I felt certain the enemy would fight at Five Forks—­he had to—­so, while we were getting up to his intrenchments, I decided on my plan of battle.  This was to attack his whole front with Merritt’s two cavalry divisions, make a feint of turning his right flank, and with the Fifth Corps assail his left.  As the Fifth Corps moved into action, its right flank was to be covered by Mackenzie’s cavalry, thus entirely cutting off Pickett’s troops from communication with Lee’s right flank, which rested near the Butler house at the junction of the Claiborne and White Oaks roads.  In execution of this plan, Merritt worked his men close in toward the intrenchments, and while he was thus engaged, I ordered Warren to bring up the Fifth Corps, sending the order by my engineer officer, Captain Gillespie, who had reconnoitred the ground in the neighborhood of Gravelly Run Church, where the infantry was to form for attack.

Gillespie delivered the order about 1 o’clock, and when the corps was put in motion, General Warren joined me at the front.  Before he came, I had received, through Colonel Babcock, authority from General Grant to relieve him, but I did not wish to do it, particularly on the eve of battle; so, saying nothing at all about the message brought me, I entered at once on the plan for defeating Pickett, telling Warren how the enemy was posted, explaining with considerable detail, and concluding by stating that I wished his troops to be formed on the Gravelly Church road, near its junction with the White Oak road, with two divisions to the front, aligned obliquely to the White Oak road, and one in reserve, opposite the centre of these two.

General Warren seemed to understand me clearly, and then left to join his command, while I turned my attention to the cavalry, instructing Merritt to begin by making demonstrations as though to turn the enemy’s right, and to assault the front of the works with his dismounted cavalry as soon as Warren became engaged.  Afterward I rode around to Gravelly Run Church, and found the head of Warren’s column just appearing, while he was sitting under a tree making a rough sketch of the ground.  I was disappointed that more of the corps was not already up, and as the precious minutes went by without any apparent effort to hurry the troops on to the field, this disappointment grew into disgust.  At last I expressed to Warren my fears that the cavalry might expend all their ammunition before the attack could be made, that the sun would go down before the battle could be begun, or that troops from Lee’s right, which, be it remembered, was less than three miles away from my right, might, by striking my rear, or even by threatening it, prevent the attack on Pickett.