The Civil War Preservation Trust is prepared to buy about 240 acres around the site in the Johnston County community of Bentonville and add it to the 1,350-acre state-managed site, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Monday. The 1865 battlefield covered about 6,000 acres.  More than 80,000 troops fought at the battlefield where Union Gen. William T. Sherman defeated the forces of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman's troops had burned their way across Georgia and were marching to capture an important railroad junction at Goldsboro.

BlueRidgeNow.com (07/19/10)

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