Five Forks, Battle of

Last major battle of the American Civil War, on 1 April 1865. At Five Forks, about 16 km/10 mi southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, 28,000 Union troops commanded by Maj-Gen Philip Sheridan and Brig-Gen Gouverneur Warren defeated 19,000 Confederates under Maj-Gen George A Pickett. At the time, the main Confederate force under General Robert E Lee was besieged in Richmond and Petersburg by Union forces led by Ulysses S Grant, and this defeat exposed Lee's flank, forcing him to abandon Richmond, and led to his surrender eight days later.

Disposition of forces The siege of the Confederates was incomplete, and Grant's endeavours to send raiding parties around Richmond to cut rail and road communications had been held off. Grant decided to change his tactics and simply send an army around the southern flank of the Confederate position to destroy whatever Confederate force he found, so as to force Lee to either evacuate Richmond or surrender. Warren was given the task of cutting a vital road in order to isolate the Confederate field army from Richmond, but he still had his various units spread out and unconnected when the Confederates attacked.

Battle The Union's brigades were fed into the battle one by one and destroyed as they came; they broke and ran, communicating their panic to those behind. The disorder in the Union ranks was eventually stemmed and the Confederate drive was halted. Grant ordered Sheridan to take Warren's troops and deal with this Confederate force, which had fallen back to a prepared position at Five Forks. Sheridan's dismounted cavalry, together with Warren's infantry, struck the Five Forks position in the late afternoon and destroyed the Confederate force, taking 4,500 prisoners and scattering the remainder.