Battle of Bentonville | Animated Map

In early 1865, William T. Sherman’s army moved out of Georgia and into the Carolinas, with the goal of destroying railroads and supply lines before joining with Ulysses S. Grant's armies near Richmond. To oppose this action, Confederate President Jefferson Davis tasked Joseph E. Johnston with collecting what remained of Confederate forces in the Western Theater, and also moving them north to oppose Sherman and hopefully join with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Johnston's army would never make it to Virginia however, as they were forced to clash with Sherman at Bentonville, resulting in the last large-scale battle of the Civil War.

The American Battlefield Trust's Animated Map Collection tells the story of America’s defining conflicts through compelling story telling, state of the art graphics and live action video.