Attack on the Angle
Attack on the Angle (HM3NR)
Location: Sutherland, VA 23885 Dinwiddie County
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N 37° 8.399', W 77° 36.663'
"When we moved toward Five Forks?we were not expecting any attack that afternoon, so far as I know. Our throwing up works and taking position were simply general matters of military precaution."
- Major General Fitzhugh Lee, CSA
You are standing on the left (east) flank of the Confederate line at Five Forks. Here the earthworks turned abruptly northward, forming an angle. Few of the 1,000 North Carolinians gathered behind these trenches on the afternoon of April 1, 1865, expected an attack. Neither did their commander, Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett, who had retired to the rear for a lunch of shad.
At 4:15 p.m., Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union Fifth Corps swarmed across what were open fields to your right. While two Federal divisions moved too far north and missed the Confederate line altogether, one division of 3,100 men struck the Confederates here. Brig. Gen. Matthew Ransom's North Carolina brigade resisted fiercely. Both the Federals rolled forward and vaulted the works. The Confederate line collapsed.
The Union success at the Angle initiated the destruction of Pickett's division - a disaster for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
HM3NR
Friday, September 5th, 2014 at 1:46pm PDT -07:00
37° 8' 23.94" N, 77° 36' 39.78" W
At or near 17707-18603 State Rte 613, Sutherland VA 23885, US
Show me all markers in: Sutherland, VA | Dinwiddie County | 23885 | Virginia | United States of America
The Union Cavalry Attacks
"Advanced...repulsed...charged again..."
The Battle of Five Forks
Five Forks Battlefield
Battle of Five Forks
Death of Pegram
Crawford's Sweep
A Final Stand
White Oak Road Engagement
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