Union victory at Five Forks severed Confederate supply lines, forcing Lee to abandon Petersburg and Richmond and begin his final retreat.
Key Facts
- Date
- April 1, 1865
- Confederate prisoners taken
- up to 4,000 prisoners
- Confederate casualties inflicted
- over 1,000 casualties
- Strategic objective
- Control of South Side Railroad
- Union corps engaged
- V Corps infantry plus cavalry
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House on March 31, 1865, General Robert E. Lee ordered Major General George Pickett to hold Five Forks 'at all hazards,' recognizing the junction as the key to the South Side Railroad—a critical Confederate supply and evacuation route during the Siege of Petersburg.
On April 1, 1865, Union forces under Major General Philip Sheridan pinned the Confederate front while the V Corps under Major General Gouverneur K. Warren attacked the left flank. Pickett and Fitzhugh Lee were absent from command due to an acoustic shadow masking the battle's opening, allowing Union troops to roll up the Confederate line and seize Five Forks.
With Five Forks in Union hands and the South Side Railroad threatened, General Lee was compelled to abandon both Petersburg and Richmond, initiating the Army of Northern Virginia's final retreat that culminated in its surrender at Appomattox Court House. Sheridan also controversially relieved Warren of corps command immediately after the battle.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Philip Sheridan, Gouverneur K. Warren.
Side B
1 belligerent
George Pickett, Fitzhugh Lee.