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BENTONVILLE

== Confederate Assault March 19
== “Subsequent Position
was Federal Lines

(i Federal Map Ji

SEVENTY-Seconp REGIMENT. 57

The troops belonging to the Army of Tennessee were formed
on the right of the artillery. A wooden farm house in front
of the Third Regiment for some time afforded cover for a
number of sharpshooters, who did excellent practice on our
line, until Captain Atkins, with a few well-directed shells,
caused them to pour out like rats out of a sinking ship.
The enemy soon thereafter charged Hoke’s Division, but
after a sharp contest at short range was handsomely repulsed.
On the morning of the 20th it was reported that the Fed-

eral right wing had crossed over to unite with the left wing
which had been driven back and was coming up rapidly upon
the left of Hoke’s Division. That officer was directed to
change front to the left. By this movement, his line was
formed parallel to and fronting the road. Here light en-
trenchments were soon made out of dead trees and such mate
rial as could be moved with our bayonets. From noon to
sunset Sherman’s army thus united made repeated attacks

upon Hoke’s Division of six thousand men and boys, but

were uniformly driven back. The skirmish line of our bri-

gade was commanded by Major Walter Clark, of the Seven-

tieth Regiment (First Juniors), on the 20th and 21st. On

the 21st the skirmishing was heavy, and the extreme of the

Federal right, extending beyond our left flank, made our posi-
tion extremely hazardous in view of the fact that the bridge
over the creek in our rear was our only chance of retreat,
The Seventeenth Army Corps of the enemy late in the after-
noon broke through our line considerably to the left, but by
superhuman effort, its leading division was driven back along
the route by which it had advanced.

That night the Confederate Army recrossed the creek by
the bridge near Bentonville and were halted beyond the town
two miles north from the creek. The Federals made re-
peated attempts to force the passage of the bridge, but failed
in all. At noon the march was resumed and the troops camped
near Smithfield. Sherman proceeded on his way to Golds-
boro to form a junction with Schofield, without further moles-
tation. The Confederate losses in the battle of Bentonville
were 2,343, while that of the Federals was nearly double as

‘many. (For many of the foregoing facts, see Johnston’s