The Battle of Bentonville

by Cassidy Joyner

Storymap created for FYS178 with Ellen Pearson

Abstract:

The Battle of Bentonville was one of the last large-scale operations to take place during the Civil War. taking place in Bentonville, North Carolina, this battle was fought between Union General William Sherman and Confederate General Joseph Johnston. This StoryMap follows both Sherman and Johnston’s path and strategies leading up to the Battle of Bentonville and the aftermath. This includes trekking to Fayetteville, crossing the Cape Fear, battling in Bentonville, and much more. This map will help in contextualizing the movements armies took during the Civil War.

Annotated Bibliography

Barrett, John Gilchrist. Sherman’s March Through the Carolinas. United States: University of North Carolina Press, 1956.

John Barrett maps out Sherman’s journeys through the Carolinas. Similar to Broadwater. Barrett gives the details leading up to each battle and what happened during each battle. There is no overarching theme in this book. It is simply him explaining all of the significant locations that Sherman “visited” while fighting his way through North Carolina. I will use this book because it has a chapter specifically about the battle of Bentonville.

Beach, Lansing H. “The Civil War Battle of Bentonville.” The Military Engineer 21, no. 115 (1929): 24–30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44567439.

This article by Lansing Beach is specifically about the battle that took place in Bentonville, North Carolina. There are inclusions of maps detailing each Generals movements on the battlefield. He includes details about the surrounding area, like foraging, and why it was so important to the Union and their survival.

Broadwater, Robert P.. Battle of despair : Bentonville and the North Carolina campaign. United States: Mercer University Press, 2004.

In this book, Robert Broadwater explores the event leading up to and that took place during the Battle of Bentonville. He goes into depth discussing the movements made during the battle and how the environment played into it. This battle has not been afforded much attention by those interested in the Civil War. Broadwater argues that this was an incredibly important battle in the scheme of things and that it deserves the attention given to more well-known battles. This book will is useful for my story map because of the details given about specific locations regarding the battle.

Faulkner, Ronnie W. “Battle of Bentonville.” NCpedia, January 1, 2006. https://www.ncpedia.org/bentonville-battle.

This is a government-run website that gives quick, general facts about the battle of Bentonville. Details like location, casualties, and the actions each General took over the course of the battle. This is a great source because it gives quick facts on key aspects of the battle that are easy to understand even if you do not have the full context.

NC Historic Sites. Accessed October 28, 2022. https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/bentonville-battlefield/plan-your-visit/bentonville-today.

This government-run site goes over smaller aspects of the battle, such as the Harper House. The site gives information on who owned the home, what took place there, and other interesting facts about the location. While this was a useful source, it is much more useful for people looking to take a tour of the house than it is for someone doing research on the Battle of Bentonville or the Harper House.