Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Reenactment: 145th Anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville

The Battle of Bentonville was fought March 19–21, 1865 in North Carolina, as part of the Sherman's Carolinas Campaign that occurred after the capture of Savannah, Georgia in late December 1864. Bentonville was the last major battle to occur between the armies of Sherman and Johnston.
After the battle Robert E. Lee, now the commander of all Confederate armies, received a telegram from Johnston. In the message Johnston confessed to Lee that at most he would be only an annoyance to Sherman.


The 145th reenactment was on a portion of the Bentonville battlefield that has been preserved by North Carolina. Picture above shows Federal reenactors constructing field entrenchments during the second day of the event. The Federal lieutenant is Nick Griffey, Ninth Pennsylvania Reserves, Company A; this organization hails from the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania metropolitian region.

On the first day of the battle (March 19), the Confederate army attacked the right Federal wing and routed two Union divisions. The rebels were unable compell a third division to retreat The next day (March 20), the left Federal wing arrived on the battlefield. On that day and the next (March 21), the armies skirmished and Johnston retreated.

Text and Image Source: Civil War Librarian

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