March madness continues March 3, 1865 J.L.M. Curry, Lt. Col., commanding, Fifth Alabama Cavalry, reported to Brig. Gen. Roddey, that the Union Fourth Corps is moving to the east toward Stevenson and Chattanooga. He also reports and embargo has been placed on the citizens of Huntsville and none are allowed to come out or cross the river until further notice.
March 4, 1865 Salisbury (written to Robert E. Lee)
I am on my way to Hardee via Fayetteville. Lee’s Corps will start today by rail by the same route and Stewart and Cheatham from Chester tomorrow. General Beaugregard will bring them on.
– J.E. Johnston, Gen.
March 5, 1865 Charlotte
Three brigades of Stewart’s Corps left Chesterville today. The rest of his and Cheatham’s will arrive here today in time to follow remnant of Stevenson’s Corps from here – G.T. Beauregard, Gen.
From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
They then marched to Chester, S.C., reaching it on 5 March.
Heading for North Carolina, the AOT on the move March 6, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps in Chester, South Carolina
Note: Chester was on the route of the Charlotte, Columbia & Augusta Railroad which was used to transport much of the Army of Tennessee from Augusta to Charlotte. Towns on the rail were Graniteville, Batesville, Lexington, Columbia, Winnsboro, Youngsville, Chester, Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Charlotte.
the journey continues March 9, 1865
Confederate Army began leaving Charlotte for Raleigh via rail. At Charlotte the Army of Tennessee boarded the North Carolina Railroad for Concord, Salisbury, Lexington, Greensboro, Graham, Hillsborough, and Raleigh.
From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
At Chester they "took to the cars" northward to Charlotte, North Carolina, and on through Salisbury, Greensborough, Raleigh and Smithfield to reach Goldsboro. They arrived on 9 March 1865 and were marched to Kinston, North Carolina, that same day. These movements were in response to Gen. W. T. Sherman's march northward from Savanna, Georgia, into South Carolina, and his campaign to link up with other Federal forces. The problem for Gen. Johnston was that he did not know exactly where Gen. Sherman was heading. Gen. Sherman had divided his forces into two columns. This caused Gen. Johnston to keep his forces divided also.
March 10, 1865
The 10th TN Cavalry (US) was at Natchez, Mississippi. For them, the war was over, only guard duty remained.
From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
The 33rd Mississippi had withdrawn from Kinston on 10 March and transferred to Smithfield, North Carolina.
March 11, 1865
Sherman’s army spent the night at Fayetteville, NC
March 11, 1865
Lieut. Gen. Richard Taylor abolished the District of North Alabama. All of the State of Alabama, except that portion in the District of the Gulf, becomes the District of Alabama, Brig. Gen. D.W. Adams, commanding. This same day Mar 11, Cheatham’s Corps in Charlotte, North Carolina by rail.
Dallas T. Ward Essay The following was written and left for posterity by Dallas T. Ward:
When the war commenced between the States I was a mere boy, fifteen years old. For over two years I ran as a newsboy on the old Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, now a part of the Seaboard Air Line from Raleigh to Weldon. During these years I worked hard and faithfully, and in a year or so was given the position of conductor on the same line, and the historical event I wish to narrate here occurred while I was filling this position.
When I was nineteen years old I was ordered to take my train, consisting of seven cars loaded with railroad supplies, and go ahead of General Joseph E. Johnston's army to Greensboro, N. C., in order to keep away from the enemy, General Sherman, who was so rapidly advancing towards Raleigh, N. C.
