March 17, 1865
Philip H. Sheridan’s two Union cavalry divisions spend the night at King William Court House, just 10 miles from the 100,000 rations Ulysses S. Grant has waiting for them at White House, Virginia.
Col. Robert M. West’s Cavalry Division, Army of the James, continues to patrol north between the Army of the James’ right and the Chickahominy River, attempting to keep the Confederate cavalry occupied and away from Sheridan’s arriving cavalry.
Brigadier General William Nelson Pendleton proposes a complicated plan to General Robert E. Lee to reequip the best battalions of the Second Corps at the expense of others. General Lee declines the proposal due to its need to harm others to make the Second Corps artillery whole.
Note: All “Today In The Petersburg Campaign” blog entries are used with permission from Ronald A. Mosocco’s Chronological Tracking of the American Civil War per the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. Order the book HERE.
Copyright © 1993, 1994 by Ronald A. Mosocco
Mentions of This Date at The Siege of Petersburg Online:
- ITINERARY: 48th North Carolina
- OR XLVI P1 #4: Itineraries of the Army of the Potomac, Sheridan’s Cavalry Command, and the Army of the James, January-April 1865
- OR XLVI P1 #7: Report of Bvt. Lieutenant Col Nathaniel Michler, Acting Chief Engineer, AotP, March 11-18, 1865
- OR XLVI P1 #23: Reports of Asst. Surg. Charles Smart, Medical Inspector, II/AotP, Mar 1-Apr 30, 1865