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Rebels were found in a fortified position, covering a point where the road branches off through Bentonville to Goldsboro. It was apparent to the commanding General that Hardee, whose force was estimated at 20,000 men, had made a stand here, on the narrow, swampy neck between Cape Fear and South rivers, in the hope of gaining time for a concentration of the various forces under Johnston, at some point beyond, toward Goldsboro. It became expedient, therefore, to dislodge the enemy as promptly as possible, and was necessary, as well for the purpose of continuing the feint on Raleigh, as of securing the use of the Goldsboro read. After a conflict, chiefly difficult from the nature of the ground, over which horses could not move, and which yielded to the steps of the men-two or three charges by brigades, and some artillery firing by a well-posted battery, comprising the sum of all-the enemy was forced back from his first and second lines, and made his escape in the darkness of the ensuing night. It was soon found that he had retired by the Smithfield road, and not toward Raleigh. The only Union forces engaged were portions of the Twentieth and Fourteenth Corps, the command of Gen. Slocum, who reported his losses as twelve officers and sixty-five men killed, and 476 wounded. The enemy left 108 dead on the field, his whole loss probably exceeding 700. Such was the battle of Averysboro, fought on the 16th day of March.

The left wing now took the Goldsboro road. Howard's column and the trains were already moving in the same direction on the right; Kilpatrick watching the right flank. Slocum encamped on the night of the 18th, at a point where the road from Clinton to Smithfield crosses the Goldsboro road, twenty-seven miles from Goldsboro, and five from Bentonville. Howard was at Lee's store, two miles south, and both wings had pickets thrown out for three miles, to where the two roads united in one. Not anticipating any further opposition, Howard was directed to advance, on the 19th, along the new Goldsboro road, by Falling Creek Church, while Sherman procceded to join this column in person, desiring to open communications with the converging columns of Schofield and Terry,

advancing from Newbern and Wilmington. Slocum had not gone far before Carlin's division, in the advance, encountered Dibbrell's division of Rebel cavalry, supported by infantry, which gained some advantage over him; and soon after it appeared that he was confronted, near Bentonville, by the whole of Johnston's army in position, under that officer in person. Sherman speedily made his dispositions for battle. Couriers from Schofield and Terry arrived at this juncture, reporting that the former was at Kingston, and could reach Goldsboro by the 21st, and that Terry was at or near Faison's Depot, some thirty miles south of Goldsboro, on the Wilmington railroad. Orders were issued to these commanders, with a view to secure their most effective co-operation, at the earlicst moment, in the battle now pending.

Meanwhile, Slocum had protected himself by a line of barricades, and remained on the defensive, having with him but four divisions, to which the cavalry of Kilpatrick was added, after the latter had heard the sounds of battle. In this position, six successive charges were made on the left, by the combined forces of Hardee, Cheatham and Hoke, under the direction of Johnston himself. Each attack was repulsed,

with heavy loss to the enemy. During the night of the 19th, the two divisions guarding the wagon train arrived, together with Hazen's division of the Fifteenth Corps, enabling Gen. Slocum to make his position secure. Gen. Howard, on advancing the Fifteenth Corps to form a connection with Slocum, found that Johnston's left occupied a strong position, fortified by a line of parapets across the Goldsboro road, thus interposing a barrier between Sherman's two wings. Howard, however, succeeded in forming a connection with Slocum's right, without engaging the enemy. Before nightfall, on the 20th, Sherman's united forces, in a strong line of battle, had Johnston on the defensive. On the 21st, Gen. Schofield entered Goldsboro without serious opposition, and Gen. Terry reached the Neuse river, ten miles above Goldsboro. The three armies were thus brought into communication, within supporting distance of each other—a triumphant success of the various movements. During the day, on the 21st, it rained steadily, but Mower's

division of the Seventeenth Corps, on the extreme right, gradually moved around on the enemy's flank, and had nearly reached the bridge over Mill Creek, Johnson's only line of retreat now left open. To prevent Mower from being overwhelmed by a superior force of the enemy, Sherman ordered his skirmishers to attack along the whole line, while Mower regained his connection with his own corps. During the night, the enemy retreated on Smithfield, leaving his pickets, with many unburied dead, and his wounded men in the field hospitals to fall into Sherman's hands. Pursuit was made for two miles beyond Mill Creek, on the morning of the 22d, and then suspended. Johnston had been completely foiled in his main attempt, and decisively beaten. Slocum reported his total losses at the battle of Bentonville, in killed, wounded and missing, as 1,247. Howard's entire losses numbered only 399making an aggregate Union loss of 1,646. The Rebel dead, buried by our forces, numbered 267, and his entire loss in prisoners was 1,625-making an aggregate of 1,892. Johnston must have lost heavily, in addition to the foregoing, in his attacks on the left wing, on the 19th.

