Battle of Dinwiddie Court House

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Date	March 31, 1865
Location	Dinwiddie County, Virginia
Result	Confederate victory

Combatants

United States of America

Confederate States of America

Commanders

Philip H. Sheridan

George E. Pickett
Fitzhugh Lee

Strength

45,247^[1]

20,030

Casualties

354^[2]

760

Appomattox Campaign
Lewis's Farm – White Oak Road – Dinwiddie Court House – Five Forks – 3rd Petersburg – Sutherland's Station – Namozine Church – Amelia Springs – Sayler's Creek – Rice's Station – High Bridge – Cumberland Church – Appomattox Station – Appomattox Courthouse

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. The Dinwiddie County Historical Society is currently located at this site.

[edit] References

Kennedy, Frances H., ed., The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
National Park Service battle description