While waiting for final instructions to go to Greensboro, I walked up to the Capitol and stood near General Joseph E. Johnston, who was sitting on his horse inside the Capitol gate, reviewing his troops as they were passing up Fayetteville Street. It was a pathetic sight to see the tattered, torn and hungry, but brave soldiers on their retreat. While standing there a messenger came to me and told me to report to the round house or shops where I would find an engine with one coach attached and with this I was to go at once to the passenger station about one mile on the other side of the city (now the Southern freight depot), and wait for further instructions. Everything seemed secretive, and the railroad people could find out nothing. When later I was asked to secure a white flag I understood it was a flag of truce I was to conduct. It will probably add a more personal and human touch if I tell you the difficulty I had in procuring one. White cloth was exceedingly scarce, so we sent to house after house in vain, but at last found a piece about one yard square. The next problem was to find a staff, and for this purpose a long-handled spear was excavated from a nearby warehouse. After attaching the cloth and thinking our labors ended along this line, we saw it would never do to ride into the enemy's lines with the glittering spear shining. We had the train hand take the flag down and cut off the end. By this time the party arrived, consisting of Ex-Governor W. A. Graham; Governor David L. Swain; Dr. Edward Warren, Surgeon General of the State; Colonel Jas. G. Burr, of Wilmington, N. C.; and Major John Devereux, of Raleigh. They had been appointed by Governor Z. B. Vance and his advisers to go under flag of truce to find General Sherman and surrender the City of Raleigh, so as to prevent, if possible the destruction that befell the City of Columbia, S.C., where fourteen hundred buildings were burned.
More Dallas T. Ward essay The members of the party conducted themselves according to the dignity of the occasion. Only a few words were spoken and they were almost in whispers. They realized the peril of the moment, and we started off rather sadly. We went on slowly for fear our soldiers might not understand our mission and send a stray bullet through our coach.
Our trip was unmolested until General Wade Hampton, who was covering the retreat, motioned to us to stop. We left the coach and walked out to meet him, with his staff about him, with Governor Graham, in his gentle, dignified manner, as spokesman. After a short conference with General Hampton, and having gained his consent, we proceeded towards Sherman's quarters.
You who think this an enviable trip will probably change when I tell you of the roaring cannons and firing of infantry just ahead of us.
We went slowly on, however, until we saw a fine charger dashing towards us through an open field, with a soldier waving his saber frantically at us. We halted, and he breathlessly told us General Hampton had ordered us to stop on account of the hazardousness of the journey. No sooner said than done. We immediately ordered the engineer to move quickly back. Upon reaching Hampton again, he told Governor Graham that he had received a courier message from General Johnston stating it would not be safe for the flag of truce to continue, and, in the meantime General Kilpatrick had gotten in his rear. We were in quite a dilemma. So I called my old friend, Major Devereux, aside and suggested that we try to get back to Raleigh. I felt sure that Kilpatrick knew there was no rolling stock on this end of the line between Goldsboro and Raleigh, and that he would not probably tear up the track. We were badly frightened, you may be sure. However, the final verdict was to try to get back to Raleigh and not fall into the hands of Kilpatrick's men.
still more Dallas T. Ward essay In all of this excitement General Hampton showed remarkable composure.
We proceeded slowly and Dr. Warren stood on the platform next to the engine tender with me while I held firmly to the bell cord, so at the first glimpse of soldiers I might signal the train to stop. We did not go many miles either before I spied two or three cavalrymen on the railroad bank a short distance ahead. My exclamation was, "Doc, yonder are the Yankees." We went into the coach to report the fact, and you can know our hearts were in our throats as we moved slowly into a railroad cut. They piled down upon us like wild Indians, and had not officers appeared, would have in all probability, taken our lives. They ordered the official party out, and it was a heart rending sight to see the stately old gentleman climbing up the bank to be led away to Kilpatrick's headquarters in the saddle some distance in the woods.
Pardon a personal allusion, when I tell what transpired while they were away. At first I resisted the insults thrust upon me. However a loaded musket pointed in my face, with the threat to blow my brains out, brought me quickly into submission. They robbed me of twenty-two hundred dollars in Confederate money, also of my watch and everything of value on the car. They then enjoyed making sport of me and calling me little Johnnie rebel. I wasn't even permitted to speak to my engineer, Mr. Faison. They took the throttle lever off, put the fire out in the engine, and placed a strong guard over us.
To add to the appalling situation, I could see up on the banks wounded men and blood flowing from the horses, and hear the constant firing of guns in the near distance. Naturally I was becoming alarmed about the official party, but officers soon came and told me they were safe and also told me General Kilpatrick wished to see me. I summoned my courage and obediently followed them a half mile or so into the woods. There I found the General sitting upon his horse with his staff near him. The following are some of his questions to me: "Are you the conductor in charge of the flag of truce? When did you leave Raleigh? Who is in the party? Do you think Johnston will make a stand to fight us in Raleigh? How many men do you suppose he has?" etc. I answered as courteously and briefly as I could, for I wasn't altogether comfortable to hear bullets whizzing through the pines, but, like an eel being skinned, I was getting used to the situation and was more composed.
