Crawford's Sweep

At the Battle of Five Forks, the decisive Union movement for the Federals came from a fortunate mistake. While one Union division struck the Confederate left at the Angle, Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawford’s division passed too far north and missed the Confederate line altogether. Crawford’s lines instead swept westward to the Confederate rear, cutting the main Confederate escape route along Fords Road. He then pushed across the fields toward the rear of the Confederate lines at Five Forks, and his attack spelled doom for Pickett’s command.

Virginia · United States