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Cincinnati, with his whole corps, artillery and horses, leaving his wagons behind, and thence by railroad to
Washington City and
Alexandria.
There he was detained awhile by the frozen Potomac, but finally went in steamers to the coast of
North Carolina, where he landed near
Fort Fisher, with
Cox's (Third) division, on the 9th of February.
The remainder of the troops speedily followed (some going to New Berne), and swelled
Terry's little army of eight thousand men to full twenty thousand.
Terry was then also occupying
Fort Caswell and
Smithville, on the opposite side of the
Cape Fear River.
The Department of North Carolina had just been created, and
Schofield was assigned to its command; so, on his arrival, he assumed the charge of all the troops in that Department.
The main object of the movement now to be undertaken was, as we have observed,
1 the occupation of Goldsboroa,
in aid of
Sherman's march to that place.
Grant had communicated
to that leader that
Schofield had been ordered to the sea, where he would have under his command over thirty thousand troops.
The grand object of all the movements now was the dispersion of
Johnston's army gathering in
North Carolina, and the capture of
Lee's at
Richmond and
Petersburg.
Grant went down to
Fort Fisher with
Schofield, and conferred with
General Terry and.
Admiral Porter, and on his return to
City Point he issued
instructions to
Schofield to move on Goldsboroa either from
Wilmington (if he should capture it), or from New Berne.
“
Sherman,” he said, “may be looked for in the neighborhood of Goldsboroa any time from the 22d to the 28th of February.”
Two days after
Schofield's arrival at
Fort Fisher with
General J. D. Cox's. division,
Terry was pushed forward.
He drove the
Confederate pickets, and established an intrenched line so close to
Hoke's, that the latter was compelled to defend his in force.
Then, by the aid — of navy boats and pontoons,
Terry attempted to turn
Hoke's left flank, but was foiled by the high winds and waves of a storm.
The turning of
Hoke's right was then attempted, and crowned with success.
For that purpose
Schofield sent the divisions of
Ames and
Cox across the river to
Smithville, where they were joined by
Moore's brigade, of
Couch's division, just debarked.
Marching northward, they enveloped
Fort Anderson.
At the same time the gun-boats opened a heavy fire on that work, the monitor
Montauk lying close to the fort, and others enfilading it. Perceiving the peril, the garrison fled that night, taking with them six guns and many valuable things, and. leaving behind
