Name: The Battle of White Oak Road
Other Names: Hatcher’s Run, Gravelly Run, Boydton Plank Road, White Oak Ridge
Location: Dinwiddie County
Campaign: Appomattox Campaign (March-April 1865)1
Date: March 31, 1865
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. G.K. Warren [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee and Lt. Gen. Richard H. Anderson [CS]
Forces Engaged: Corps
Estimated Casualties: 2,670 (US 1,870; CS 800)
Description: On March 30, Lee shifted reinforcements to meet the Federal movement to turn his right flank, placing Maj. Gen. W.H. Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry divisions at Five Forks and transferring Pickett’s division from the Bermuda Hundred front to the extreme right. Warren pushed the V Corps forward and entrenched a line to cover the Boydton Plank Road from its intersection with Dabney Mill Road south to Gravelly Run. Ayres’s division advanced northwest toward White Oak Road. On March 31, in combination with Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s thrust via Dinwiddie Court House, Warren directed his corps against the Confederate entrenchments along White Oak Road, hoping to cut Lee’s communications with Pickett at Five Forks. The Union advance was stalled by a crushing counterattack directed by Maj. Gen. Bushrod Johnson, but Warren’s position stabilized and his soldiers closed on the road by day’s end. This fighting set up the Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April 1.
Result: Coming soon
Full Summary: Union gained ground2
Bibliography:
First Person Accounts:
Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Battle:
- Actions Around Petersburg Wikipedia Map: March 29-April 1, 1865
- G. K. Warren’s Downfall: How the Battles of Quaker Road and White Oak Road Cost Warren His Job
- MOLLUS ME: The Military Operations on the White Oak Road, Virginia, March 31, 1865 by Brevet Major-General Joshua L. Chamberlain
- The Battle of White Oak Road CWPT Map
- The Battle of White Oak Road NPS Map: Aftermath
- The Battle of White Oak Road NPS Map: March 31, 1865 Afternoon
- The Battle of White Oak Road NPS Map: March 31, 1865 Morning
- The Battle of White Oak Road NPS Map: Prelude
- The Battle of White Oak Road: March 31, 1865
- The Battle of White Oak Road: March 31, 1865 (Maine MOLLUS Vol. 1)
- Union Casualties in the Appomattox Campaign: March 28-April 9, 1865
Source:
- The CWSAC site classifies the final battles around Petersburg after Fort Stedman as belonging to the Appomattox Campaign. The Siege of Petersburg Online: Beyond the Crater classifies the six battles around Petersburg from March 29-April 2, 1865 as belonging to Grant’s Ninth Offensive against Petersburg, a part of the Petersburg Campaign. ↩
- CWSAC Battle Summary ↩
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