Battle of Five Forks The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1 , 1865 , southwest of Petersburg , Virginia , around Five Forks , Dinwiddie County , Virginia , during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War . The battle , sometimes referred to as the " Waterloo of the Confederacy " , pitted Union Maj . Gen . Philip H . Sheridan against Confederate Maj . Gen . George E . Pickett of Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia . Pickett ' s loss at Five Forks triggered Lee ' s decision to abandon his entrenchments around Petersburg and begin the retreat that led to his surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9 . Background . Following the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House on March 31 , Pickett learned of reinforcements arriving from the Federal V Corps and wanted to pull back to a position behind Hatcher ' s Run . However , Lee ordered Pickett to stop short of Hatcher ' s Run and hold the crossroads of Five Forks with his infantry division and three cavalry divisions . " Five Forks " referred to the intersection of the White Oak Road , Scott ' s Road , Ford ' s ( or Church ) Road , and the Dinwiddie Court House Road . Lee ' s dispatch stated : Pickett ' s troops built a log and dirt defensive line about 1 . 75 miles ( 2 . 8 km ) long on the White Oak Road , guarding the two flanks with cavalry . Sheridan ' s plan of attack was to pressure the entire line lightly with his cavalry troopers , pinning it in position , while he massed all of the V Corps , under Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren , on the Confederate left flank . Faulty maps and intelligence led Sheridan to believe that the enemy ' s left flank was much farther east than it actually was . Muddy roads and tangled underbrush slowed the Union approach , and Warren was not ready to attack until about 4 p . m . Sheridan blamed Warren ' s personal leadership for the delay . ( Sheridan had a poor opinion of Warren from earlier in the campaign and had received confidential permission from Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant to relieve Warren if he saw fit . ) Sheridan relieved Warren of command on the spot . But Sheridan ' s own cavalry had similar problems and ended up with little action in the battle . Battle . Sheridan ' s attack planned for Warren to advance in a two - division front with the third division following in reserve . The right front division , under Brig . Gen . Samuel W . Crawford , was to strike at an angle near the end of the enemy ' s works , and the left front , under Brig . Gen . Romeyn B . Ayres , was to strike the line head - on . But because of the faulty intelligence , the real flank was well to the west of where Sheridan thought , so Crawford ' s division missed the line completely as it moved forward , and Ayres ' s men were subjected to enfilade fire from the left as they brushed past it . The two Union divisions floundered in confusion as they frantically attempted to reorient themselves through the heavy thickets of underbrush . The reserve 1st Division , V Corps under Brig . Gen . Charles Griffin , halted rather than add to the confusion . Warren , who chose to remain in a central location , sent all of his aides galloping off with messages to reorient the attack , but they were ineffective , so he rode out to take personal command . Meanwhile , Sheridan , riding with Ayres ' s vanguard , personally led the charge that routed Pickett ' s left flank , an exploit that has been depicted heroically in paintings and lithographs of the era . As the Confederates attempted to organize a new defensive line , Griffin ' s division moved in on Ayres ' s right and attacked . Then Warren ordered Crawford ' s division to rejoin the fight from the north . Sheridan ' s cavalry swept around Pickett ' s right flank but was unable to prevent numerous Confederates from escaping . However , it was a decisive Union victory , in which nearly a third of Pickett ' s 9 , 200 men were casualties , many of them captured . Aftermath . Pickett ' s unfortunate military career suffered another humiliation — he was two miles ( 3 km ) away from his troops at the time of the attack , enjoying a shad bake north of Hatcher ' s Run with Maj . Gens . Fitzhugh Lee and Thomas L . Rosser . He had neglected to inform his men of the generals ' absence , leaving them leaderless . Atmospheric conditions muffled the sounds of battle sufficiently that Pickett was unaware of the fighting . By the time he returned to the battlefield , it was too late . The loss of Five Forks threatened Lee ' s best escape route , the South Side Railroad . The next morning , Lee informed Confederate President Jefferson Davis that Petersburg and Richmond must be evacuated , and Grant launched an all - out assault ( the Third Battle of Petersburg ) on the thinly manned Confederate entrenchments . Union Brig . Gen . Frederick Winthrop was killed at Five Forks , and Col . Willie Pegram , a highly regarded Confederate artillery officer , was mortally wounded . Sheridan was dissatisfied with the performance of the V Corps in the approach to Five Forks , and he relieved Warren of his command . The battlefield is preserved as a unit of Petersburg National Battlefield .