Battle of White Oak Road

Part of the American Civil War

Date	March 31, 1865 (1865-03-31)
Location	Dinwiddie County, Virginia 37°8′54.4″N 77°31′10.8″W / 37.148444°N 77.519667°W / 37.148444; -77.519667Coordinates: 37°8′54.4″N 77°31′10.8″W / 37.148444°N 77.519667°W / 37.148444; -77.519667
Result	Union victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

Gouverneur K. Warren

Robert E. Lee

Units involved

V Corps

Anderson's Corps (Fourth Corps)

Strength

22,000

8,000

Casualties and losses

1,870

800

The Battle of White Oak Road, also known as The Battle of Hatcher’s Run, Gravelly Run, Boydton Plank Road, White Oak Ridge was fought on March 31, 1865, during the American Civil War at the end of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and in the beginning stage of the Appomattox Campaign. Along with the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House which was fought simultaneously on March 31, the battle involved the last offensive action by General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to stop the progress of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's Union Army (Army of the Potomac, Army of the Shenandoah and Army of the James). Grant's forces were moving to cut the remaining Confederate supply lines and to force the Confederates to extend their defensive lines at Petersburg, Virginia and Richmond, Virginia to the breaking point, if not to force them into a decisive open field battle.

On March 29, 1865, the Union V Corps under Major General Gouverneur K. Warren moved to the end of the Confederate's White Oak Road Line, the far right flank of the Confederate defenses. At the conclusion of the Battle of Lewis's Farm on that day, Warren's corps took control of advance Confederate picket or outpost positions and occupied a segment of a key transportation and communication route, the Boydton Plank Road, at the junction of the Quaker Road. Warren's corps was the closest Union infantry unit to Major General Philip Sheridan's force which had moved about 4 miles (6.4 km) to Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia west of the end of the Confederate lines and just south of Five Forks, Virginia. Five Forks was an important road junction for control of the critical Confederate supply line of the South Side Railroad (sometimes shown as Southside Railroad).

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