The fighting 289some bluecoats reported resistance, Sherman
brushed it aside as nothing more than
cavalry in their front. Suddenly,
Confederates sprung the trap and rocked
back the advancing Federals, but as
additional Union units rushed to the sound
of gunfire, the Yankees stiffened. Two days
later, a Union counterattack cut through the
Rebels and threatened their rear, until
Sherman recalled the troops. Sherman was
convinced that the end was near, and he
loathed the idea of spilling any more blood.
The Battle of Bentonville ended, with
Johnston losing 2,606 men in the attack and
Sherman suffering 1,527 casualties.
Three days later, Sherman marched into
Goldsboro, North Carolina, where his troops
closed the campaign. His army had marched
470 miles (756km), destroyed hundreds of
miles of rail, wrecked an arsenal, burnt
towns, and terrified civilians along the route.
Yet like the Savannah Campaign, impact of
the march through the Carolinas extended
far beyond those who experienced it. Even
Southerners who avoided the destruction
suddenly confronted the reality that the
Confederacy could no longer protect its
citizenry. In effect, Southerners were at the
mercy of Yankee hordes. By destroying
railroads, Sherman's army impaired the
ability of Robert E. Lee to draw supplies to
Richmond, inflicting greater hardship on
those beleaguered Confederates. The
disruption of communication caused
widespread anxiety about loved ones in
those regions. And perhaps most
importantly, Sherman's march encouraged
massive desertion from Confederate armies
by forcing Rebel soldiers to choose their
ultimate responsibility, between their
country and their family. When Confederate
troops learned how their loved ones were
suffering, many veterans deserted the ranks
to care for them, and quite a number of their
officers could not blame them. The problem
reached such epidemic proportions in the
Rebel army of Northern Virginia that Lee
himself wrote the governor of North
Carolina, alerting him that letters from
home were promoting desertion and
imploring him to rally the people of the
Tarheel State to support the Rebel cause. In
the end, neither the governor nor Lee could
stem the tide of desertion. More than a
campaign against an army, Sherman targeted
a hostile people. Through his destructive
marches, he shattered Confederate resolve to
continue the rebellion.