Sherman's 60,000-man army was divided into two wings: half were in the left wing marching through Aversaboro and Bentonville and the other half, the right wing were marching on a parallel route to the southeast of Slocum's wing.
Sherman's objective was Goldsboro, where he was going to meet an additional 40,000 troops and supplies. Union forces had no idea that Johnston had been able to scrape together any sort of resistance, but he had.
Johnston's force numbered some 21,000, including what was left of the shattered Army of Tennessee after Hood's Nashville Campaign.
After their initial success on March 19, the Confederates were unable to beat the Union Army and early on March 22 they began to withdraw toward Raleigh. The Union Army did not pursue them. The action was the largest battle to be fought on North Carolina soil during the war.
--Old Secesh
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