"Battle of Five Forks" Topic

Hi, I am looking to play and write a scenario for the Battle of Five Forks 1865 and need to know the regimental strengths of the troops involved. Can anybody point me in the right direction.

Thanks Phil

Good luck with the Confederates. Things were in such a state of flux as the Army of Northern Virginia retreated from Petersburg that you'll be lucky to find a estimate of the total strength of the troops involved.

Jim

Have you tried contacting the US Park historians at Petersburg NMP and at the Five Forks museum?

It might not be a good scenario because the Confederates were so outnumbered.

Thanks for the tips Dan and Jim,

I needed a scenario for each year of the war. Five forks seemed ideal due to been decribed in some quarters as the "Waterloo of the Confederacy" . However due to lack of information I might need to look for a more balanced and more detailed battle for 1865-

Phil

I'll have this information, or as close to it as possible, eventually. I've got microfilm reels of the Confederate Inspection reports in 64-65 from the National Archives. These go into at least February 1865, if not later in some cases, and go down to regimental level. So while it may not be perfect, at least you can take estimates of the total force Pickett had available, compare those to the inspection reports of late February, and then have the regiments at least be proportionally similar in strength in late March to early April as they were in late February.

My issue is simply time, or lack thereof. I've got reels 10, 12, 13, 14, and 15, missing only 11 and 16. I've pretty sure Pickett's Division in 1865 in one one of the reels, but I've only made it to the middle of reel 12. These are handwritten reports and they are often very faded. If anyone wants to give me a hand on transcribing, I'd welcome the help, one brigade at a time…

Brett Schulte
The Siege of Petersburg Online