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3,005 (605 killed or wounded, 2,400 captured/missing)
ENTRY
SUMMARY
The Battle of Five Forks, on April 1, 1865, was the last major battle of the Petersburg Campaign during the American Civil War (1861–1865). By defeating Confederate infantry under George E. Pickett and cavalry under William H. F. “Rooney” Lee, Fitzhugh Lee, and Thomas L. Rosser, Union general Philip H. Sheridan was able to flank the Confederate lines at Petersburg. The action allowed the Union Army of the Potomac, after nearly ten months of siege, to break through Confederate general Robert E. Lee‘s lines and, by April 2, claim Petersburg and the Confederate capital at Richmond. When it was through, Union troops were positioned along the major transportations routes south, forcing evacuating Confederate troops to travel west during the Appomattox Campaign. Their attempt to unite with the Confederate army of Joseph E. Johnston was foiled, however, and Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia o