"Uncle Billy" Comes to Bentonville

During the afternoon of March 20, 1865, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman established his headquarters on Stevens family property near the Right Wing headquarters, where he remained as he had on the march to Bentonville. His Civil War career had begun badly, including an 1861 nervous breakdown while commanding Union forces in Kentucky and charges of insanity, but his partnership with U.S. Grant restored his confidence and reputation. After Grant became commander of all Union forces in early 1864, he placed Sherman in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, giving him control of Union forces in the western theater. In that role, Sherman captured Atlanta and began his March to the Sea in late 1864. Advancing through the Carolinas in early 1865, he encountered only delaying actions until his isolated Left Wing was attacked at Bentonville. Because Sherman was traveling with the Right Wing, he missed most of the battle's first day. On the evening of March 19, after a courier reached his headquarters seeking help for the Left Wing, Sherman immediately ordered the Right Wing onto the road to Bentonville, where he took personal command late on March 20 and on March 21. His objective was Goldsboro rather than Johnston's entrenched army, and he was willing to let the Confederates escape. As a result, on March 21 he forbade his army from entering a full-scale engagement, a decision he later called a mistake because he believed the Union's vastly superior numbers would have ensured success.

North Carolina · United States