Battle of Five Forks

Battle of Five Forks
Campaign	Petersburg
Date	April 1, 1865
Location	Dinwiddie County, Virginia
Combatants
United States	Confederacy
Commanders
Philip H. Sheridan	George E. Pickett
Strength Engaged
21,000	9,200
Casualties
830 (103 killed, 670 wounded, 57 captured/missing)	3,005 (605 killed or wounded, 2,400 captured/missing)

The Battle of Five Forks, on April 1, 1865, was the last major battle of the Petersburg Campaign during the American Civil War (1861–1865). By defeating Confederate infantry under George E. Pickett and cavalry under William H. F. "Rooney" Lee, Fitzhugh Lee, and Thomas L. Rosser, Union general Philip H. Sheridan was able to flank the Confederate lines at Petersburg. The action allowed the Union Army of the Potomac, after nearly ten months of siege, to break through Confederate general Robert E. Lee's lines and, by April 2, claim Petersburg and the Confederate capital at Richmond. When it was through, Union troops were positioned along the major transportations routes south, forcing evacuating Confederate troops to travel west during the Appomattox Campaign. Their attempt to unite with the Confederate army of Joseph E. Johnston was foiled, however, and Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9. Besides hastening the end of the war, the battle had major implications on two careers: When the fighting started, Pickett was famously absent behind the lines at a shad bake and failed to coordinate the action properly, staining his reputation. Union general Gouverneur K. Warren, meanwhile, was actually relieved of command during the battle, a move by Sheridan that was ruled improper in 1879.

Background

Title: Battle of Five Forks,
March 31–April 2, 1865
Source: Hal Jespersen
More informationThe movements that would culminate in the Battle of Five Forks began on March 29, 1865. With the arrival of the spring campaigning season, Union general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant decided to continue his strategy of stretching Union lines farther and farther to the Union left (the Confederate right) in an attempt to force Confederate general Robert E. Lee to extend his lines to the breaking point. Grant shifted his forces at Petersburg in order to concentrate on Lee's right. The Union Fifth Corps, under the command of Gouverneur K. Warren, took up a position on the far left flank. Meanwhile, Sheridan's cavalry corps swung far west, preparing to strike toward Dinwiddie Court House and then move north to sever the Danville Railroad and the South Side Railroad, the last remaining supply lines for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and the other Confederate troops in the entrenchments around Richmond and Petersburg.

On the afternoon of the March 29, Griffin's division of the Fifth Corps clashed with units on the Confederate far right at Lewis Farm. The Union troops defeated the Confederates and pushed them back. This success convinced Grant that victory was close at hand, and he determined to convert Sheridan's proposed raid into a full-fledged flanking maneuver.

Concerned with Grant's maneuver, Lee attempted to block it. The only troops available to blunt the Union advance, however, were the infantry division of George E. Pickett and the cavalry divisions of Rooney Lee, Fitz Lee, and Thomas Rosser. This task force, under the overall command of Pickett, marched westward, arriving in the vicinity of Five Forks on the afternoon of March 30, 1865.

Two battles on March 31, 1865, set the stage for Five Forks. The engagement that began first, and lasted until nightfall, was the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House, which developed between Sheridan's cavalry, operating beyond the Union left flank, and Pickett's task force. Both Sheridan and Pickett probed along the White Oak Road, which ran north to south. The opposing scouts met at Dinwiddie Court House, and a general engagement began as both generals fed more troops into the fight. Pickett managed the Confederate side of the encounter brilliantly, but failed to defeat Sheridan. The second engagement, along White Oak Road, involved units on Lee's far right near Burgess's Mill and Hatcher's Run, and Union troops from the Fifth Corps and the Second Corps. The Union troops managed to push the Confederates back. By the end of the day, the tenuous link between Pickett's exposed men near Five Forks and the bulk of the Army of Northern Virginia had been severed. Grant had turned Lee's flank, and in doing so had cut off Pickett's force.

The Battle

Title: Battle of Five Forks
Source: the Virginia Historical
Society
More informationOn the morning of April 1, 1865, Pickett withdrew his forces back from Dinwiddie Court House to the intersection of Five Forks. The Confederate left hung in the air; that is, no geographical obstacle prevented the position from being flanked. Aware of this deficiency, the Confederates "refused" their left flank: some troops took positions at a perpendicular angle to the rest of the line in order to prevent flanking maneuvers.

Warren marched his Fifth Corps west, to be placed under the overall supervision of Sheridan. The cavalryman planned an attack that would hit the Confederate line head on with cavalry (fighting primarily as dismounted infantry) while the Fifth Corps slammed into the Confederate left. The Union attack did not begin until 4:15 p.m., mainly because of the difficulties rain-soaked roads and swampy terrain caused the Fifth Corps while trying to get into position. Sheridan had intended that the attack begin earlier, and, not realizing the logistical difficulties Warren faced, blamed the commander of the Fifth Corps.

