Military
7
Just before noon on April 1, 1865, ten thousand Confederates under Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett arrived at Five Forks and immediately began digging. By mid-afternoon they had built a rough earthwork stretching for nearly two miles along the White Oak Road, with the center of the Confederate line here. Weary, wet, and hungry, they waited knowing that if they gave way, nothing would remain between Federal forces and the South Side Railroad, the last supply line into Petersburg. Until 4 p.m. they stayed quietly behind the works, then saw men in blue advancing astride the Dinwiddie Road, and the rattle of musketry soon marked the opening of the Battle of Five Forks.
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Virginia · United States
