- Battle of Dinwiddie Court House
__notoc__Warbox
conflict=Battle of Dinwiddie Court House
colour_scheme=background:#ffcccc
caption=
partof=theAmerican Civil War
date=March 31 1865
place=Dinwiddie County, Virginia
result=Confederate victory
combatant1= flagicon|USA|1863United States (Union)
combatant2= flagicon|CSA CSA (Confederacy)
commander1=Philip H. Sheridan
commander2=George E. PickettFitzhugh Lee
strength1=45,247 [ [http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va086.htm NPS] ]
strength2=20,030
casualties1=354 [Kennedy, p. 413.]
casualties2=760|The Battle of Dinwiddie Court House was a minor engagement in the
Appomattox Campaign of theAmerican Civil War that was the immediate prelude to the decisiveBattle of Five Forks . OnMarch 29 ,1865 , with the Cavalry Corps and the II and V Corps of theArmy of the Potomac , Maj. Gen.Philip 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. OnMarch 31 , Maj. Gen. W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee's cavalry and Maj. Gen.George Pickett 's infantry division met the Union vanguard north and northwest of Dinwiddie Court House and drove it back, collapsing the Union lines into a tight perimeter around the village, and 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.Commemoration
The
Dinwiddie County Court House is listed on the U.S.National Register of Historic Places .References
* Kennedy, Frances H., ed., "The Civil War Battlefield Guide", 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va086.htm National Park Service battle description]Notes
External links
* [http://www.historyanimated.com/Petersburg.html Animated History of The Siege of Petersburg and Surrender at Appomattox] (shows this battle late in the animation, providing perspective on its role in the later stages of the Appomattox campaign)
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