The battle, commanded by Union Major General Philip Sheridan and Confederate Major General George Pickett, occurred in Dinwiddie County, Virginia and resulted in an estimated 3,780 casualties (830 northern and 2,950 southern).
Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered Pickett with his infantry division and three cavalry divisions to hold the crossroads of Five Forks. On April 1, while Sheridan’s cavalry pinned the Confederate force in position, the V Corps under Major General Gouvenor K. Warren attacked and overwhelmed the Confederate left flank, taking many prisoners. Sheridan personally directed the attack, which extended Lee’s Petersburg lines to the breaking point. The loss of Five Forks threatened Lee’s last supply line, the South Side Railroad. The next morning, Lee informed President Jefferson Davis that Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia must be evacuated. Union general Frederick Winthrop was killed and Willie Pegram, beloved Confederate artillery officer, was mortally wounded. Dissatisfied with his performance at Five Forks, Sheridan relieved Warren of command of the V Corps.
Reference
Portions copied from The United States National Park Service (http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/va088.htm)
My hope was that Sheridan would be able to carry FiveForks, get on the enemy’s right flank and rear, and force them to weaken their centre to protect their right so that an assault in the centre might be successfully made.
I was afraid that Lee would regard the possession of FiveForks as of so much importance that he would make a last desperate effort to retake it, risking everything upon the cast of a single die.
The battle was desperate and the National troops were repulsed several times; but it was finally carried, and immediately the troops in Fort Whitworth evacuated the place.
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