Military
The Battle of White Oak Road left the Federals in position to block Confederate reinforcements from reaching their comrades farther west. It and the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House were preludes to the climactic April 1 Battle of Five Forks, the “Waterloo of the Confederacy.” A late-afternoon attack at Five Forks, coupled with poor communication among the Southern command, allowed the Union an easy victory. Upon hearing this news, General Grant ordered an all-out assault at various points along the weakened Confederate line for the following morning. On April 2, 1865, after almost ten months of siege, Federal forces finally broke the Confederate line around Petersburg and cut all supply lines to the city. The Army of Northern Virginia abandoned Petersburg, and the Confederate government fled the capital in Richmond. Seven days later Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, eighty miles to the west.
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Virginia · United States
