HISTORICAL PLACE OR EVENT, 1400-1877, WITHIN NORTH CAROLINA

 Introduction
One major engagement during the last days of the civil war occurred in North Carolina near the town of Four Oaks. The war was fought in Bentonville in March of 1865, and was the last major engagement between the union and confederates armies led by Major General William T. Sherman and General Joseph E. Johnston
respectively. The battle lasted for three days from 19th to 21st. This last full scale battle was a tactical offensive in rural Johnston County and the largest engagement in North Carolina. North  Carolina remained neutral during the beginning of the civil war until president Lincoln asked the state to attack its sister state, South Carolina. The state joined the confederacy and contributed a considerable number of soldiers to the course. Although a majority of the people in the state supported the confederacy, some were in favor of the union while others wanted autonomy. The state supplied more than 250,000 troops to the confederacy compared to 15,000 troops to the union. Of the quarter a million troops supplied to the confederacy, more than 40,000 died during the cause of the war. Most died from starvation and diseases.
Historical Place or Event, 1400-1877, within North Carolina
On the morning of March 19th 1865, the federal left wing under the command of Major General John M. Schofield stumbled upon a confederates trap along the Goldsboro Road in Coles plantation. The trap was a hooked shaped formation designed to catch the union soldiers by surprise as they marched along the road. The union soldiers arrived at this point before the confederates could complete setting up the trap. The union soldiers attacked the confederate soldiers but they were too entrenched in their positions. In response, the confederates launched a massive assault driving the XIV corps division led by General William P. Carlin out of the field. Despite attacks from three directions, the XX corps division managed to hold position till evening. The first day ended in a tactical draw.
After failing to crush the Federal forces front line for the better part of March 20th morning, the confederates retreated to positions held earlier in the day as the unions right wing arrived in the battlefield. For most of the afternoon, the skirmishers on the confederates side were shifting position to deal with the arrival of the right wing. The union brought a total of 60,000 soldiers to the battlefield compared by the confederates 16,000 with an additional 4,000 cavalry. The confederates received limited reinforcement; however, they were no match for numerically superior union army. To ensure the confederate guard their only escape route, Johnston changes formation into a V-shape with artillery on the front line to give the impression of a strong army. The union soldiers favor a skirmish attack over a frontal attack because of the confederate soldiers are well entrenched in their positions.
Johnston was outnumbered three-to-one and could only hope for a frontal attack from the union soldiers, however, the union soldiers only engaged the confederate soldiers in skirmish fighting for the better part of the third day. The right wing from the union army moved closer to the confederate army in an attempt to scare them off because they were impatient to reach Goldsboro. The confederate soldiers hold position until General Joseph A. Mower, commander of the XVII corps division sends a reconnaissance team. The reconnaissance escalate into a full out attack as he discovers weaknesses in the confederate defenses. The XVII corps division push for the Mill Creek, which is the only remaining escape route for the confederates. Mower manages to overrun the confederates command center in the battlefield, however, a counterattack led by General William J. Hardee forces Mower and his men back. General Hardees bold move guarantees the confederate an escape route, however, the engagements costs him personally. He loses a 16-year old son fighting with the 8th Texas Cavalry. During the night, the confederates withdraw from Bentonville towards Smithfield.
The following day, March 22, the union soldiers pursued the confederates before giving up the chase near Hannahs creek. The unions soldiers were tired, hungry and out of supplies. Sherman decided to occupy the conquered area and replenish supplies and wait for reinforcements Schofield and Terry. Terry, Schofield, and Sherman met in Goldsboro and rested for two and a half weeks in preparation for the final leg of the civil war. However, before the union soldiers could attack Johnston, he laid down arms at Durham on 26th April. This was the largest troop surrender that effectively ended the war. The American civil war claimed the lives of many Americans; among them were a prominent politician and the 16th president of the democracy, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a prominent actor, in an attempt to revive the confederates war efforts.  The plan was to kill the president, vice president, and secretary of state in one blow and destroy the union government completely, however, only Booth succeeded.
Conclusion
The battle of Bentonville was the last deceive engagement between the confederates and the union soldiers. This was the bloodiest war fought in North Carolina during the Civil War. Within a span of three days (19th -21st March 1965), many men from both sides died in the Cole Plantation. The confederates lost 240 men while the union lost 194 men. More than 1,500 soldiers were missing after the engagement and thousands others were wounded from both sides. The battlefield that these men died and many other sites within the state utilized by either side during the war efforts are national heritage sites, which are protected and available to the public.


 Bibliography

Barrett, John G. The Civil War in North Carolina. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2005.

Bradley, Mark L. Last Stand in the Carolinas: The Battle of Bentonville. Campbell, CA: Savas, 1995.

Hughes, Nathaniel Cheairs, Jr. Bentonville: The Final Battle of Sherman and Johnston. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.