and Tillson’s . . . — Map (db m5865) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Hardee’s Counterattack |
| | To your front and left, Confederate forces counterattacked Union forces under Maj. Gen. Joseph Mower on three sides. Leading a counterattack to protect the vital Mill Creek bridge – the only avenue of retreat for Johnston’s army – Gen. William Hardee along with Confederate cavalry commanders Wheeler, Hampton, and Allen bought precious time. With the support of Cumming’s infantry, they stopped and threw back two veteran brigades of Sherman’s boldest division. When Hardee made his way . . . — Map (db m5873) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Village of Bentonville |
| | You are looking at the village of Bentonville. This small hamlet bore the name of the largest battle ever fought in North Carolina. Named after local resident John Benton, the hamlet had a post office as early as 1849. In the 1860s Bentonville was a marketplace for naval stores and had a small carriage shop. During the battle, several homes in the village served as Confederate hospitals, which treated men from both sides. At one point during Mower’s charge, wounded Confederates fled as Union . . . — Map (db m5877) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Bentonville — Village of Bentonville — Wounded and Abandoned — Carolinas Campaign |
| | (Preface):The Carolinas Campaign began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman led his army north from Savannah, Georgia, after the “March to the Sea.” Sherman's objective was to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia to crush Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Carolina, the Confederacy's logistical lifeline, where Sherman defeated Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at Bentonville. After . . . — Map (db m14677) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Four Oaks — Hannah’s Creek Bridge — Saving the Colors — Carolinas Campaign |
| | (Preface): The Carolinas Campaign began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman led his army north from Savannah, Georgia, after the “March to the Sea.” Sherman's objective was to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia to crush Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Carolina, the Confederacy's logistical lifeline, where Sherman defeated Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at Bentonville. . . . — Map (db m14714) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Four Oaks — Confederate Line of March — “ … on this wretched road … ” — Carolinas Campaign |
| | (Preface): The Carolinas Campaign began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman led his army north from Savannah, Georgia, after the “March to the Sea.” Sherman's objective was to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia to crush Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Carolina, the Confederacy's logistical lifeline, where Sherman defeated Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at Bentonville. . . . — Map (db m14720) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Smithfield — Federal Line of March — “Poor North Carolina …” — Carolinas Campaign |
| | (Preface): The Carolinas Campaign began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman led his army north from Savannah, Georgia, after the “March to the Sea.” Sherman's objective was to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia to crush Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Carolina, the Confederacy's logistical lifeline, where Sherman defeated Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at Bentonville. . . . — Map (db m14712) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Smithfield — H 74 — Sherman’s March |
| | Enroute from Goldsboro to Raleigh, Sherman’s army camped 1 mile east and on April 12, 1865, celebrated the news of Lee’s surrender. — Map (db m14628) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Smithfield — Hastings House — Johnston’s Headquarters — Carolinas Campaign |
| | (Preface):The Carolinas Campaign began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman led his army north from Savannah, Georgia, after the “March to the Sea.” Sherman's objective was to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia to crush Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Carolina, the Confederacy's logistical lifeline, where Sherman defeated Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at Bentonville. After . . . — Map (db m14654) |
| North Carolina (Johnston County), Smithfield — Occupation of Smithfield — “cheering … rolled along the lines” — Carolinas Campaign |
| | (Preface):The Carolinas Campaign began on February 1, 1865, when Union Gen. William T. Sherman led his army north from Savannah, Georgia, after the “March to the Sea.” Sherman's objective was to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia to crush Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Carolina, the Confederacy's logistical lifeline, where Sherman defeated Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at Bentonville. After . . . — Map (db m14659) |
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