Battle of Dinwiddie Court House

Other Names: None

Location: Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Campaign:  Appomattox Campaign (March-April 1865)

Date: March 31, 1865

Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan [US]; Maj. Gen. George Pickett and Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee [CS]

Forces Engaged: 65,277 total (US 45,247; CS 20,030)

Casualties and losses: 821 total

Result(s): Confederate victory

Brief Description:

On March 29, with the Cavalry Corps and the II and V Corps, Sheridan undertook a flank march to turn Gen. Robert E. Lee's Petersburg defenses. A steady downpour turned the roads to mud, slowing the advance. On March 31, Maj. Gen. W.H. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry and Pickett's infantry division met the Union vanguard north and northwest of Dinwiddie Court House and drove it back, temporarily stalling Sheridan's movement. With Union infantry approaching from the east, Pickett withdrew before daybreak to entrench at the vital road junction at Five Forks. Lee ordered Pickett to hold this intersection at all hazard. At the same time on March 31, Sheridan's cavalry force deployed north from Dinwiddie Court House in a movement aimed at occupying Five Forks. Sheridan was thrown on the defensive by an attack by both Confederate infantry and cavalry under Major General George Pickett and Major General Fitzhugh Lee.