Posted on 04/01/2009 6:10:38 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
April 1, 1865 Battle of Five Forks
Confederate General Robert E. Lee's supply line into Petersburg, Virginia, is closed when Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant collapse the end of Lee's lines around Petersburg. The Confederates suffer heavy casualties, and the battle triggered Lee's retreat from Petersburg as the two armies began a race that would end a week later at Appomattox Court House.
For nearly a year, Grant had laid siege to Lee's army in an elaborate network of trenches that ran from Petersburg to the Confederate capital at Richmond, 25 miles north. Lee's hungry army slowly dwindled through the winter of 1864-65 as Grant's army swelled with well-fed reinforcements. On March 25, Lee attacked part of the Union trenches at Fort Stedman in a desperate attempt to break the siege and split Grant's force. When that attack failed, Grant began mobilizing his forces along the entire 40-mile front. Southwest of Petersburg, Grant sent General Philip Sheridan against Lee's right flank.
Sheridan moved forward on March 31, but the tough Confederates halted his advance. Sheridan moved troops to cut the railroad that ran from the southwest into Petersburg, but the focus of the battle became Five Forks, a road intersection that provided the key to Lee's supply line. Lee instructed his commander there, General George Pickett, to "Hold Five Forks at all hazards." On April 1, Sheridan's men slammed into Pickett's troops. Pickett had his force poorly positioned, and he was taking a long lunch with his staff when the attack occurred. General Gouverneur K. Warren's V Corps supported Sheridan, and the 27,000 Yankee troops soon crushed Pickett's command of 10,000. The Union lost 1,000 casualties, but nearly 5,000 of Pickett's men were killed, wounded, or captured. During the battle, Sheridan, with the approval of Grant, removed Warren from command despite Warren's effective deployment of his troops. It appears that a long-simmering feud between the two was the cause, but Warren was not officially cleared of any wrongdoing by a court of inquiry until 1882.
The vital intersection was in Union hands, and Lee's supply line was cut. Grant now attacked all along the Petersburg-Richmond front and Lee evacuated the cities. The two armies began a race west, but Lee could not outrun Grant. The Confederate leader surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9.
BTTT
ping
Hope you are well, Stony.
bump
A little less than two years earlier, Gouverneur K. Warren was the engineering officer who noticed that Round Top was undefended and who, on his own initiative, directed a brigade of infantry to the top. Thus saving the Union right flank on the second day of Gettysburg and ensuring the Union victory over Lee.
George Pickett. Disaster at Gettysburg, disaster at Spotslyvania Court House, disaster at Appomattox. George Pickett was a disaster!
Gouverneur Warrren was also brother-in-law to Washington Roebling, chief engineer and builder of the Brooklyn Bridge.
And like that other military disaster, George Custer, he graduated last in his class at West Point.
It's quite a sly little dig.
Interesting, thank you.
My paternal great-great grandfather fought in this battle as part of the 56th N.C. Infantry, C.S.A.
It was quite a rout by the Yankees from what I recall.
Hence, the phrase, “Put a fork in him”...
As I recall, Lee relieved Pickett after the fiasco, and, when seeing him during the retreat to Appomattox, asked, “Why is that man still with this army?”, or words to that effect.
There are some good photos of the battlefield here:
http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc2/fiveforks1.htm
Make sure you tell all on this thread how you think there was nothing noble about the Confederate cause, and they got what they deserved. Especially they guy with an ancestor in the NC infantry regiment.
Custer was one of the principal commanders Sheridan relied on at Five Forks, Saylor’s Creek, and in sealing Lee in at Appomattox
Custer defeated Stuart at Runnel’s Farm east of Gettysburg on July 3d, significantly contributing to the victory, was one of Sheridan’s division commanders in the Valley, and played a major role in Sheridan’s victories there.
Custer was the youngest two star in the history of the U.S Army. Last in his class, yes. Military disaster, no.
Gettysburg would have been a different matter with Thomas J. Jackson instead of Richard Stoddard Ewell in command of Lee’s 3rd corps and with John Brown Gordon instead of George Pickett attacking the hill.
Gettysburg was a West Point Class Goat reunion of sorts. Another who graduated last in his class of 1847 was Harry Heth, commander of the division that went into Gettysburg on the first day and who ran into Buford’s cavalry. And Laurence Simmons Baker, goat of ‘51, was one of Jeb Stuart’s commanders and the third rebel goat at the battle. In addition to Custer, there were two other goats among the Union.
Could be. But he wasn’t at Culp’s Hill. And Stuart was at Runnel’s Farm - with his Corps. And Custer was there, with a brigade. And he stopped him. Cold. Killed him the next Spring at Yellow Tavern.
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