"I was exceeding anxious to attack at once…"

On March 31, 1865, Union cavalry under General Philip Sheridan retreated down this road to the vicinity of Dinwiddie Court House after being driven back by General George Pickett's Confederate force. On April 1, reinforced Federal cavalry advanced again and by late afternoon formed a two mile wide line, mostly dismounted, facing the Confederates near the Five Forks intersection. They were strengthened by the arrival of the Union 5th Corps under General Gouverneur Warren, which attacked on the cavalry's right flank as the cavalry pressed forward. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the Confederates were routed from the battlefield. Sheridan brought more than 6,000 dismounted cavalrymen into the frontal attack against Pickett, while 3,000 more remained at Dinwiddie Court House, and Warren had 12,000 infantrymen for the flank attack.

Virginia · United States