The events at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865 have long been considered the end of the Civil War.
In three remarkable meeting.
This set the stage for the dramatic events that occurred at James Bennett\'s farm in modern-day Durham.
Then came word of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, an event that prompted Johnston to say that with the death of the President of the United States, the South had lost its best friend.
Johnston, realizing that there was no further reason to flee in an attempt to link up with Lee\'s army, asked Sherman to meet with him to discuss terms of surrender.
But then word arrived of Lee\'s surrender--an event that changed everything.
Sherman pursued, prompting Johnston to evacuate Raleigh.
By the time it reached Smithfield on April 12, Johnston had fallen back to Raleigh.
When Sherman learned that the Army of the Potomac had captured Richmond and caused Lee\'s army to flee toward Danville, on the Virginia/North Carolina state line, he set his army in motion.
Unlike Lee\'s army, which was surrounded at Appomattox and compelled to surrender, Johnston\'s army was not surrounded and had a substantial head start on Sherman, who would face hard marches and possibly another bloody battle before he could compel Johnston to surrender.
Instead of pursuing Johnston, whose troops escaped to Smithfield, North Carolina, Sherman instead marched to Goldsboro, where his army was reinforced and spent two weeks resting and refitting.
Johnston\'s army inflicted heavy losses on Sherman\'s forces at the Battle of Bentonville in March 1865, but was nearly captured when its escape route was nearly blocked by Sherman\'s much larger army.
In addition, another 60, 000 Confederate soldiers remained under arms east of the Mississippi River.
Johnston.
Joseph E.
Sherman, commander of the Union armies operating in North Carolina, still faced a 31, 000 man Confederate army commanded by Gen.
William T.
Gen.
Maj.
However, there were still Confederate armies in the field.
The events at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865 have long been considered the end of the Civil War
