latter place on the 12th of March, opening up communication with General Schofield by way of Cape Fear River. On the 15th, he resumed his march on Goldsborough. He met a force of the enemy at Averysborough, and after a severe fight defeated and compelled it to retreat. Our loss in the engagement was about 600; the enemy's loss was much greater. On the 18th, the combined forces of the enemy, under Joe Johnston, attacked his advance at Bentonville, capturing three guns and driving it back upon the main body. General Slocum, who was in the advance, ascertaining that the whole of Johnston's army was in the front, arranged his troops on the defensive, intrenched himself, and awaited re-enforcements, which were pushed forward. On the night of the 21st, the enemy retreated to Smithfield, leaving his dead and wounded in our hands. From there Sherman continued to Goldsborough, which place had been occupied by General Schofield on the 21st, crossing the Neuse River 10 miles above there, at Cox's Bridge, where General Terry had got possession and thrown a pontoon bridge, on the 22nd, thus forming a junction with the columns from New Berne and Wilmington. Among the important fruits of this campaign was the fall of Charleston, S. C. It was evacuated by the enemy on the night of the 17th of February, and occupied by our forces on the 18th.*

On the morning of the 31st of January General Thomas was directed to send a cavalry expedition under General Stoneman form East Tennessee, to penetrate South Carolina well down toward Columbia, to destroy the railroads and military resources of the country, and return, if he was able, to East Tennessee, by way of Salisbury, N. C., releasing our prisoners there, if possible. Of the feasibility of this latter, however, General Stoneman was to judge. Sherman's movements, I had no doubt, would attract the attention of all the force the enemy could collect and facilitate the execution of this. General Stoneman was so late in making his start on this expedition, and Sherman having passed out of the State of South Carolina, on the 27th of February I directed General Thomas to change his course, and ordered him to retreat his raid of last fall, destroying the railroad toward Lynchburg as far as he could. This would keep him between our garrisons in East Tennessee and the enemy. I regarded it not impossible that in the event of the enemy being driven from Richmond he might fall back to Lynchburg and attempt a raid north through East Tennessee. On the 14th of February the following communication was sent to General Thomas:

CITY POINT, VA., February 14, 1865.

Major General G. H. THOMAS:

General Canby is preparing a movement from Mobile Bay against Mobile and the interior of Alabama. His force will consist of about 20,000 men, besides A. J. Smith's command. The cavalry you have sent to Canby will be debarked at Vicksburg. It, with the available cavalry already in that section, will move from there eastward, in co-operation. Hood's army has been terribly reduced by the severe punishment you gave it in Tennessee, by desertion consequent upon their defeat, and now by the withdrawal of many of them to oppose Sherman. (I take it a large portion of the infantry has been so withdrawn. It is so asserted in the Richmond papers, and a member of the rebel Congress said a few days since in a speech that one-half of it had been brought to South Carolina to oppose Sherman.) This being true, or even if it is not true, Canby's movement will attract all the attention of the enemy, and leave the advance from our stand-point easy. I think it advisable, therefore, that you prepare as much of a cavalry force as you can spare, and hold it in readiness to go south. The object would be three-fold; First, to attract as much

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*Subordinate reports of the campaign of the Carolina will appear in Vol. XLVII.

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