Confederate Waterloo: The Battle of Five Forks, April 1, 1865, and the Controversy that Brought Down a General

by Michael J. McCarthy

The Battle of Five Forks, explained former Confederate General Thomas Munford long after the Civil War, “could be classified as a mere skirmish, but no other fight of the entire four years’ struggle was followed by such important consequences.” The battle broke the long siege of Petersburg, triggered the evacuation of Richmond, precipitated the Appomattox Campaign, and destroyed the careers and reputations of two opposing generals. Michael J. McCarthy’s Confederate Waterloo is the first fully researched and unbiased book-length account of this decisive Union victory and the unpredictable aftermath fought in the courts and at the bar of public opinion.

General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had been locked into the sprawling defenses surrounding the logistical stronghold of Petersburg and the Southern capital at Richmond for more than eight months when General Grant launched an offensive against Lee’s exposed right flank. A series of battles led up to April 1, when General Phil Sheridan’s forces struck at Five Forks. The attack surprised and collapsed General George Pickett’s Confederate command and turned Lee’s flank. An attack along the entire front the following morning broke the siege and forced the Virginia army out of its defenses and, a week later, into Wilmer McLean’s parlor to surrender at Appomattox.

Despite this decisive Union success, Five Forks spawned one of the most bitter and divisive controversies in the postwar US Army because Sheridan relieved V Corps commander Gouverneur K. Warren during the battle. The order generated a life-long effort by Warren and his allies to restore his reputation by demonstrating that Sheridan’s action was both unfair and dishonorable. The struggle climaxed with a Court of Inquiry that generated a more extensive record of testimony and exhibits than any other US military judicial case in the 19th Century. In addition to Sheridan and Warren, participants included Gens. Ulysses S. Grant and Winfield S. Hancock, together with a startling array of former Union and Confederate officers.

McCarthy’s Confederate Waterloo is grounded upon extensive archival research and a foundation of primary sources, including the meticulous records of a man driven to restore his honor in the eyes of his colleagues, his family, and the American public. The result is a fresh and dispassionate analysis that may cause students of the Civil War to reassess their views about some of the Union’s leading generals.

Genres: Civil War

336 pages, Hardcover

Published April 28, 2016

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is somewhat misleading, as the actual battle is covered in only one chapter. As such, Five Forks needs a dedicated single volume treatment considering its importance and its controversies. To that end, the book is concerned mostly with Warren's quest for vindication after Five Forks, and it works in that regard; I just wish there was more on the battle and the controversy over the Confederate shad bake. Also, Sheridan's contributions to winning Five Forks are not mentioned or are downplayed, which is unfair. That said, it is well written and argued.

For a book about Warren, it is telling that Sheridan's horse leap is on the cover. It was a dramatic moment (that never actually happened) and was illustrated in many battle scenes that conformed to the Union's memory of the war's heroes. I only found images of Warren at Five Forks in The National Tribune, and they could not match the cover of this book.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are interested in the Gouverneur K. Warren Court of Inquisition proceedings, you will love this book. If you are interested in the battle of Five Forks, I think that like me, you will be disappointed.

This book is interesting, but flawed.

Here are the interesting parts, in my view:
- I gained a basic understanding of the battle of Five Forks
- I learned more about the concept of honor, particularly in post-Civil War America
- I learned (a lot more) about the Gouverneur K. Warren Court of Inquisition.
- I saw a different perspective on Grant and Sheridan's leadership (you will know VERY quickly where McCarthy falls on the Warren/Sheridan divide and his views on Grant.

All that being said, there are 2 major flaws, in my view, to this book.
The first is that it is titled as a history of the battle of Five Forks. It really is more about the controversial firing of Warren by Sheridan. To give some idea, the discussion of the battle runs to page 103 and includes numerous events that are highlighted due to their later role in the court of inquisition. The story of the court of inquisition is 158 pages. It feels like there are 2 small books here - one on the battle; one on the Warren court. These could have been separated and marketed as a small book or eBook or either or both developed into a full book.

The second flaw is that the title "Confederate Waterloo" points to the key role in the battle of Five Forks hastening the demise of Lee's army and the Confederacy. There is all of three paragraphs dealing with this, so there is very little to explain the role of this battle in leading to Lee's surrender.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a first rate study of an often misunderstood battle in the closing weeks of the Civil War. The author guides the reader through the fighting and the turbulent aftermath of Five Forks. It is well worth the money.

[James Council · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good, provides nice insight into what went on. It also does a nice job with showing the reader the motivations and character of the combatants. I would recommend this book because it made me want to learn even more about the people involved.

[Matthew Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember the first time I learned about Napoleon Bonaparte and his massive campaigns across Europe and Africa. I was fascinated by the stories which came from them and the imminent failure he received at Waterloo. It is no surprise, then, that many of the battles which occurred in the Civil War were also named with terms such as “Waterloo,” “Tragalger,” and “Austerlitz.” Michael J. McCarthy offers up one of those such battles. Confederate Waterloo deals with the Battle of Five Forks teetering on the edge of the end of the war, focusing not only on the downfall of a general, but the incipient end of the war on the horizon.
Michael J. McCarthy graduated from LeMoyne College with a degree in history and received his Masters in American History in 1971. He has spent a great deal of time working for the government and also received MPA degrees in Public Finance from the University of Albany, and in Public Management from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. His interest in the Battle of Five Forks occurred during a Capital District Civil War Round Table trip to the battlefield. This work before us is an edited version of his dissertation and is his first book on the market.
The Battle of Five Forks is, according to some who even fought in the conflict, a skirmish. However, that account continues to say that “no other fight of the entire four years’ struggle was followed by such important consequences.” When I begin to think about the ending of the Civil War in the East, the Battle of Five Forks comes to mind. Throughout the text, we see that though the Confederate force fought well, they knew what was coming. For those who know next to nothing about the Battle of Five Forks, this work is the place to start. McCarthy handles the narrative of the battle with grace and even shows the reader some of the mistakes which were made on both sides both during and after the battle. While the Union was successful, the clash between both Generals Sheridan and Warren would bring about a lifelong rivalry. This portion of the work was not only well handled, but some of the most interesting writing on military judicial cases I have read. When I first heard that there were chapters devoted to that, I was looking forward to it. The narrative on the battle is wonderful, but I thoroughly enjoyed the work on the judicial case towards the end of the book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the final days of the Civil War in the East. The narrative on both the battles and the court case were fascinating to read. The research was top notch and McCarthy should take pride in the work which he has accomplished. While this was part of his dissertation, I was happy that the work was able to be published for the public in this form. A fine book indeed!

Matthew Bartlett