"All have felt the absence of one who should have been present to witness these scenes; one to whose great mind and pure heart; to whose perseverance and faith in the right, we are more indebted for our final triumph than to any other cause.  I propose a sentiment in which I know you will all unite:--To the memory of our great leader-Abraham Lincoln." 

"The Battle of Bentonville was General Slocum's fight. While his name is most honorably associated with almost every great battle of this war from Bull Run to Gettysburg in the East, and since his advent in the Southwest, the bloody combat at Bentonville was peculiarly his own affair, out of which he has come with fresh laurels. The unexpected attack, the fierce assaults by far superior numbers, several times repeated, called for all the resources of a brave, cool, experienced soldier; but Slocum was more than equal to the necessities of the hour, for he was victorious, and his success justified General Sherman's selection of him as the commander of the Left Wing of the army. General Slocum enjoys the reputation of a thoroughly accomplished soldier. It is probably owing to his complete mastery of all the details of his profession, his keen sense of order and discipline, and his energetic and magnetic manner, that the XXth Corps, which he commanded for a long time, has gained its splendid reputation. He is a native of New York, and is as proud of his State as his State is proud of him. His personal appearance is prepossessing. Long, wavy brown hair, brushed back behind his ears, sparkling brown eyes, a heavy brown mustache, a height above the medium, and a manner which inspires faith and confidence, make up a most attractive figure. He seems to know precisely what he has to do, and to be perfectly sure that he can do it. It is very certain that he is one of those rare men who has made few if any mistakes."

- Brevet Major George Ward Nichols, quoted in Slocum, Charles E., The Life and Services of Major-General Henry Warner Slocum. Toledo, OH: The Slocum Publishing Company, 1913, pp. 291-292

"Like [General] Hood's at Atlanta the onset of [General Joseph E.] Johnston on Slocum at Bentonville was one of the most desperate of the war. In successive waves, one column followed another, determined to carry Slocum's position at any sacrifice. Mowed down by Slocum's terrible fire, the first column reeled backward and broke, when the second column came on in the same headlong desperation. The whole fury of the attack spent itself at this time in less than an hour, and yet in that time the enemy made six successive assaults. The last charge broke for a moment Slocum's line; but it recovered its position, and the rebel army, baffled and discouraged, fell back to its entrenchments. So close and murderous was the combat, that many of the enemy's dead lay within the Union lines, and even around the headquarters of the generals. For the time it lasted, it was one of the most sanguinary battles of the war, and the only serious one fought after leaving Atlanta. No better fighting was seen during the war then at Bentonville, on the 19th of March, for Johnston must have had double the number of Slocum, and a less able general would have been overborne... General Slocum is a man of fine personal appearance, being above the medium height and possessing a manner that at once attracts the beholder. His long brown wavy hair is pushed back behind his ears, which gives additional force to the frank, open expression of his countenance. His eyes are brown and sparkle with light, while his whole expression inspires confidence and trust, and gives him a sort of magnetic power over his troops. Probably there is no general in the service who is more thoroughly master of all the details of his profession than he. A lover of order and a strict disciplinarian, he brought the XXth Corps to a state of perfection that has given it a national reputation. It was of vital importance to Sherman in the novel campaigns he was entering upon, to have commanders over the two wings of his army that never made mistakes, and it was on this account he brought Slocum from Vicksburg to be his left hand in the long march he contemplated. Probably no commander ever leaned with such implicit confidence on three subordinates as Sherman did on Thomas, Howard and Slocum. Slocum's character cannot be better summed up than in the language of an eminent judge, who in a private letter never designed to be made public, says: ‘He was always equal to the task set before him, and never was known to fail in any enterprise which he undertook. He is certainly one of the most persevering and indefatigable men I ever knew, and was always esteemed lucky, while it was plain to me that his successes were the result of calculation and the most indomitable energy. While he is modest and unobtrusive, he possesses genius of the highest order, and a well balanced mind; always cool and ready to baffle difficulties, whether small or great; for he has inexhaustible mental resources in an emergency and can bring them to bear with wonderful power in the right direction and at the proper moment to insure success. I consider him qualified for the highest stations in the gift of the Government; but his proverbial modesty will probably keep him back from reaching any of them. And he seems to have no ambition in that direction.'"

- Prominent writer quoted in Slocum, Charles E., The Life and Services of Major-General Henry Warner Slocum. Toledo, OH: The Slocum Publishing Company, 1913, pp.  292-294.