After capturing Columbia on February 17, South
Carolina, William Tecumseh Sherman continued his march into North
Carolina, heading towards Richmond to join the army of Ulysses S.
Grant. Two armies were also ordered to join Sherman at Goldsboro, NC,
with John Schofield coming from Wilmington and Jacob Cox from New
Berne. On February 23, Joseph E. Johnston was appointed to lead the
Confederate resistance. He was able to create the Army of the South
from remnants of the Army of Tennessee, along with reinforcements
from neighboring states.
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| Hardee |
Sherman's army was moving north towards
Goldsboro in two columns, the right under Oliver Otis Howard, the
left under Henry Slocum. Johnston send his corps under William Hardee
to delay Slocum, while the two Federal columns were separated, and
hopefully unable to support one another. On the afternoon of March
15th the Federals found Hardee deployed near
Averasborough. The next day they attacked, and drove back several
Confederate lines, but were not able to gain a complete victory. That
night Hardee fell back, having held up the Federal advance for two
days. The Federals lost around 700 men, the Confederates about 850.
1 comments:
Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
Your article is very well done, a good read.
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