Timeline . . .
1865
THE FINAL CAMPAIGNS
SECOND EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER (January)
January
January 13-15 Second Bombardment of Fort Fisher
January 15 Assault and Capture of Fort Fisher Casualties: roughly 3,352 on both sides (land and sea). Combined casualties for both battles at Fort Fisher: roughly 3,837 on both sides (land and sea).
January 16 Confederate evacuation of Fort Holmes on Smith's Island, and Forts Campbell and Caswell on Oak Island (Old Inlet, Cape Fear)
January 19 Skirmish at Half Moon Battery on Federal Point
January 20 Capture of blockade-runners Stag and Charlotte at Smithville
January 25 Capture of British steamer Blenheim
January Indiana cavalrymen capture a small body of Confederates in Swain County. (WEST)
WILMINGTON CAMPAIGN (February)
February
February 1-7 Kirks Expedition from Newport, Tenn. to Waynesville, N.C. (Haywood County) Force of 600 men (town sacked and jail burned, liberating jailed Unionists). Home of Confederate leader James R. Love also burned Skirmish at Soco Creek (with battalion of Thomass Legion). (WEST)
February 11 Engagement at Sugar Loaf
February 12-14 Union attempt to bypass Hoke's Confederate line at Sugar Loaf fails
February 16-17 Union advance on Fort Anderson, on the west side of the Cape Fear River
February 17 Skirmish near Smithville
February 18 Bombardment of Fort Anderson
February 18 Skirmish at Orton Pond
February 19 Capture of Fort Anderson
February 19-20 Engagement at Town Creek
February 20 Engagement at Forks Road
February 20 Union bombardment of river batteries below Wilmington
February 21 Skirmish at Eagles Island, opposite Wilmington
February 21 Skirmish at Fort Strong, below Wilmington
February 22 Union Occupation of Wilmington Casualties during the advance on Wilmington: roughly 1,150 on both sides.
February 22 Skirmish at Smith's Creek
February 22 Action at Northeast Station
February 22 Gen. Joseph E. Johnston assumes command of Confederate forces opposing Sherman's march through the Carolinas
February 23 Gen. Braxton Bragg's Confederate forces retreat from Wilmington toward Goldsboro
February 27 2nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry (Union) consolidated with 1st North Carolina Infantry
CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS (March-April)
STONEMAN'S RAID (March-April)
March
March 4 Skirmish at Phillips' Crossroads
March 6 Union forces under Gen. John Schofield advance from New Bern toward Kinston and Goldsboro
March 7-8 Union army of Gen. William T. Sherman enters North Carolina
March 7 Skirmish at Rockingham
March 8 Skirmish at Love's (Blue's) Bridge
March 8-10 Battle of Wyse Fork (Southwest Creek, below Kinston) Hoke's Division (Bragg) and a portion of the Army of Tennessee resist Union troops under Schofield during their advance on Goldsboro. Over 1,000 Federal troops captured. Casualties: roughly 2,601 on both sides
March 10 Battle of Monroe's Crossroads Cavalry clash between Wade Hampton's Confederates and Judson Kilpatrick's Federals the first organized resistance against Sherman's army in North Carolina. Casualties: roughly 269 on both sides.
March 10-11 Expedition from Suffolk, Va. to Murfees Depot, N.C. (peripheral)
March 11 Skirmish at Fayetteville
March 11 Union Occupation of Fayetteville
March 12-14 Destruction of Fayetteville Arsenal
March 12 Destruction of CSS Neuse (Confederate ironclad warship) at Kinston
March 13 Skirmish at Fayetteville
March 14 Federal occupation of Kinston
March 14 Reconnaissance from Fayetteville on Goldsboro Road to Black River, and skirmish
March 14 Reconnaissance from Fayetteville on Raleigh Road to Silver Run, and skirmish
March 15 Skirmish near Smith's Mill, Black River
March 15 Skirmish at South River
March 15 Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston forms the hodgepodge Army of the South, from four separate commands at his disposal: Remnants of the Army of Tennessee, Hardee's Corps, Hoke's Division (Bragg), and Wade Hampton's cavalry
March 16 Battle of Averasboro (Taylor's Hole Creek) Crucial delaying action by Hardee's Confederates, resisting the advance of Sherman's Federal Left Wing. Casualties: roughly 1,682 on both sides.
March 16 Skirmish at Little Coharie Creek
March 16 Union Gen. Alfred H. Terry advances with his Provisional Corps from Wilmington toward Goldsboro
March 17 Skirmish at Averasboro
March 17 Skirmish at Falling Creek
March 18 Skirmish at Mingo Creek
March 18 Skirmish at Bushy Swamp
March 18 Skirmish near Benton's Crossroads
March 19 Skirmish at Neuse River Bridge, near Goldsboro
March 19-20 Skirmishes at Cox's Bridge, Neuse River near Goldsboro
March 19-21 Battle of Bentonville the culminating event of the Carolinas Campaign. Johnston's Confederates engage in a major battle with Sherman's forces, in an effort to slow the Union march. After three days of battle, Confederate troops retreat toward Smithfield, leaving the way open for Sherman's army to occupy Goldsboro. Casualties: roughly 4,500 on both sides.
