1865 Battles - Major Civil War Battles

• Bentonville

  March 19-21, 1865

  This battle, fought near a small North Carolina town, marked the last offensive of any major Confederate army. The Battle of Bentonville cost 4,100 casualties. The Confederate Army of Tennessee retreated west to Greensboro, North Carolina, where it eventually stacked arms in surrender on April 26. This battle, which led to retreat and capitulation, ended Confederate resistance in the western theater.

• Petersburg Breakthrough

  April 2, 1865

  This battle resulted in the Confederate withdrawal from Richmond and Petersburg and the final retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia to Appomattox. Union forces entered Richmond on April 3, and President Lincoln visited the city the next day, making sure to stop at the Confederate White House, only recently abandoned by his counterpart hours earlier.

• Appomattox Campaign

  April 9, 1865

  This campaign resulted in the surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, the most significant Confederate military force in the eastern theater. This campaign closed the war in the east.