At four thirty, the Fifth Corps struck the weak return line on the Confederate left. Although Sheridan and Warren had intended for the entire Fifth Corps to fall on the Confederates, both men believed the Confederate line extended farther east than it actually did. As a result, the divisions of Samuel W. Crawford and Charles Griffin proceeded far past the Confederate line, while the division of Romeyn B. Ayres shattered the return line. Warren chased after his lost divisions and redirected them toward the Confederate rear. Sheridan, wondering where Warren was, finally let his impatience and temper get the best of him and determined to relieve Warren from command.

Title: Killed at Five Forks
Source: Library of Congress Prints &
Photographs Division
[ppmsca.26460]
More informationGeorge Pickett, accompanied by Rosser and Fitz Lee, had removed himself to a position behind the lines at Five Forks to enjoy a Virginia tradition—the shad bake. Sources conflict as to whether the Confederate leaders also imbibed a tipple of whiskey along with their fish. Intent on savoring this delicacy, the top three Confederate commanders had neglected to inform their subordinates where they might be found. Thus when Confederates on the lines detected Union movement that portended an attack, commanders shored up local defenses but received no coordination from above. By the time Pickett arrived on the field, it was too late to salvage the situation. Ayres's attack had rendered the Confederate line untenable, and Sheridan's cavalry troopers pressed hard along the entire front, preventing the Confederates from forming a secondary line.

By seven o'clock, the Union troops had driven the Confederates from the field in a stunning victory.

Aftermath

Title: Gouverneur K. Warren
Source: the Library of Congress Prints
and Photographs Division,
[LC-DIG-cwpb-05646]
More informationThe Battle of Five Forks rendered the Confederate position at Petersburg and Richmond untenable. Grant's plan, to move gradually past the Confederate right forcing Lee to extend his lines until they broke, had worked. Sheridan and the Fifth Corps sat poised to cut off the supply line of the South Side Railroad. They also occupied a position from which they could attempt to cut off the Army of Northern Virginia's line of retreat, should it attempt a flight westward. Even if they failed to interdict Lee's retreat, they would force Confederate troops to proceed farther westward before any swing south to effect a junction with the troops of Joseph Johnston.

Sheridan's removal of Warren sparked acrimony that lasted far beyond the end of the war. Sheridan's actions effectively ended Warren's military career, although Warren would press for a formal court of inquiry to review Sheridan's decision to relieve him. In 1879, Warren finally got his review, which found that Sheridan had acted improperly. By that late date, however, the verdict rendered nothing more than a moral victory to Warren.

Time Line

March 29, 1865 - Confederate general Robert E. Lee sends a task force of infantry and cavalry under George E. Pickett to block the Union attempt to flank the right side of his lines at Petersburg.
March 29, 1865 - The Union Fifth Corps clashes with units on the Confederate far right outside Petersburg at Lewis Farm. The Union troops push the Confederates back and convince Union general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant that victory is close at hand. He orders Philip H. Sheridan to attempt a full-fledged flanking maneuver.
March 30, 1865 - Confederate general George E. Pickett's men, dispatched by Robert E. Lee to block a Union flanking maneuver, arrive near Five Forks and Dinwiddie Court House.
March 31, 1865 - Scouts ahead of a force of Confederate infantry and cavalry under George E. Pickett, sent by Robert E. Lee to block a Union flanking maneuver near Petersburg, run into forward elements of Union general Philip H. Sheridan's forces at Dinwiddie Court House. Pickett manages the fight brilliantly but can't defeat Sheridan.
March 31, 1865 - Union troops, attempting to flank the right side of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's line before Petersburg, engage Confederates along White Oak Road. Confederates under George E. Pickett are pushed back and cut off from the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia.
April 1, 1865, morning - Confederate general George E. Pickett, cut off from the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia, pulls his men back from Dinwiddie Court House to the vicinity of Five Forks.
April 1, 1865, afternoon - Confederate generals George E. Pickett, Thomas L. Rosser, and Fitzhugh Lee leave their commands to enjoy a shad bake. When the Union assault finally comes, they are nowhere to be found. Pickett returns to the field just in time to watch his lines dissolve under Union pressure.
April 1, 1865, 4:15 p.m. - Union generals Philip H. Sheridan and Gouverneur K. Warren begin their assault on Confederate infantry and cavalry under George E. Pickett at Five Forks.
April 1, 1865, 4:30 p.m. - Union general Romeyn B. Ayres's division of Gouverneur K. Warren's Fifth Corps slams into the Confederate line at Five Forks, rendering the position untenable.
April 1, 1865, 7 p.m. - At the Battle of Five Forks, Union general Philip H. Sheridan relieves his Fifth Corps commander, Gouverneur K. Warren, of command. He had wanted the day's attack to begin earlier and had not realized the logistical difficulties Warren faced. The move effectively ends Warren's career, although he would be vindicated by a review in 1879.
April 1, 1865, nightfall - Union forces under Philip H. Sheridan complete their stunning victory over Confederate infantry and cavalry under George E. Pickett. Confederate lines before Petersburg have been flanked and the city, along with the capital at Richmond, will fall the next day.