"Our lines being very long, they are necessarily very weak at some points if we make them strong at others, & then Grant with his strong force can hunt our weak places & dash against them."
- Georgia Soldier

By late March, thinning Confederate forces had reached their breaking point. With victory at his fingertips, Grant ordered a cavalry assault at Five Forks on April 1, 1865 with the objective of obtaining the South Side Railroad, the last rail line into Petersburg.