Why didn't Johnston utilize the defense's at Raleigh?

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It's late in the war, things look grim, and the Rebs are stalling for time, why didn't Johnston, Post Bentonville, use the fortifications at Raleigh to stall Sherman. Would this have made any sense? Or could've Sherman simply bypassed JJ?

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If I remember the sequence right, after Bentonville (19-21 March), Federal forces went to Goldsboro, Confederates to Smithfield. The armies mostly stayed put in those places until around the time of Richmond's fall and Lee's surrender (9 April). By that time, most decision-makers knew the jig was up. NC Gov Vance (in spite of putting on a publicly defiant face) and other leaders in Raleigh were working themselves up to surrender the city, which they did on 13 April. Before the Federals got to Raleigh, Johnston pulled out and headed west. By those last couple of weeks, I think Johnston wanted to avoid more fighting, hoping to get good terms of surrender for his men, which he finally did.

A number of us here in Raleigh have studied the city's defenses, which were built in 1863. If Raleigh had been attacked earlier in the war, the defenses would probably have been useful. They consisted of about a six-mile line of entrenchments with 18 redans. It's interesting to think about what it would have been like to have a battle or siege here. But by Spring of 1865, NC officials (along with Johnston, I think) were ready to bring it all to an end.

Roy B.
 
A number of us here in Raleigh have studied the city's defenses, which were built in 1863. If Raleigh had been attacked earlier in the war, the defenses would probably have been useful. They consisted of about a six-mile line of entrenchments with 18 redans.

I had no idea Raleigh had such extensive defenses. What led to their construction - the Union occupation of New Bern?
 
I had no idea Raleigh had such extensive defenses. What led to their construction - the Union occupation of New Bern?

Good question. Major construction started in July 1863. Lt Col Henry T. Guion Arty & Eng was ordered by D.H. Hill at Petersburg to come to NC to plan and construct defenses around Raleigh and Fayetteville. At that time, Federal cavalry had made some disturbing raids on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, in some cases only about 50 miles from Raleigh. News reports from that time suggest that these raids provoked panic and served as incentive to build works around the city.

Interestingly, though, some of Gov Vance's correspondence indicates that he had already been trying to get artillery sent down here. I've run across one reference that indicates some fortifications might have been under development from the time of the New Bern occupation in March 1862. But I have to do more investigation around that.

Roy B.
 
With regard to the OP, another aspect to the Raleigh question has to do with Sherman's true intent in the Carolinas Campaign. If I understand correctly, his plan was to push north through North Carolina and join with Grant's forces to bring down Lee. It could be that a feint toward Raleigh was planned, but I think Sherman intended to bypass Raleigh originally. Once Richmond had fallen, Lee had capitulated, Johnston had withdrawn, and Raleigh had been surrendered, there was no need to bypass it and head to Virginia. Federal troops camped all around the city, especially toward the south (where I grew up), and Sherman held a big review in Raleigh before heading north.

Roy B.
 
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With regard to the OP, another aspect to the Raleigh question has to do with Sherman's true intent in the Carolina's Campaign. If I understand correctly, his plan was to push north through North Carolina and join with Grant's forces to bring down Lee. It could be that a feint toward Raleigh was planned, but I think Sherman intended to bypass Raleigh originally. Once Richmond had fallen, Lee had capitulated, Johnston had withdrawn, and Raleigh had been surrendered, there was no need to bypass it and head to Virginia. Federal troops camped all around the city, especially toward to south (where I grew up), and Sherman held a big review in Raleigh before heading north.

Roy B.

This is precisely correct.

And by that time, Johnston knew it was all over. He was determined to surrender his army to prevent further bloodshed and also to avoid having his army break down into guerrilla warfare.
 
Do any of the Raleigh fortifications still exist?

Thanks for asking about this. The fortifications were possibly quite extensive, consisting of a 5-6 mile ring of entrenchments with 18 fortified redans. As far as the entrenchments between redans, there are mounds visible in some of the right areas, but they haven't been confirmed as remains of the fortifications -- at this point, that would require archaeological investigation. The redans themselves would have been built on broad platforms. Such sites still exist today at a number of locations. Many of them have been used for house construction.

So some of us think the bones are still there, but there has never been a real effort to investigate and preserve them.

Roy B.
 
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