Dallas continues... Kilpatrick, on the other hand, seemed angry and greatly excited and cursed at his men to go do this and that. After having obtained the desired information he permitted me to be carried back to my coach and ordered the soldiers to fire my engine for me.
In those days we used wood for fuel, and our supply was almost exhausted. However, the soldiers replenished it with broken fence rails. You may be sure I was glad to get back and also to find all of our party sitting quietly in the car. Adjutant General Estes, of Kilpatrick's staff, was then instructed to conduct us to General Sherman's camp. With thirty or forty soldiers in and on top of the coach we resumed our sad mission. I reported to Major Devereux the treatment I had received at the hands of the enemy during their absence. General Estes promised to regain my watch, etc., but this he never did. From this time on it seemed as if the whole of Sherman's army was lined up on either side of the track, and as it was growing late the camp fires were a picturesque scene. Upon reaching Sherman's headquarters at Clayton, N. C., we were escorted to the General's tent. He met us cordially, and after Governor Graham made known our mission and read the papers signed by Governor Vance, General Sherman assured us that the flag of truce would be respected.
Then followed the never-to-be-forgotten supper, after the day so full of excitement. After the meal an animated conversation ensued between Governor Swain, Governor Graham and General Sherman. Governor Swain, who was in his declining years, was somewhat deaf. However, his rejoinders were always witty and caused some merriment.
Sherman after dinner.... When Taps sounded, General Sherman saw that all of us were as comfortably settled as bunks would allow for the night. I was put in the tent adjoining General Sherman, and actually slept for a few hours. I have forgotten the name but remember very pleasantly the general with whom I slept. I wish to speak of his great admiration for General Johnston, although he was fighting him every day. His ability as a leader was in his opinion worth more than passing notice. No one could surpass him on a retreat, as it was often said that even a camp kettle could scarcely be found behind him.
Upon leaving the following morning, General Sherman escorted us to our train, shook hands with each one of us and wished us a safe trip back to Raleigh. He said he would be there in a few hours.
We continued our journey home peaceably until we reached Garner, at that time a wood and water station five miles from Raleigh.
There we saw General Kilpatrick and his staff. They were all clothed in bright new uniforms and on fine fat horses, a new flag waving above their heads. He rode up near our coach and Governor Graham raised his window in recognition of his approach. This was what the former said: "You can go on to Raleigh, as this flag of truce has been recognized and the City of Raleigh surrendered. If you show any resistance, however, we will give you hell. Now you had better put up your white flag, too, or your own men may make a mistake and fire upon you. As soon as you leave me you are in General Hampton's lines."
Again we had difficulty in fashioning a flag, for ours had been taken on the day before. Our cloth remained, but we had no staff. At last we found an old persimmon tree, from which we cut a very crooked branch. This wasn't substantial enough, so we sent Bob, a faithful old colored hand, up on top of the coach to hold it. He was frightened but held to the flag just the same.
Dallas wraps it up! At last the perilous journey was ended and we reached Raleigh as Kilpatrick's men were also reaching there. On that day I saw General Sherman review his troops from the same place that on the day before I saw General Johnston review his. The contrast was a great one, for Sherman's men were clad in new uniforms.
Many other cruel and exciting instances might be cited, but my story is long enough. To my readers I wish to say in closing, this is simply but truthfully told. Many years have elapsed since that time, and I am now past sixty-eight years old. However, a hundred more years would not efface the memory of that most eventful day of my youth.
Dallas T. Ward
Enthralling and enlightening series of posts, Larry. Thank you.
Ole
A good friend posts your bail. A really good friend sits with you and says, "Dang, that was fun."
The AOT moves on..... Thanks, Ole.
March 14, 1865 near Smithfield (written to Joseph E. Johnston)
I encamp at Smithfield tonight. Tennessee troops are all up. My own will be here tomorrow. The enemy had not advanced on Kinston last night. –
Braxton Bragg, Gen.
