On Tuesday, the 16th, General Slocum found Hardee’s army, from Charleston, which had retreated before us from Cheraw, in position across the narrow, swampy neck between Cape Fear and North Rivers, where the road branches off to Goldsboro’.  There a pretty severe fight occurred, in which General Slocum’s troops carried handsomely the advanced line, held by a South Carolina brigade, commanded by a Colonel Butler.  Its Commander, Colonel Rhett, of Fort Sumter notoriety, with one of his staff, had the night before been captured, by Kilpatrick’s scouts, from his very skirmish-line.  The next morning Hardee was found gone, and was pursued through and beyond Averysboro’.  General Slocum buried one hundred and eight dead rebels, and captured and destroyed three guns.  Some eighty wounded rebels were left in our hands, and, after dressing their wounds, we left them in a house, attended by a Confederate officer and four privates, detailed out of our prisoners and paroled for the purpose.

We resumed the march toward Goldsboro’.  I was with the left wing until I supposed all danger had passed; but, when General Slocum’s head of column was within four miles of Bentonsville, after skirmishing as usual with cavalry, he became aware that there was infantry in his front.  He deployed a couple of brigades, which, on advancing, sustained a partial repulse, but soon rallied, when he formed a line of the two leading divisions (Morgan’s and Carlin’s) of Jeff.  C. Davis’s corps.  The enemy attacked these with violence, but was repulsed.  This was in the forenoon of Sunday, the 19th.  General Slocum brought forward the two divisions of the Twentieth Corps, hastily disposed of them for defense, and General Kilpatrick massed his cavalry on the left.

General Jos.  Johnston had, the night before, marched his whole army (Bragg, Cheatham, S. D. Lee, Hardee, and all the troops he had drawn from every quarter), determined, as he told his men, to crash one of our corps, and then defeat us in detail.  He attacked General Slocum in position from 3 P. M. on the 19th till dark; but was everywhere repulsed, and lost heavily.  At the time, I was with the Fifteenth Corps, marching on a road more to the right; but, on hearing of General Slocum’s danger, directed that corps toward Cox’s Bridge, in the night brought Blair’s corps over, and on the 20th marched rapidly on Johnston’s flank and rear.  We struck him about noon, forced him to assume the defensive, and to fortify.  Yesterday we pushed him hard, and came very near crushing him, the right division of the Seventeenth Corps (Mower’s) having broken in to within a hundred yards of where Johnston himself was, at the bridge across Mill Creek.  Last night he retreated, leaving us in possession of the field, dead, and wounded.  We have over two thousand prisoners from this affair and the one at Averysboro’, and I am satisfied that Johnston’s army was so roughly handled yesterday that we could march right on to Raleigh; but we have now been out six weeks, living precariously upon the collections of our foragers, our men dirty, ragged, and saucy, and we must rest and fix up a little.  Our entire losses thus far (killed, wounded, and prisoners) will be covered by twenty-five hundred, a great part of which are, as usual, slight wounds.  The enemy has lost more than double as many, and we have in prisoners alone full two thousand.