Reveille sounded at 1 a. m. At 3 o'clock with the Fifteenth
Corps in front, we took up the line of march and moved forward twenty-one
miles, where we found the rebels fortified on the west side of the Neuse river
near Bentonville. We drove them back inside of their works, and forming a line
of battle moved up as close to their works as we could, and then built a line
of rifle pits. We left our wagon trains far in the rear under guard. The
rebels' force is reported to be about thirty-five thousand men under the
command of General Johnston. General Schofield has been moving up this way from
the coast, and we just learned that he reached Goldsboro and took possession of
the place this afternoon. We are informed that General Sherman will now open up
communications from Goldsboro southeast to Newbern.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B.,
Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 262-3
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