On March 29, 1865, in the opening moves of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's spring offensive, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan marched with the army's cavalry followed by the V Corps toward Dinwiddie Court House, to turn the right flank of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Petersburg defenses. The Union V Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren crossed Rowanty Creek, moved up Quaker Road towards the Boydton Plank Road intersection, and encountered Maj. Gen. Bushrod Johnson's Confederate brigades. A sharp firefight forced the Confederates back to their entrenchments on the White Oak Road.