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
Army of Northern Virginia in the first six months from about 46,380 to 62,230 soldiers. The army was assigned in July to the Defense District of North Carolina and Richmond. In the course of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign the number of soldiers temporarily grew to 82,633 while parts of the Army were under the command by Lieutenant General Early in Shenandoah Valley. In 1864 the Army of Northern Virginia fought against the more than twice as strong Potomac-, James- and Shenandoah Army in Grant's Overland Campaign, Early's Raid against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, and Shenandoah Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. The