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Local figure

Joseph E. Johnston

Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston met Union general William T. Sherman three times in April 1865 at James and Nancy Bennitt's farm in Orange County, on the Hillsborough Road seven miles from Durham Station. Their final agreement on April 26 surrendered 89,270 soldiers in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

Source: NC Historic Sites: Bennett Place, History

Also found in catalogs as Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston) Johnston.

1807–1891 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

4 works about Joseph E. Johnston are indexed here.

Search these 4 works Research sources View indexed works ↓
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 5 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Alexander Dickson becomes owner of the house later called the Alexander Dickson House Around 1839 Alexander Dickson acquired the late-Georgian frame farmhouse of about 1790 that stood near the later junction of Interstate 85 and NC 86 outside Hillsborough. Joseph E. Johnston used it as his headquarters in 1865, and it was moved to 150 East King Street in 1983. People: Joseph E. Johnston, Alexander Dickson Place: Alexander Dickson House, then near NC 86 at Interstate 85 outside Hillsborough (now 150 East King Street) · Also mentions: East King StreetSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 150 E. King Street (Alexander Dickson House)
  2. Sherman and Johnston first meet at the Bennitt farm on the Hillsborough Road William T. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston met midway between their lines on the Hillsborough Road, seven miles from Durham Station, and moved to James Bennitt's nearby farmhouse. Before talks began Sherman showed Johnston a telegram announcing President Lincoln's assassination; Sherman offered military terms only, and Johnston asked for terms of a permanent peace. People: William T. Sherman, Joseph E. Johnston, James Bennitt Place: Bennett Place (Bennitt farm, then in Orange County)Search the index · NC Historic Sites: Bennett Place, History
  3. Johnston accepts Sherman's basis of agreement at the Bennitt farm At their second meeting at James and Nancy Bennitt's farm on the Hillsborough Road, then in Orange County, Joseph E. Johnston accepted the "basis of agreement" William T. Sherman submitted, which offered an armistice, disbanding of the armies, recognition of state governments and a general amnesty. Jefferson Davis approved the terms, but Washington rejected them. People: William T. Sherman, James Bennitt Place: Bennitt farm (Bennett Place), then Orange County · Also named: Jefferson Davis, Nancy BennittSearch the index · NC Historic Sites: Bennett Place, History
  4. Johnston surrendered to Sherman at the Bennett farm, then in Orange County After meetings on April 17 and 18 whose terms Washington rejected, Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman met again at the farm of James and Nancy Bennitt and signed a military surrender covering forces in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. North Carolina Historic Sites describes the Bennitt farm as a 325 acre place in Orange County, on the Hillsborough road west of Durham Station. People: Joseph E. Johnston, William T. Sherman, James Bennitt Place: Bennett farm, Orange County (now Durham County) · Also named: Nancy BennittNorth Carolina Historic Sites: Bennett Place, History
  5. Confederate leaders gather at Hillsborough Wade Hampton and Joseph E. Johnston used the Dickson farm on the edge of Hillsborough as a temporary headquarters while Johnston negotiated with Sherman, and Confederate officials including Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge came there to work on terms. Johnston and his staff rode from the Dickson place along the old Hillsborough to Durham road to complete the surrender. People: Joseph E. Johnston, Wade Hampton, William T. Sherman, Alexander Dickson Place: Hillsborough · Also named: John C. BreckinridgeAlliance for Historic Hillsborough: The Alexander Dickson House

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Joseph E. Johnston, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Indexed works

Works about or by Joseph E. Johnston. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

The final fifteen days, excerpts from the "Narrative of military operations," by General Joseph Eggleston Johnston

1940 · General Johnston Headquarters House?

Folded leaflet issued at Hillsborough in 1940, printing excerpts from General Joseph E. Johnston's 'Narrative of military operations' on the final fifteen days of the Civil War in North Carolina, the period of his surrender negotiations with Sherman in April 1865. Its first page announces the opening of the restored house near Hillsborough that served as Johnston's headquarters that year. One sheet of four pages with illustrations.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), 1807-1891.

UNC

Surrender According To Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman

Stephen Cushman · 2021

Stephen Cushman on how Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman each told the story of the Bennett Place surrender of April 1865 in their memoirs, and on their friendship after the war.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OpenAlex record: Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), 1807-1891.

OpenAlex

Civil War Collection

Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina · 1860

Statewide Civil War collection of the State Archives of North Carolina, dated 1860 to 1965. It gathers pardon petitions, bounty payrolls, quartermaster vouchers and supply papers, disabled veterans' claims and letters about artificial limbs, regimental and unit papers, muster rolls, diaries, reminiscences, clippings and sheet music. Orange County is one of the many North Carolina counties represented.

Included because: Catalog heading in the State Archives of NC record: Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), 1807-1891.

State Archives of NC

Papers,

Bennitt, James · 1820

Papers of James Bennitt, a Durham County farmer and artisan whose home was where Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to William T. Sherman in April 1865. The 159 items, starting in 1820, include letters, a diary, accounts, bills and receipts on local affairs and on the later history and restoration of the house, plus a Hillsborough militia regiment's muster roll. At Duke's Rubenstein Library.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Johnston, Joseph E. -- 1807-1891.

Duke

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 973.738 HUG Bentonville: The Final Battle of Sherman and Johnston Hughes, Nathaniel Cheairs · 1996

    A tactical history of the battle of Bentonville, fought in March 1865, Joseph E. Johnston's last effort to stop Sherman's march north through the Carolinas. Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes Jr. follows both armies from South Carolina to Fayetteville and Goldsboro, explains why the Confederate attack's early gains came to nothing, draws on letters, diaries and official reports, and sketches commanders including Bragg, Hardee, D. H. Hill, Howard and Slocum. UNC Press, 1996; 336 pages with maps.

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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Research sources

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Background

National Register files

Records of the time

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Joseph E. Johnston Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

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Books about Joseph E. Johnston

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Historical records and collections

Catalog searches use the Library of Congress name heading: Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), 1807-1891. Historical-record searches use the person’s name and may include namesakes. Links open in a new tab.

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Picture: Joseph E. Johnston. Public domain. via Wikimedia Commons

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