BATTLE OF AVERASBORO
★ ★ ★
Third Confederate Defensive Line
CAROLLNAS CAMPAIGN
The Carohas Campari began on February L 1865, when Union Got W&am T.
Shaman led his any noth fr an Savond, Georgia, afta the "Man* to the Sea."
Shamans object he was to joi Gol Ulysses S. Grant in
Игры
to aush Gen.
Robert E. Lee's Amy of Northan Virginia. Scattered Confedaate forces consoidat-
ed in Nath Carofaia, the Confedaacy's kgbtica life line. idiae 9iaman defeated
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's last-ditch attach at Botomie. Afta Sherman was r on-
faced at Goldsboro late in Mardi Jdmston s an the futity of hrtha resistance
and surendered on Apr! 26, essatialy ending the Chi War.
* * *
As Gen. WBan T. Sherman married north from Fayetterik, Gen. Joseyb L John¬
ston positioned his aimy near Smithfidd. uncertain nhether Shaman's destination
«as Ridy* or Goldsbaa On Mardi 15, 1865, the head of Shaman's Left Wmg
struck Confederate Go. WBam J. Hardee s skirmishers guarding the road just
south of Araasboro. Hardee strud bad, and the fgittxgan.
OMBkilt Church
(6milesl
4
Gen. Hardee
Gen Kilpatrick
By the afternoon of March 16, 1865,
Confederate Gen. William J. Hard¬
ee’s men had retreated from their
first and second defensive positions
to their third line of defense here.
Col. Henry Case’s late-morning
flanking attack had pushed Col. Alfred M. Rhett’s South Carolina brigade
200 yards north from the first to the second line, held by the brigade of
Gen. Stephen Elliott, Jr. Early in the afternoon, Elliott’s line collapsed
under Federal attacks, and the Confederates withdrew 600 yards north to
the third line. An increasingly heavy rain made the already muddy terrain
even worse for troop movements, and Confederate Gen. Joseph Wheeler
thwarted an attack on the right flank near the Cape Fear River before dark¬
ness ended the fighting. That night, while the Federals made plans to press
the Confederates at dawn, Hardee withdrew his artillery and then his
infantry, leaving campfires burning to disguise the maneuver.
Of about 12,000 Union troops engaged, 682 were reported killed,
wounded, or missing, while the approximately 7,000 Confederates lost about
500. Hardee had delayed the Union advance for a day, buying precious time
for Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who was skillfully uniting his
scattered forces for a more substantial attempt to stop Sherman’s progress.
The stage was set for the Battle of Bentonville.
“The infirmary was here and - oh! it makes me shudder
to think of the awful sights I witnessed that morning.
... 1 just felt like my heart would break when 1 would
see our brave men rushing into battle and then com¬
ing back so mangled. ... We could hear the commands
and the groans and shrieks of the wounded ... about
four o’clock the Yankees came charging, yelling and howl¬
ing. I stood on the piaza Iporchl and saw the charge made. ... The
palings
/
fences ] did not hinder them at all. They just knocked them
down like so many mad cattle.” - Jane “Janie” Smith, 18-year-old
daughter of Farquhard Smith, at Smith House on the map.