Smithfield, North Carolina
I left Ashe County, North Carolina in 1965 and attended school at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. I remained in Raleigh after school except for a couple of years in Charlotte 73-74. I returned to Raleigh until 1978 when I moved to Nashville. During that time I became acquainted with the surrounding towns one of which was Smithfield. This city of about 10,000 is located on the Neuse River just a fifteen minute drive down US 70 from east Raleigh. A sleepy southern town of three story buildings it retained many of the vestiges of the old south. The remnants of segregation were still evident in the 1970s. The sister city of Selma was predominately black; Smithfield was predominately white. As you approached downtown the bridge over the Neuse was guarded by a large billboard depicting a hooded Klansman mounted with sword drawn sporting the caption: “Welcome to Smithfield, Home of the KKK, United Klans of America.” Smithfield is in Johnston County named for Gabriel Johnston, Governor of North Carolina, 1734-1752. General Joe is far better known! ldc-2004
March 16, 1865 The left wing of Sherman’s army met Hardee’s Corps
in battle at Averasboro, NC
March 16, 1865 General Joseph Johnston appointed Lt. Gen. A.P.
Steward to assume command of the Army of Tennessee.
March 18, 1865
From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
On 18 March 1865 the regiment headed southeast to the town of Bentonville. They were moving into their last fight as an organized regiment.
March 19, 1865 Sherman’s army in battle at Bentonville, NC
From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
Bentonville
“On 19 March 1865 the pitifully small Army of Tennessee numbered about 4,000 men. They were deployed to the right of the Goldsboro Road and began to probe south through the woods. They then took a defensive position in the woods and awaited the Federals. The federal XIVth Corps moved to the attack and were repulsed by Stewart s men. They held their positions until mid-afternoon when the 33rd Mississippi and the remainder of the Army of Tennessee moved out to attack. One officer witnessed the charge and related, "It was a painful sight to see how close their battle flags were together, regiments being scarcely larger than companies and a division not much larger than a regiment should be."
Despite their small numbers the men of Featherston's Brigade who were there were the toughest of the tough. They slammed into Gen. Henry Slocum's XIVth Corps and pushed them back for over a mile. The Federals rallied in a pine thicket which was supported by trenches, a swamp, and the arriving XXth Corps. Here the two sides fought it out as isolated groups rather than organized regiments. The fighting continued into the night until the Confederates accepted the fact that the Yankees were not going to retreat any further. The Southerners then returned to their original positions. On the 20th, fresh Federal forces arrived at the battlefield. There were no new forces for the Confederacy. The two sides spent the day shooting at each other from behind trees. This continued on the 21st while the Confederate wounded were sent to the rear.”
Bentonville Let’s pause here for a look at the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, the final major battle of the Civil War. This material has been extracted from the Houghton Mifflin Co. publishers website:
Sherman's Carolina Campaign: February-March 1865 :
Bentonville, North Carolina (NC020) , Johnston County, March 19-21, 1865
John G. Barrett
“On March 18 just before dawn the Confederate chief of cavalry, CS Lieutenant General Wade Hampton, notified CS General Joseph E. Johnston that the Union army was marching on Goldsboro, not Raleigh, and that US Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Right Wing was approximately half a day's march in advance of the Left Wing. Johnston saw an opportunity to crush one of the Union columns while it was separated from the other. Johnston ordered his troops at Smithfield and Elevation to Bentonville, a village approximately twenty miles west of Goldsboro. CS General Braxton Bragg was at Smithfield with CS Major General Robert F. Hoke's Division of North Carolinians, as well as remnants of the once-proud Army of Tennessee, the survivors of Franklin and Nashville, now under the command of CS Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart. CS Lieutenant General William J. Hardee was encamped at Elevation with the divisions of CS Major General Lafayette McLaws and CS Brigadier General W. B. Taliaferro. When Bragg and Stewart reached Bentonville on the eighteenth, Hardee was still six miles away.
Johnston's combat strength was about 21,000, considerably fewer than the 45,000 Sherman thought opposed him. This paucity in manpower was offset, at least in part, by the large number of able Confederate commanders present. Besides Johnston and Bragg, who were full generals, three officers—Hampton, Hardee, and Stewart—carried the rank of lieutenant general. Also on the field were many seasoned officers of lesser rank, including Major Generals Daniel Harvey Hill, Joseph Wheeler, Robert F. Hoke, Lafayette McLaws, and William W. Loring. Bentonville was singular among Civil War battles for having so few men led in combat by so many veteran officers of high rank.
