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The latter then retreated across the
Neuse River, burning the railway bridge behind him. During that night
Couch arrived, and
Schofield pressed on to the
Neuse; but, for lack of pontoons, he was delayed there until the 14th, when, having rebuilt the bridge, his whole force passed over without opposition, and entered
Kinston.
Sherman was then approaching that region, so the
Confederates hastened to join
General Johnston, who was concentrating his forces at
Smithfield, on the road to
Raleigh, to confront the conqueror coming up from
Fayetteville.
Schofield moved forward on the 20th,
and entered Goldsboroa on the evening of the next day, with very little opposition.
In the mean time,
Terry had moved
from
Wilmington with a portion of the troops that had been left there, and pushing along the line of the railway northward, crossed the
Neuse at Cox's Bridge on the 22d, and joined
Schofield at Goldsboroa.
And so it was that the co-operative movements with
Sherman, on the coast, were promptly and successfully executed.
Let us now resume the consideration of
Sherman's march through the Carolinas.
We left
Sherman and his army at the smoldering capital of
South Carolina, on the 18th of February,
1 and
Charleston in possession of the
National troops.
2 There was no unnecessary tarrying at
Columbia, for
Sherman had fixed the time for reaching Goldsboroa.
He spent the 18th and 19th
in destroying the arsenal, machine shops, founderies, and other structures at
Columbia, devoted to the uses of the
Confederates; also the railway tracks, one southeasterly as far as
Kingsville and Wateree junction on the
Wilmington road; and northward, in the direction of
Charlotte, as far as
Winnsboroa.
Meanwhile,
Kilpatrick, who had been out on quite an extensive raid, was working round toward the last point.
He had first gone out toward
Aiken, to make the
Confederates believe that
Augusta was
Sherman's destination.
Spencer's brigade had a severe skirmish
with some of
Wheeler's cavalry, near Williston Station, and routed them.
The track was torn up in that vicinity, and
Atkins's brigade was sent to
Aiken.
Wheeler was there in force,
and drove him back, and marching out, charged
Kilpatrick's entire command.
Wheeler was repulsed with a loss of two hundred and fifty-one men.
Kilpatrick then threatened
Wheeler at
Aiken until the night of the 12th, when he drew off, and, moving rapidly on the left of the Fourteenth Corps, struck the highway nine miles northwest of
Lexington, when only about fifteen hundred of
Wheeler's cavalry were between him and
Columbia.
But when
Kilpatrick crossed the
Saluda, on the day
when the main army reached
Columbia, he found
Wheeler ahead of him. At that time the remnant of
Hood's army, under
Cheatham, was moving northeastward in that region, and for a day the
Union cavalry marched parallel with it, a stream dividing the hostile columns.
On the 18th,
Kilpatrick struck the Greenville and Columbia railroad, and tore up the track to
Alston, where he crossed
the
Broad River, and pushed northerly almost to
Chesterville.
There he found that
Wheeler had united with
Hampton, and the combined forces were before him, on the road leading to
Charlotte, in which
