Five Forks in the Rain

Five Forks is a place in Dinwiddie County named for an intersection, and also a Civil War battle that happened here as Confederates struggled to protect their access to the last railroad supplying Petersburg.

The markers shown here are entitled "Digging In" and "Death of Pegram." The first one starts out:

Just before noon on April 1, 1865, 10,000 Confederates under Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett arrived here at Five Forks. They immediately started digging and by mid-afternoon had constructed a rough earthwork that extended along the White Oak Road for nearly two miles.

Union forces under Phil Sheridan eventually seized control of Five Forks. Lee's position in Petersburg was now very precarious, and the next morning he informed Jefferson Davis that Richmond and Petersburg must be evacuated.

See the Historical Marker Database for more about the Five Forks markers.