Sherman's March  "The End"  February - April, 1865

On April 9, 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his once mighty Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, VA. The next day, Gen. William T. Sherman's Union army at Goldsboro, NC, began the last leg of its devastating march through the Carolinas. It marched unopposed into the state's capital city of Raleigh on April 13, the same day Confederate President Jefferson Davis met in Greensboro, NC, with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, the commander of the Rebel force that was falling back before Sherman's advance.

Davis recommended a continuation of the fight for freedom, but he then asked Johnston for his opinion. Johnston replied: "My views are, sir, that our people are tired of the war, feel themselves whipped, and will not fight. Our country is overrun, its military reserves greatly diminished, while the enemy's military power and resources were never greater, and may be increased to any extent... My men are daily deserting in large numbers. Since Lee's defeat they regard the war as at an end." Davis realized that he had no choice but to agree with Johnston's recommendation that Sherman be contacted in regard to the surrender of Johnston's army.

The next day Sherman agreed to a cessation of hostilities in North Carolina while the terms of surrender were negotiated. Both he and Johnston agreed to halt troop movements until their meeting, which was scheduled for April 17. Sherman's men had completed their spectacular march from Savannah, GA, through the heart of the Carolinas. The utter devastation the marauding soldiers had caused to the towns and countryside along their path would take more than a generation to repair, and it would never be forgotten or forgiven by their plundered victims.

The formal surrender of Johnston's force occurred on April 26, 1865. Less than a month later Sherman's men marched in the grand review in Washington, then mustered out of the army and returned to their homes.

Fascinating Fact:  The same day that Raleigh fell to Sherman's men, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, knowing the end of the war was near, halted the draft and stopped purchases of war materiel.


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