Goldsboro, Junction of National armies at.
The Confederates under
Hoke fled from
Wilmington northward, towards
Goldsboro, towards which the Nationals ruder
Schofield were pressing.
It was at the railroad crossing of the
Neuse River.
General Cox, with 5,000 of
Palmer's troops, crossed from
Newbern and established a depot of supplies at
Kingston, after a moderate battle on the way with
Hoke.
Perceiving the
Confederate force to be about equal to his own,
Schofield ordered
Cox to intrench and wait for expeted reinforcements.
On March 10, 1865,
Hoke pressed
Cox and attacked hint, but was repulsed with severe loss—1,500 men. The
Nationals lost about 300.
The Confederates fled across the
Neuse, and
Schofield entered
Goldsboro on the 20th.
Then
Terry, who had been left at
Wilmington, joined
Schofield (March 22), and the next day
Sherman arrived there.
Nearly all the
National troops in
North Carolina were encamped that night around
Goldsboro.
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, with the combined and concentrated forces of
Beauregard,
Hardee,
Hood, the garrison from
Augusta,
Hoke, and the cavalry of
Wheeler and
Hampton, was at
Smithfield, half-way between
Goldsboro and
Raleigh, with about 40,000 troops, mostly veterans.