Troop engagements of the American Civil War, 1865

[2] After repairing Fort Fisher, Terry was reinforced by the XXIII Corps under Major General John M. Schofield, who took overall command of Union operations in North Carolina.

Lee first moved west along the Richmond & Danville Railroad, planning to flee southwards to North Carolina to unite with other Confederate forces.

Over the next few days, the Union army continued to press the Confederates from the south and the west, forcing Lee to retreat farther westward.

[6] In the Carolinas, Major General William T. Sherman started north from Savannah, Georgia, in late February, planning to unite with U.S. Grant's armies near Petersburg, Virginia.

[9] Sherman united with Schofield's force at Goldsboro on March 23; he then spent the next three weeks resting and refitting his command and repairing the railroad to Wilmington.

[11] In the Western Theater, Major General James H. Wilson led his cavalry corps in a raid through Alabama and Georgia starting on March 22, destroying Confederate manufacturing plants.

[15] The Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah, which had been in the Pacific Ocean during the months of April and May, only received word of the end of the war on August 2 from a British ship.