Battle of Bentonville

The war had been going badly for the Confederacy. General Sherman had developed a new kind of warfare, Total Warfare. Georgia and South Carolina had already tasted his wrath after the destruction of Columbia and Atlanta. After leaving South Carolina, he headed up into North Carolina, and made for the capital. The state panicked, fearing destruction of its own capital, Raleigh.

The battle took place near the town of Bentonville. It was near Sherman’s camp on the road to Raleigh, as part of his Carolinas Campaign. They were already in N.C. when blood was spilled.

The generals Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman led the opposing sides. Sherman led the Union army, coming from the South. Johnston led the Confederacy from the north, trying to defend the last barrier of Virginia.

In many points of view, General Johnston had the best strategy and plans. Sherman had a much larger army, however, so he was victorious in the end. Johnston only had 20,000 men with him, and even catching the Union army off its guard did not help him for long.

The battle was certainly not the longest one in the war. It only lasted 4 days from beginning to end. On the first day, the confederates attacked a regiment, and the outlook looked good, then. Over the next few days, the tide turned in favor of the Union. It all ended with Johnston’s defeat on the last day.

Bentonville did not influence the war quite as much as the Battle of Gettysburg or the Siege of Petersburg. It did have a significant impact, however. Because of Johnston’s failure to halt Sherman’s march, Sherman continued on to Raleigh. Seeing what had happened to two prior Capitals at Sherman’s hand, North Carolina surrendered in fear of the same fate for its own capital.

This was one of the last battles of the whole war. Richmond was the target of the union, and it was soon reached. North Carolina was the last barrier between Richmond and Sherman’s army. Some may say that if the Battle of Bentonville had gone the other way, the whole war would have been won by the South, or at least prolonged defeat.