Sherman's Carolina Campaign, in which his troops…

Sherman's Carolina Campaign, in which his troops had marched four hundred and twenty-five miles (six hundred and eighty-four kiometers) in fifty days, had been similar to his march to the sea through Georgia, although physically more demanding.

However, the Confederate forces opposing him are much smaller and more dispirited.

When Joseph E. Johnston meets with Jefferson Davis in Greensboro in mid-April, he tells the Confederate president: Our people are tired of the war, feel themselves whipped, and will not fight. Our country is overrun, its military resources greatly diminished, while the enemy's military power and resources were never greater and may be increased to any extent desired.... My small force is melting away like snow before the sun.