page_title: Appomattox campaign
section_title: Dinwiddie Court House (March 31)
hierarchical_section_title: Appomattox campaign / Union offensive / Dinwiddie Court House (March 31)
caption_attribution_description: English: Confederate Cavalry General Thomas T. Munford
context_page_description: The Appomattox campaign was a series of American Civil War battles fought March 29 – April 9, 1865, in Virginia that concluded with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to forces of the Union Army under the overall command of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, marking the effective end of the war.
  As the Richmond–Petersburg campaign ended, Lee's army was outnumbered and exhausted from a winter of trench warfare over an approximately 40 mi front, numerous battles, disease, hunger and desertion. Grant's well-equipped and well-fed army was growing in strength. On March 29, 1865, the Union Army began an offensive that stretched and broke the Confederate defenses southwest of Petersburg and cut their supply lines to Petersburg and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Union victories at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865, and the Third Battle of Petersburg, often called the Breakthrough at Petersburg, on April 2, 1865, opened Petersburg and Richmond to imminent capture. Lee ordered the evacuation of Confederate forces from both Petersburg and Richmond on the night of April 2–3 before Grant's army could cut off any escape.
context_section_description: About 5:00 p.m. on March 29, 1865, Major General Philip Sheridan led two of his three divisions of Union cavalry, totalling about 9,000 men counting the trailing division, unopposed into Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the end of the Confederate lines and about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of the important road junction at Five Forks, Virginia. Sheridan planned to occupy Five Forks the next day. That night, under orders from General Robert E. Lee, Confederate Major General Fitzhugh Lee led his cavalry division from Sutherland Station to Five Forks to defend against an anticipated Union drive to the South Side Railroad in order to cut use of that important final Confederate railroad supply line to Petersburg. Fitzhugh Lee arrived at Five Forks with his division early on the morning of March 30 and headed toward Dinwiddie Court House.
  On March 30, 1865, in driving rain, Sheridan sent Union cavalry patrols from Brigadier General Thomas Devin's division to seize Five Forks, key junction for reaching the South Side Railroad. Devin's force unexpectedly found and skirmished with units of Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division. A patrol of the 6th United States Cavalry Regiment under Major Robert M. Morris lost 3 officers and 20 men in the encounter with Fitzhugh Lee's troopers. Confederates casualties included Brigadier General William H. F. Payne who was wounded.
  That night Confederate Major General George Pickett reached Five Forks with about 6,000 infantrymen in five brigades (under Brigadier Generals William R. Terry, Montgomery Dent Corse, George H. Steuart, Matt Whitaker Ransom and William Henry Wallace) and took overall command of the operation as ordered by General Robert E. Lee. General Lee was concerned that detected Union Army movements were aimed at Five Forks and the South Side Railroad. The cavalry divisions of Major Generals Thomas L. Rosser and W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee arrived at Five Forks late that night. Fitzhugh Lee took overall command of the cavalry and put Colonel Thomas T. Munford in command of his own division.
  The rain continued on March 31. Under Sheridan's direction, Brigadier General (Brevet Major General) Wesley Merritt sent two of Devin's brigades toward Five Forks and held one brigade in reserve at J. Boisseau's farm. Brigades or detachments from Major General George Crook's division were sent to guard two fords of a swampy stream just to the west, Chamberlain's Bed, in order to protect the Union left flank from surprise attack and to guard the major roads.
  While Colonel Munford's division kept Devin's men away from Five Forks, Pickett moved off to the west of Chamberlain's Bed with his infantry and Rooney Lee's and Rosser's cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee to capture the fords and attack Sheridan from the left or rear and disperse his force. Not waiting for the infantry to begin their attack, Lee's troopers attacked Fitzgerald's Ford, the southern ford, and got some troops across. They were driven back by dismounted Union troopers of Colonel (Brevet Brigadier General) Charles H. Smith's brigade armed with Spencer repeating carbines. Coming up as Lee's attack faltered, Pickett reorganized his forces. At about 2:00 p.m., Lee attacked again without success but Pickett's force crossed the northern ford, Danse's Ford. The attack was helped in part by the unnecessary move ordered by General Crook of most of the blocking force of Brigadier General Henry E. Davies's brigade South toward the sound of gunfire presumably to help Smith's brigade, which in fact continued to hold the position.
  Union units fought a series of delaying actions throughout the day. After the Confederate infantry and cavalry had crossed Danse's ford and later the cavalry had crossed Fitzgerald's Ford, Munford's division drove back Colonel Charles L. Fitzhugh's and Colonel Peter Stagg's brigades of Devin's division. Munford drove the two Union brigades who were trying to move to Five Forks back to J. Boisseau's farm while Pickett drove Brigadier General Davies's brigade off the main roads and back to that farm. The three bri
caption: Colonel Thomas T. Munford
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