March 20 Skirmish near Falling Creek
March 21 Gen. John Schofield's Union forces reach Goldsboro
March 21 Gen. Alfred Terry's Union forces reach Cox's Bridge on the Neuse River, below Goldsboro
March 22 Skirmish at Mill Creek Creek
March 22 Skirmish at Hannah's Creek
March 22 Skirmish at Black Creek
March 23 Skirmish at Cox's Bridge, Neuse River near Goldsboro
March 23-24 Union forces of Sherman, Schofield, and Terry (90,000 men) are united at Goldsboro the main objective of Sherman's Carolinas Campaign
March 24 Skirmish near Moccasin Creek
March 28 Skirmish near Snow Hill
March 28-April 3 Stoneman's First Raid into Western North Carolina
March 28 Skirmish at Boone (WEST)
March 28-April 11 Expedition from Deep Bottom, Va. to near Weldon, N.C., with skirmishes (peripheral)
March 28 135th U.S. Colored Troops organized by Maj. Gen. Francis P. Blair at Goldsboro, and mustered into service at Page Station
March 29 Skirmish at Wilkesboro (WEST)
March 29 Skirmish at Mosely Hall
March 31 Skirmish at Gulley's
March 31 Skirmish at Hookerton
UNION MARCH FROM GOLDSBORO TO RALEIGH (April)
FLIGHT OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT (April)
April
April 1 Skirmish near Snow Hill
April 2 Skirmish near Goldsboro
April 3-11 Kirbys Expedition from East Tennessee toward Asheville, N.C. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps Moved with 900 men through Warm Springs and Marshall to near Asheville Engagement near Asheville Returned to East Tennessee, via Greenville, and camped at Lick Creek. (WEST)
April 5-7 Destruction of U.S. transports on Neuse River
April 8 Action at Martinsville (WEST)
April 9 Surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse, Va.
April 9-26 Stoneman's Second Raid into Western North Carolina
April 10 Skirmish at Boone Hill
April 10 Skirmish at Moccasin Swamp
April 10 Skirmish at Nahunta Station
April 11 Skirmish near Smithfield
April 11 Federal occupation of Smithfield
April 11 Skirmish at Beulah
April 11 Skirmish at Pikeville
April 11 Skirmish at Shallow Ford (WEST)
April 11 Skirmish near Mocksville (WEST)
April 11 Confederate president Jefferson Davis and his cabinet arrive at Greensboro, having evacuated the Confederate capital at Richmond, Va., on April 2
April 12 Skirmish at Grants Creek, near Salisbury (WEST)
April 12 Engagement at Salisbury (WEST)
April 12 Skirmish at Swift Creek
April 12 Skirmish near Raleigh, Stalling's Station
April 13 Union Occupation of Raleigh
April 13 Skirmish near Raleigh
April 13 Skirmish at Morrisville
April 14 Skirmish near Morrisville
April 14 Skirmish at Saunder's Farm
April 14-15 President Abraham Lincoln is assasinated shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth, Linclon dies the next day
April 15 Skirmish near Chapel Hill
April 15 Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his entourage depart Greensboro on horseback, with cavalry escort
April 17 Action at Catawba River, near Morganton (WEST)
April 18-26 Suspension of hostilities between Sherman & Johnston
April 18 Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his entourage arrive at Charlotte.
April 20 Skirmish at Swannanoa Gap (WEST)
April 22 Skirmish at Howard's Gap (WEST)
April 22 Confederate cabinet members deliver terms of Sherman-Johnston surrender agreement to President Jefferson Davis at Charlotte.
April 23 Action near Hendersonville (WEST)
April 26 Johnston Surrenders to Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham Station (Largest troop surrender of the war, encompassing Confederate forces in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida)
April 26 Asheville ransacked
April 26 Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his entourage resume their flight, leaving Charlotte en route to South Carolina and Georgia
May
May Raid from East Tennessee into Haywood County, N.C. 2nd N.C. Mounted Infantry (Unionist highlanders organized by Kirk) Occupation of Waynesville Skirmish at White Sulphur Springs Brazen gang raids by bushwhackers in Wilkes, Watauga, Alexander, and Caldwell counties (Wade and Simmons outlaws) Citizen attack on Fort Hamby in Wilkes County (Wade) Capture of Simmons by Federal cavalrymen. (WEST)
May 6 Skirmish at White Sulphur Springs (WEST)
May 10 Confederate President Jefferson Davis is captured in Irwinville, Georgia
May 11-16 Naval expedition on the Roanoke River
December
December 4 The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (abolishing slavery in the United States) is ratified by North Carolina.
