Carolinas Campaign

Significance

The Carolinas Campaign was the final Union offensive in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman advanced north from Savannah, Georgia, through the Carolinas with the objective of linking Union forces in the region with those operating in Virginia. The campaign culminated in the defeat of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army at the Battle of Bentonville and Johnston's unconditional surrender on April 26, 1865. Coming just two weeks after Robert E. Lee's defeat at Appomattox Court House, the surrender of Johnston's force signaled that organized Confederate resistance had effectively ended and the war was over.