The Union Army

Civil War History

At the end of March 1865, the last chapter of the Civil War was playing out. Since June of 1864, General Robert E. Lee's strategic rail center of Petersburg, Virginia had been under siege by the army of General Ulysses S. Grant. As Confederate supplies grew desperately low, Federal cavalry leader General Philip H. Sheridan planned an attack at the critical crossroads of Five Forks to cut off rail supply trains into Petersburg and encircle Lee's army. Lee assigned the valiant General George E. Pickett, celebrated for his charge at Gettysburg, to defend Five Forks at all costs.

On March 31, Pickett's determined defenders forced Federal attackers back. As dusk fell, Sheridan sent for reinforcements. The next day's all-out assault could end the war. Meanwhile, the 20th New York Cavalry Regiment had returned to the Petersburg area from raiding missions in the Carolinas. Under their magnificent colors, the 20th New York worked their way toward Five Forks on mud-clogged roads. With other Federal reinforcements similarly delayed, Pickett assumed by the afternoon of April 1, that an attack was not imminent.
Unable to wait, Sheridan drove his weary troops into position for a full-scale cavalry and infantry attack on Five Forks. As bugles sounded and colors rose, Sheridan's massive attack surged forward. Federal infantrymen stormed the breastworks as cavalry like the 20th New York hit Pickett's flank, blasting their short carbines. Pickett's defense collapsed under the overwhelming assault, and the Union cavalry cut off escape routes. Five thousand Confederate prisoners were taken, and the last Southern stronghold at Petersburg was devastated. On April 9, troopers of the 20th New York stood at attention under their proud colors as Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse.

The 20th New York Cavalry Regiment was organized by Colonel Newton B. Lord and mustered in at Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario in September 1863. The volunteer regiment emerged two months after the Federal government's first draft call went into effect, sparking violent four-day draft riots in New York City.
The 20th New York was called the "McClellan Cavalry" in honor of General George B. McClellan, the first commander of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan resided in New York in 1863 and was enormously popular with the public and the army as he personally trained militias in upstate New York.

As other infantrymen holed up in winter quarters, the 20th New York Cavalry rode to engage in their first action at Smithfield, Virginia, in February 1864. Throughout 1864, the 20th New York set out on raiding missions in southern Virginia and North Carolina to destroy Confederate lines of supply and communication by tearing up railroads, burning bridges, and cutting telegraph wires. Carrying five days' rations, troops had to forage for food on longer missions. In the summer of 1864. Colonel Lord was delighted by the general reception in North Carolina, claiming, "There is a deep Union feeling among at least three-fifths of the people."
Beginning in December 1864, the 20th New York joined the siege of Petersburg near Richmond. After further campaigning in the Carolinas, the hardened New York troopers returned to the Petersburg area in time for Sheridan's decisive attack at Five Forks on April 1, 1865. The 20th New York Cavalry witnessed the fall of Petersburg and Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
Although the 20th New York suffered relatively few serious casualties in battle, 125 of its troopers died from diseases such as malaria. For every Civil War soldier lost in battle, at least two died from illness.