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.
Read more about Battle Of Five Forks: Background, Battle, Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words battle of, battle and/or forks:
“Joshua fit de battle ob Jerico, Jerico, Jerico,
Joshua fit de battle ob Jerico,
An’ de walls come tumblin’ down.”
—Unknown. Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho (l. 1–3)
“Above the bayonets, mixed and crossed,
Men saw a gray, gigantic ghost
Receding through the battle cloud,
And heard across the tempest loud
The death cry of a nation lost!”
—Will Henry Thompson (1848–1918)
“Just think of all the spare time that has flown
Straight into nothingness by being filled
With forks and faces....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)