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The Battle of West Point was fought on April 16, 1865 in West Point, Georgia, during General James H. Wilson's raid in the South during the American Civil War.〔Cox, Dale. “Fort Tyler Historic Site – West Point, Georgia.” Accessed January 25, 2013. http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/forttyler.html.〕 This battle was fought at Fort Tyler seven days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant and two days after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, making it one of the last battles of the Civil War east of the Mississippi River and making Fort Tyler the last Confederate fort captured by the Union. The same day, just 30 miles to the south, the Battle of Columbus, Georgia, was fought by another division of Wilson's raiders. News of the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia reached the opposing forces in Georgia the day after the battle effectively ending the war east of the Mississippi River. ==Prelude== After defeating Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's defenders at Selma on April 2, 1865, and capturing Montgomery, Alabama, on April 12, U.S. Brig. Gen. Wilson turned his raiders' attentions toward the Chattahoochee River to the east. He telegraphed Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas:〔Jones, James Pickett ''Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson's Raid through Alabama and Georgia.'' University Press of Kentucky, 1976, pp 118–119.〕 "If I can now destroy arsenals and supplies at Columbus and divide their army in the southwest, they must disintegrate for lack of munitions. There is no force to resist me, and I see no reasonable ground for fearing failures. My command is in magnificent condition." The river was swollen by rains, so capturing a bridge would be required to make swift progress. Wilson determined that either one of two locations with bridges would suit this purpose: the one at West Point or the more heavily defended one at Columbus. The two towns were only 35 miles apart and Wilson divided his force to attack both, in order to increase the chances of one being taken intact. Colonel Oscar Hugh La Grange's brigade was detailed to attack West Point.〔Jones, pp. 118, 121–2〕 West Point did not have mills or foundries, but it was a critical rail center. As the connecting point for two railroads of different gauges, West Point had an extensive rail yard with many locomotives and rail cars.〔Jones, p. 122〕 The railway bridges were commanded by Fort Tyler, a 35-yard square earthwork upon a hill on the Alabama side of the river. It had walls four-and-a-half feet high, surrounded by a ditch six to ten feet deep and seven to twelve feet across. The fort was equipped with a 32-pounder siege gun and two 12-pounder field pieces.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of West Point」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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