538 Grranfs advance. Capture of Petersburg. [i865 in the final campaign. It does not appear that Grant informed him of his preparatory order, or his expectation of capturing Petersburg during the President's visit. His plan in detail was not yet formed. That came as an inspiration of the first day's movement. The grand total of all arms under Grant at this time was 124,700 ; that of the forces under Lee 57,000. In preparation for the final campaign that was about to begin, an army corps under Ord was brought from the north to the south side of the James river; and the commands in the trenches were so thinned and shifted as to leave the two army corps under Warren and Humphreys disposable for a mobile column to support Sheridan. These three commanders, moving by the left, were to turn Lee's extreme right near Five Forks; and, as soon as Lee depleted his lines anywhere to defend his threatened right, the Federal commanders along the whole line, alert to discover the weak point, were to assault, break through it, and vigorously follow up their success. The march was begun promptly as ordered, on the morning of March 29, 1865, with a prospect of improving weather. By five o'clock in the afternoon Sheridan was at Dinwiddie Court House, where after some unimportant skirmishing he went into camp. Another storm set in, and, as was anticipated, Lee sent a considerable force to dispute the advance. During the next two days there was much confused fighting and blind marching on both sides, through flat miry woods, aggravated by wretched weather. On April 1, however, the situation was cleared up. Sheridan gradually drove the enemy before him into their field works at Five Forks, and, having by five o'clock found and brought up his infantry supports, forced an engagement in which he utterly routed the Confederates, capturing 4500 prisoners, 13 colours, and 6 guns. This brilliant success was only a prelude. When on the night of April 1 General Grant received news that Sheridan had won his battle at Five Forks, he immediately sent orders to his corps-commanders to assault Lee's entrenchments. They were not only prepared for the order but confident of success. On the morning of Sunday, April 2, Parke at the Jerusalem plank-road, Wright west of the Weldon railroad, and Humphreys at the Boydton plank-road, gained complete possession of the Confederate works. The same forenoon, while Jefferson Davis at Richmond sat in his pew in St Paul's Church listening to the sermon, a telegram from General Lee, dated Petersburg at half-past ten, was handed him, which read, "My lines are broken in three places. Richmond must be evacuated this evening." The several Unionist detachments that had broken through Lee's entrenchments were no sooner well inside the Confederate lines than they turned toward Petersburg, and, taking the works in reverse, made rapid progress, except where they came upon completely enclosed redoubts or forts. These presented a harder task, and caused great loss