During the evening of the eighteenth, Hampton informed Johnston that Union troops—US Major General Henry W. Slocum's column, with the XIV Corps in the lead, US Major General Jefferson C. Davis commanding—were moving down the Goldsboro Road. He recommended a surprise attack at the eastern end of the Cole plantation, about two miles south of Bentonville near the Goldsboro Road. The land there was marshy and covered with dense thickets of blackjack pine.
Sunday morning, March 19, dawned clear and beautiful, and the unsuspecting Union soldiers expected a day of peace and quiet. They thought little of the fact that the Confederate cavalry was giving ground grudgingly and even revived an expression of the Atlanta campaign, "They don't drive worth a ****." Slocum, who had no idea that Johnston's entire army was gathering only a few miles down the road, sent a dispatch to Sherman, who was with US Major General Oliver O. Howard, that only Confederate horsemen and a few pieces of artillery were in his front. Sherman did not anticipate an attack because he could not imagine that Johnston would risk a fight with the Neuse River in his rear.
The deployment of the Confederate troops was slow because only one road led through the dense woods and thickets between Bentonville and the battlefield. First, Hoke's Division was placed on the Confederate left with its line crossing the Goldsboro Road almost at right angles. Stewart's Army of Tennessee was to the right of Hoke, with its right strongly thrown forward to conform to the edge of an open field. The center of Johnston's position was at a corner of the Cole plantation approximately a mile north of the Goldsboro Road. The two wings went forward from the center, the left blocking the advance of US Brigadier General W. P. Carlin's division of the XIV Corps. The right was partially hidden in a thicket, ready to stop any flanking movements by the enemy. However, Hardee, who was to hold the ground between Hoke and Stewart, had not reached the field when the two commands went into position, so Johnston had to change the deposition of his troops. Hardee did not arrive until around 2:45 p.m., long after Hoke's artillery had opened fire on Carlin's advance troops, the brigades of US Brigadier Generals Harrison C. Hobart and George P. Buell, as they approached the Cole house.
More Bentonville As the morning advanced, Slocum, still convinced that he faced only cavalry, sent word to Sherman that help was not needed. At the same time he ordered a general advance. The Confederate right responded fiercely to the assault, and in the words of a Union officer, "I tell you it was a tight place ... [we] stood as long as man could stand ... [then] we run like the duce." Carlin's men fell back to the vicinity of the Cole house, where they deployed carelessly into a weak defensive line. Soon they were joined by US Brigadier General James S. Robinson's brigade of the XX Corps. By this time US Brigadier General James D. Morgan's division of the XIV Corps and US Lieutenant Colonel David Miles's brigade of Carlin's division had moved into position south of the Goldsboro Road opposite Hoke and on Carlin's right. Log breastworks, thrown up in great haste by Morgan's brigade commanders, US Brigadier Generals John G. Mitchell and William Vandever, and US Colonel Benjamin D. Fearing, contributed to the Union success late in the day when the Confederates went on the offensive. One Federal officer said that those logs "saved Sherman's reputation." Slocum realized that he was in trouble at 1:30 p.m., called for reinforcements, and went on the defensive.
At about 3:00 p.m. Johnston ordered his right wing under Hardee to take the offensive. Hardee, Stewart, and Hill led the charge on horseback "across an open field ... with colors flying and line of battle in ... perfect order.... It was gallantly done but for those watching from Hoke's trenches it was ... painful to see how close their battle flags were together, regiments being scarcely larger than companies and the division not much larger than a regiment should be." The Union left was crushed by this stirring, well-executed move and driven back in confusion upon the XX Corps under US Brigadier General Alpheus S. Williams, a mile to the rear.
The rout of Carlin's troops had exposed the Union right, enabling Hill to break through and strike Morgan's division in the rear while Hoke attacked from the front. The result was the bitterest fighting of the day, the crucial period of the battle. Veterans of the Army of Northern Virginia thought "it was the hottest infantry fight they had been in except Cold Harbor." Only the timely arrival of US Brigadier General William Cogswell's brigade of the XX Corps saved Morgan from defeat. This was the turning point of the battle of Bentonville.