Sherman had now full possession of Goldsboro, accomplishing his purpose, and his forces thus combined constituted an army irresistible by any force that could be brought against him. He had now communications by the two railroads, rapidly put in running order, with the seaboard at Beaufort and Newbern.

Before Petersburg, Gen. Meade had continued to keep a strong hold upon Lee, breaking his communications, and extending the Union lines on the left. The effective fighting under Gen. Sheridan, in the Shenandoah Valley, had rendered the longer maintenance of any large force there unnecessary. The Sixth Corps had returned to Petersburg not long after the decisive engagements in the late autumn, and was assigned a position on the left, affording the opportunity for a further advance of Meade's lines toward the Southside railroad. The most important movement undertaken by the Army of the Potomac since the movement on the Weldon road under Warren and Gregg, in December, was that which resulted in

the battle of Hatcher's Run, on the 6th and 7th of February, and by which the Rebel communications by the Boydton Plank road were broken. The Fifth, and a portion of the Sixth Corps, were engaged in this movement, the Third division of the Fifth Corps suffering heavily. Its aggregate loss in killed and wounded was 594. The losses in the Sixth Corps, acting mainly as a supporting column, were slight.

It was now manifest that the main Rebel armies under Lee and Johnson were becoming inextricably involved in the toils of Grant and his Generals. Only some unforeseen cause, or some serious blunder, could long delay the final termination of the struggle. A conference was now held at City Point, between President Lincoln, Lieut.-Gen. Grant, and Gens. Meade, Sherman, and other leading commanders, on the 27th of March. The closing movements were now fully considered and planned, with incidental discussions of the general policy to be pursued in the final exigencies; and the several Generals returned to their commands, prepared to strike the last blows, and confident of their effect.

To President Lincoln, saddened and worn by four years of a strife so relentless and painful, the prospect of peace near at hand was inexpressibly gladdening. To each of the warworn Generals, the culmination of all his cares and toils in a grand choral triumph, was a joyful hope that made music in his heart, as he moved away to his closing task.

CHAPTER X.

Close of President Lincoln's First Term.-Order to Gen. Grant in regard to Peace Negotiations.-The Fourth of March.-Inauguration Ceremonies. Mr. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.- Contrasts.-Cabinet Changes.-Indisposition of the President.-His Speech at the National Hotel on Negro Soldiers in the Rebel Armies.He Visits Gen. Grant's Headquarters.-The Military Situation.Conference with his Chief Generals.-Movement of the Forces under Meade and Sheridan.-Fighting near Dinwiddie Court House.Sheridan's Victory at the Five Forks.-Attack of Wright and Parke on the Lines before Petersburg.-The Sixth Corps Carry the Enemy's Works.-Petersburg Evacuated.-Pursuit of the Enemy.-Richmond Taken. Dispatches of Mr. Lincoln.-The Nation's Joy.-Lee's Army Closely Pressed.-Captures at Sailor's Creek.-Surrender of Lee.Mr. Lincoln at Richmond.—His Visit to the City Point Hospital.— His Return to Washington.-Peace Rejoicings.-Speeches of Mr. Lincoln.-Important Proclamations.-Demand on Great Britain for Indemnity.--Closing Military Movements.-Reduction of the Army. Mr. Lincoln's Last Meeting with His Cabinet.-Celebration at Fort Sumter.

THE morning of the 4th of March, 1865, was dark with clouds and rain. The previous stormy night Mr. Lincoln, with the members of his Cabinet, remained at the President's room, in the north wing of the capitol, until a late hour, considering and signing bills which came thronging upon him, in the usual manner, during the closing hours of a Congress soon to be dissolved. The President had a somewhat care-worn look, but a cheerfulness of manner, manifesting itself in occasional pleasantry, or in the relation of some suggested incident or anecdote, as was his wont in his most seriously earnest moods. He had a genial word for occasional visitors, and a ready ear, as always, for whatever had any fair claim to his attention. Without a word as to the morrow, or as to the momentous hours of an eventful term of service now just

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