Bentonville, North Carolina

Battle of Bentonville
Part of the American Civil War
Map of the Battle of Bentonville
Date March 19, 1865 (1865-03-19) – March 21, 1865 (1865-03-21) Location Bentonville, North Carolina Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
William Tecumseh Sherman	Joseph E. Johnston
Units involved
Military Division of the Mississippi	Army of the South
Strength
60,000	21,900
Casualties and losses
1,527 total (194 killed, 1,112 wounded, 221 missing/captured)	2,606 total (239 killed, 1,694 wounded, 673 missing/captured)

The Battle of Bentonville (March 19–21, 1865) was fought in Bentonville, North Carolina, near the town of Four Oaks, as part of the Carolinas Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the armies of Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.

As the right wing of Sherman's army under command of Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard marched toward Goldsboro, the left wing under command of Maj. Gen. Henry Warner Slocum encountered the entrenched men of Johnston's army. On the first day of the battle, the Confederates attacked the XIV Corps and routed two divisions, but the rest of Sherman's army defended its positions successfully. The next day, as Sherman sent reinforcements to the battlefield and expected Johnston to withdraw, only minor sporadic fighting occurred. On the third day, as skirmishing continued, the division of Maj. Gen. Joseph A. Mower followed a path into the Confederate rear and attacked. The Confederates were able to repulse the attack as Sherman ordered Mower back to connect with his own corps. Johnston elected to withdraw from the battlefield that night.

As a result of the overwhelming Union strength and the heavy casualties his army suffered in the battle, Johnston surrendered to Sherman little more than a month later at Bennett Place, near Durham Station. Coupled with Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender earlier in April, Johnston's surrender represented the effective end of the war.