Army of the South The Army of the South was a Confederate field army during the final months of the American Civil War . Formed from a collection of Confederate commands during the Carolinas Campaign , it was engaged in only one major battle , the Battle of Bentonville in March 1865 . During the following month , it was reorganized under the name of the Army of Tennessee . History . In February 1865 , Union armies commanded by William T . Sherman were advancing northward through the Carolinas towards Virginia . They were opposed by troops from the Department of South Carolina , Georgia , and Florida , commanded by William J . Hardee , and cavalry commanded by Wade Hampton ; both were under General P . G . T . Beauregard , commander of the Confederate Military Division of the West . However , both Confederate President Jefferson Davis and general - in - chief Robert E . Lee questioned Beauregard ' s ability to handle the situation in the Carolinas , so on February 23 Lee appointed General Joseph E . Johnston to command the Confederate forces in the Carolinas . Johnston established his headquarters at Smithfield , North Carolina and named his force the " Army of the South " . It consisted of four separate field forces present in North Carolina : Johnston had a total of less than 25 , 000 men , with at least 1 , 300 men without rifles and with a shortage of artillery and wagons . Johnston initially hoped to concentrate his forces at Fayetesville , North Carolina and attack part of Sherman ' s forces while it was crossing the Cape Fear River . But Sherman moved more rapidly than Johnston anticipated and another Union force was advancing from Wilmington to Goldsboro , which was on Johnston ' s flank . Johnston decided that remaining at Fayetesville was too risky , so he retreated back to Smithfield to concentrate his army . Meanwhile , he continued to look for an opportunity to attack an isolated portion of the Union force , hoping to overwhelm that part before the rest of Sherman ' s force could reach it . On March 18 , Hampton and Wheeler reported that the two wings of Sherman ' s force were separated by twelve miles and a day ' s march from each other . Johsnton decided to take advantage of the distance between the Union wings and attack Henry W . Slocum ' s wing near Bentonville . According to his plans , Hampton ' s cavalry would slow down the Union advance while the Confederate infantry deployed behind them ; he believed that if he could defeat Slocum ' s wing and destroy the Union wagon train with it , he might have a chance to defeat the remainder of the Union army . The Confederate infantry arrived at Bentonville on the 19th , with Bragg ' s force deployed on the left and Stewart ' s Army of the Tennessee on the right ; due to inaccurate maps , Hardee failed to arrive until late morning and so was used as a reserve force . The attack hit the Union XIV Corps and routed the two divisions on the Union left ; James D . Morgan ' s division on the right held its ground against multiple Confederate attacks . The Union units rallied near the Harper House and , reinforced by the XX Corps , managed to hold against additional Confederate charges . Sherman ' s other wing arrived during the night and formed on the right of Slocum ' s wing ; Johnston refused his left to protect his line of retreat . He remained at Bentonville for two days , hoping that Sherman would make another costly assault like at the Battle of Kennessaw Mountain , but Sherman failed to do so . During the night of March 21 , Johnston retreated back to Smithfield and waited there for Sherman ' s next move . Meanwhile , he attempted to obtain arms and rations for his men . Morale among the men started dropping in early April due to news of Confederate defeats and surrenders elsewhere and desertions began to become a problem , but Johnston still had about 28 , 000 men present for duty in late March , which increased to 30 , 000 by April 7 . From April 8 to the 10th , Johnston reorgainized the army , consolidating dozens of shrunken regiments and brigades , and forming the resulting divisions into three corps commanded by Hardee , Stewart , and Lee . Several commanders were relieved of command , including Bragg , McLaws , and Taliaferro . The reorgainized force was named the Army of Tennessee .