Wayside exhibit at The Final Stand stop on the Five Forks battlefield tour at Petersburg National Battlefield

FIVE FORKS BATTLEFIELD DRIVING TOUR

STOP 4:  The Final Stand

Allow 5 minutes for a visit

The fourth stop on the Five Forks Battlefield Driving Tour at Petersburg National Battlefield is the location where Confederate troops fought off multiple cavalry attacks led by Union General George Armstrong Custer (of Little Big Horn fame). This battle took place on the far western end of the Confederate defensive line, which is the general area of Stop 4. There is nothing at the stop other than one wayside exhibit that details the events that took place here.

By the time Custer attacked, the Confederate left flank at The Angle and the center line at Five Forks had been overrun by Union infantry and cavalry, leaving only the Confederate soldiers on the right flank standing in the way of total Union victory. Custer attacked with two cavalry brigades, but the Confederates held them off. However, with the Union army now approaching from the east and north, General George Pickett, commander of the Confederate soldiers at Five Points, had no option but to retreat with his remaining 7,000 men.