Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart Commander, Army of Tennessee

A veteran corps commander in the Army of Tennessee, A. P. Stewart assumed command of the remnants of that once-mighty force on March 16, 1865. During the fight below the Goldsboro Road on March 19 at Bentonville, as D. H. Hill's units were forced back north of the road by Cogswell's advance, a young Alabama soldier hurriedly inquired of "Old Straight" the whereabouts of Baker's Brigade. "Bless you, my boy," replied Stewart, "I don't know where anyone is."

Hoke's Division, from the Army of Northern Virginia, was under the smothering supervision of Department of North Carolina commander Braxton Bragg. Hoke played a prominent role at Bentonville against J. D. Morgan's XIV Corps division on March 19, and against "Blackjack" Logan's XV Corps on March 20-21, 1865. Despite the major action experienced by his division, which suffered nearly 800 casualties, Hoke was curiously silent on the battle in later years. He left no official report on the engagement, and pointedly ignored several inquiries from Joe Johnston in the 1890s regarding his division's actions at Bentonville.

Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke

Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill Commander, S. D. Lee's Corps

D. H. Hill commanded the largest contingent of the Army of Tennessee present at Bentonville, fielding 2,687 men on March 19, 1865. As in many previous fights, Hill was active on the battlefield, where four of his staff officers were wounded. He oversaw his own command while directing and issuing orders to other units--most notably Dickson's Battery on March 20. Hill left the most detailed of the official Confederate reports on Bentonville.

Home