Sherman's March
Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Sherman's March. Sherman's army, on its march from Savannah, entered Goldsboro, its chief North Carolina objective, Mar. 21, 1865.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
After cutting through Georgia and the Carolinas, General William T. Sherman's army reached Goldsboro on March 21, 1865, making the rail town its chief objective in North Carolina. Here Sherman's forces rested and resupplied in the closing weeks of the Civil War. Within weeks the Confederacy's last major eastern army would surrender nearby.
Why it matters
Goldsboro was a strategic endpoint of Sherman's campaign, one of the war's decisive marches toward Confederate collapse.
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Related people
- · William T. Sherman
Related events
- · Sherman's March
- · Carolinas Campaign
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Foster's Raid
Goldsboro, NC
On December 17, 1862, Union troops under General John G. Foster struck Goldsboro during a raid from their base at New Bern, aiming to cut the vital Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. The attack was part of the wider Union effort to control eastern North Carolina's rivers and rail lines. The raiders damaged the railroad bridge before withdrawing.
Wm. T. Dortch
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William T. Dortch of Goldsboro was one of North Carolina's representatives in the Confederate Senate during the Civil War, and after the conflict he remained a fixture of the state's public life. In 1883 he headed the commission charged with codifying North Carolina's laws, a major undertaking that brought order to decades of accumulated statutes. This marker points visitors toward his former home and grave nearby.
Battle of Whitehall
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On December 15–16, 1862, Union troops under General J. G. Foster raided the village of Whitehall (now Seven Springs) during operations along the Neuse River. In the fighting they damaged the Confederate ironclad ram 'Neuse,' then under construction along the river. The clash was part of Foster's broader expedition against Confederate supply lines in eastern North Carolina.
Battle of Bentonville
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