Troop engagements of the American Civil War, 1865 Sherman's forces reached North Carolina in early March, divided into two parts commanded by Henry W. Slocum and Oliver O. Howard. The Confederate commander in the Carolinas was General P. G. T. Beauregard, but both Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee considered him unable to handle the situation; on February 22 they appointed General Joseph E. Johnston commander of all Confederate forces in North Carolina, which included the Army of Tennessee. He concentrated his available forces together near Smithfield, hoping to attack and defeat one part of Sherman's army before the other part arrived to its assistance. Johnston
First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia Wofford, who are able to help Lee fend off the cavalrymen. The First Corps would spend the majority of the battle defending against repeated assaults of Laurel Hill made by both V Corps infantry as well as units from Hancock's II Corps, and was not heavily involved in the fighting in and around the "Bloody Angle." Following Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's death at Petersburg, the remnants of the Third Corps were merged into the First Corps on April 2. First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia The First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (or Longstreet's Corps) was a military unit fighting