On this day in 1865: Battle of Five Forks

The end of the Civil War became imminent on April 1, 1865 when Union Gen. Phil Sheridan defeated the Confederate forces led by Gen. George E. Pickett at the Battle of Five Forks in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, near Petersburg. The next morning Union commander Ulysses S. Grant ordered an all-out assault on the Southern trenches at Petersburg--breaking the siege there. Richmond fell that night.

Two Marathon Pundit ancestors, Patrick Curran and Joseph Ruberry, fought for the North and to end slavery at Petersburg.

Pictured below is a bronze statue portraying Sheridan leading the attack at Five Forks--it's on the grounds of the old Fort Sheridan in Highland Park, Illinois.