Later that afternoon, between 5:00 p.m. and sundown, McLaws's Division and the exhausted troops of Taliaferro and CS Major General William B. Bate tried five times without success to carry the formidable Union left. As dusk faded into darkness, the weary combatants gradually ceased their firing. After burying their dead, the Confederate soldiers withdrew to the position they had occupied earlier in the day. The Union wounded were taken to the home of John and Amy Harper, which had been converted into a field hospital.
The next morning Johnston, anticipating the arrival of Sherman's Right Wing, bent his left back to form a bridgehead, with the only bridge across Mill Creek to his rear. This put the Confederate line, in the shape of a large irregular V, entirely north of the Goldsboro Road.
On the late afternoon of March 20, Sherman's army of 60,000 was again united. Howard's troops, the last to arrive on the battlefield, dug in on the right. The Union left was held by the XIV and XX Corps. There was heavy skirmishing throughout the second day, which occasionally erupted into violent combat, some of it involving the three regiments of North Carolina Junior Reserves in Hoke's command.
On the twenty-first the only important action occurred on the Union right when US Major General Joseph A. Mower, without consulting his superiors, pushed two brigades around the Confederate left flank to within a mile of the Mill Creek bridge. Among the Confederate units helping to blunt this offensive was the skeletal 8th Texas Cavalry under Hardee's immediate command. In a gallant charge by the cavalrymen against the Union left, Hardee's sixteen-year-old son, Willie, was mortally wounded. A few hours earlier the father had reluctantly given his teenage son permission to join the Texans.
That night Johnston crossed Mill Creek and moved on Smithfield, beginning a withdrawal that could have "but one end." Sherman, after burying the dead and removing the wounded, put his troops in motion for Goldsboro rather than in pursuit of his long-time antagonist.
Bentonville was a major contest, involving about 80,000 troops, and was the climax of Sherman's highly successful Carolinas campaign. At Goldsboro Sherman joined his army with US Major General John M. Schofield's two columns—US Major General Alfred H. Terry's and US Major General Jacob D. Cox's—and gained rail connections to the large supply bases on the North Carolina coast. Sherman's campaign had laid waste a forty-five-mile-wide swath of countryside from Savannah to Goldsboro. When morale among his troops began to wane badly with the rumors of Richmond's fall, Johnston directed that all executions for desertion be suspended. The time was almost at hand to end all killing.
March 20, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps in Smithfield, North Carolina by
rail
March 21, 1865 Headquarters General Robert E. Lee wrote:
General J. E. Johnston at 9 am at Bentonville, reports that he is removing his wounded to Smithfield. The enemy’s entrenched position and greatly superior numbers, Sherman’s Army being on our front, make further offensive movements impracticable. – R.E. Lee
March 22, 1865
Union cavalry, 14,500 men, [accounts vary from 13-14k) under command of Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson, departed Waterloo, on the Tennessee River, moving in the direction of Central Alabama intending to destroy the arsenal and supplies at Selma. According to Gene Cantrell from official records , Upton's division moved via Barton's Station, Russellville, Mt Hope, and Jasper, to Elyton. [Elyton is now known as Birmingham] Long's division marched by the way of Cherokee Station, Frankford, Russellville, crossed Bear Creek on the Tuscaloosa road, thence by Thorn Hill and Jasper to Elyton. McCook pursued the same route to the crossing of Bear Creek, and thence taking the Tuscaloosa road to Eldridge, then to Jasper and on to Elyton.
Back in North Carolina:
From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
“On the 22nd the Rebel army began its retreat. The Battle of Bentonville had cost it 2,600 men while the Federals lost 1,637.”
March 28, 1865
Union Maj. Gen. Upton's Fourth Division arrived at Elyton on and reported Patterson's regiment from Northern Alabama passed through Elyton just before the arrival of his division. Patterson's rear guard was driven out by the arriving Union troops. Patterson's troops obstructed the ford across the Cahawba River, delaying the Union troops until a footbridge could be laid on the railroad bridge on the 30th.
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