Answer:
Union General William Sherman was charged with attacking and defeating the states of North Carolina and South Carolina during the final months of the Civil War.
Explanation:
After taking over Georgia, Ulysses S. Grant requested Sherman to embark his troops to Virginia, where they would jointly confront Robert E. Lee. Sherman convinced him of what better course he would go by, punishing North Carolina and Carolina South. Grant agreed, and Sherman followed the march with the same scorched earth policy employed in Georgia. It was particularly hard on South Carolina, the cradle of rebellion.
On the way he counted on the weak opposition of his old adversary, Joseph Johnston. Meanwhile, Confederate defenders believed that South Carolina's marshes, during a full flood season, would be an insurmountable obstacle to attackers. Knowing that Sherman was advancing about 12 miles a day building a path with fallen logs, Johnston declared "to have been convinced that there had been no such army since the days of Julius Caesar."
On February 17, 1865 falls Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. Sherman continues to progress through North Carolina, moderating the destruction against the state that joined the Confederation only reluctantly. In April, news comes out about the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Northern Virginia Army in Virginia, and the assassination of President Lincoln. Joseph Johnston, defeated at the Battle of Bentonville, accepts the generous terms proposed by Sherman and decrees the surrender of all Confederate armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. In practice, the Confederation ceases to exist.
