Battle of Dinwiddie Court House

__notoc__Warbox
conflict=Battle of Dinwiddie Court House
colour_scheme=background:#ffcccc


caption=
partof=the American Civil War
date=March 31 1865
place=Dinwiddie County, Virginia
result=Confederate victory
combatant1= flagicon|USA|1863 United States (Union)
combatant2= flagicon|CSA CSA (Confederacy)
commander1=Philip H. Sheridan
commander2=George E. Pickett
Fitzhugh 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 the American Civil War that was the immediate prelude to the decisive Battle of Five Forks. On March 29, 1865, with the Cavalry Corps and the II and V Corps of the Army 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. On March 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)