FORT STEDMAN:
4:00 am
On a signal, lead parties headed out to overwhelm Union pickets and to remove wooden defenses. This was the initial wave of a force that represented nearly half of Lee's army.
It was a complete surprise as they captured Fort Stedman and the batteries just to the north and south of it with little resistance. As the Confederates rounded up nearly a 1,000 prisoners, the lead attackers reached Harrison's Creek along the Prince George Court House Road.