Synopses & Reviews
The battle of Bentonville, the only major Civil War battle fought in North Carolina, was the Confederacy's last attempt to stop the devastating march of William Tecumseh Sherman's army north through the Carolinas. Despite their numerical disadvantage, General Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate forces successfully ambushed one wing of Sherman's army on March 19, 1865 but were soon repulsed. For the Confederates, it was a heroic but futile effort to delay the inevitable: within a month, both Richmond and Raleigh had fallen, and Lee had surrendered.
Nathaniel Hughes offers a full-length tactical study of this important battle. In careful detail, he lays out Confederate and Union troop movements and places the engagement within the larger military framework of the last months of the war. Analyzing the reasons for the initial success and eventual failure of Johnston's offensive, he maintains that Sherman showed great restraint by remaining committed to the larger goal of reaching Goldsboro rather than stopping to pursue or destroy the defeated Confederates.
Review
One of the best accounts yet of this vicious fight.
Civil War
Review
One of the best accounts yet of this vicious fight.
Civil War
Review
Hughes's narrative, . . . reviewing the leadership of Johnston and Sherman and the conduct of their subordinates, is a model of its kind.
Journal of American History
Review
A well-written, comprehensive account of the last gasp of Johnston's army.
Historian
Review
[A] well-paced, readable book that places the engagement within the context of the Carolinas Campaign.
Journal of Southwest Georgia History
Review
A well-written, comprehensive account of the last gasp of Johnstons army.
Historian
Synopsis
Nathaniel Hughes offers a full-length tactical study of this important battle. In careful detail, he lays out Confederate and Union troop movements and places the engagement within the larger military framework of the last months of the war. Analyzing the reasons for the initial success and eventual failure of Johnston's offensive, Hughes maintains that Sherman showed great restraint by remaining committed to the larger goal of reaching Goldsboro rather than stopping to pursue or destroy the defeated Confederates.
Synopsis
Nathaniel Hughes offers a full-length tactical study of this important battle. In careful detail, he lays out Confederate and Union troop movements and places the engagement within the larger military framework of the last months of the war. Analyzing the reasons for the initial success and eventual failure of Johnston's offensive, Hughes maintains that Sherman showed great restraint by remaining committed to the larger goal of reaching Goldsboro rather than stopping to pursue or destroy the defeated Confederates.Nathaniel Hughes offers a full-length tactical study of this important battle. In careful detail, he lays out Confederate and Union troop movements and places the engagement within the larger military framework of the last months of the war. Analyzing the reasons for the initial success and eventual failure of Johnston's offensive, Hughes maintains that Sherman showed great restraint by remaining committed to the larger goal of reaching Goldsboro rather than stopping to pursue or destroy the defeated Confederates.
Synopsis
The battle of Bentonville was the Confederacy's last desperate attempt to stop the devastating march of William Tecumseh Sherman's army north through the Carolinas. Nathaniel Hughes offers a comprehensive tactical study of this important battle, which involved an unusually high percentage of senior officers. In careful detail, he lays out the movement of Confederate and Union troops from South Carolina across the state line to Fayetteville and on to Goldsboro. Placing the battle within the larger military framework of the last months of the war, Hughes analyzes why initial success turned to failure for Johnston's offensive. Based on letters, diaries, and official documents, the book explores the experience of this final battle for the soldiers and officers fighting it. Hughes also assesses the performances of Union and Confederate commanders and includes biographical vignettes of several of them, including Braxton Bragg, William J. Hardee, D. H. Hill, Oliver O. Howard, and Henry W. Slocum.
Synopsis
Bentonville is a well-paced, readable book. . . .The author•s extensive footnotes and bibliography evince years of dedicated research.
Journal of Southwest Georgia History Hughes's narrative, . . . reviewing the leadership of Johnston and Sherman and the conduct of their subordinates, is a model of its kind.
Journal of American History [A] well-paced, readable book that places the engagement within the context of the Carolinas Campaign.
Journal of Southwest Georgia History One of the best accounts yet of this vicious fight.
Civil War A well-written, comprehensive account of the last gasp of Johnston•s army.
Historian
About the Author
Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes Jr. is author, coauthor, or editor of many books, including The Battle of Belmont: Grant Strikes South and The Life and Wars of Gideon J. Pillow, both from the University of North Carolina Press. He lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Table of Contents
ContentsPreface
Chapter 1. Sherman's Web Footted Boys in Blew
Chapter 2. Glorious Old Joe
Chapter 3. Playing a Bluff
Chapter 4. A Grand Sight to See
Chapter 5. All the Amusement We Want
Chapter 6. The Battle of "Acorn Run"
Chapter 7. We'll Whip 'Em Yet!
Chapter 8. If the Lord Will Only See Me Safe Through
Chapter 9. This Afflicted and Troublesome Day
Chapter 10. A Regular Indian Fight
Chapter 11. Shoulder-to-Shoulder and Then Back-to-Back
Chapter 12. Nip and Tuck
Chapter 13. Sherman's Star
Chapter 14. The Angel of the Covenant Whispered to Our Commander
Appendix 1. Organization of Forces at the Battle of Bentonville
Appendix 2. Beyond Bentonville
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Maps
1 Vicinity of Bentonville
2 Carlin's Attack
3 2:30P.M., March 19
4 Johnston Attacks
5 Fearing's Counterattack
6 Hardee's Night Attacks
7 Vicinity of Falling Creek
8 March 20
9 Mower Punctures Johnston's Left
Illustrations
Henry Warner Slocum
Sherman and his generals
Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Braxton Bragg
John C. Fiser
William Passmore Carlin
Williams and his generals
David Miles
George Pearson Buell
Harrison C. Hobart
James Dada Morgan
John Grant Mitchell
William Vandever
Benjamin Dana Fearing
Ward and his generals
Joseph Benjamin Palmer
Daniel Harvey Hill
Lafayette McLaws
William Booth Taliaferro
William Brimage Bate
Robert Frederick Hoke
Mower's charge against the Confederate left
William Joseph Hardee