FORM POST in Code behind - Unable to connect to remote server

Here is the problem:

I need to be able to send a form post with data to a remote server from the code behind.  I build two possible solutions in the code behind but both fail for the same reason.  I then tested by building an actual Form Post page in (ASPX) and the post works great.  Am I missing something here or is there another way I can post this code from the code behind?  

The business case is that I my page is being hit via an internal business hyperlink from the company internal site and I need to redirect this page to a remote server/page passing the POST information.  I do not want to have the users see this page and then click the submit button.  I just want the page to be accessed then automatically redirect without any physical interaction on the part of the user.  The POST activity will do the redirect - and works great from the HTML side...but if I try to convert it into the code behind....it does not work.



The error message I am getting in the code behind is:

{"Unable to connect to the remote server"}
{"No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it}

The Working HTML code is:
    <form id="form1" runat="server" method="post" action="https://xxxx.xxxxxx.com/gavilon.asp">
        <input name="em"    id="em" size="25" value="Ima.Test@xxxxx.com"/> = em = Email<br/>
        <input name ="ut"   id="ut" size="25" value="SM"/> = ut = User Type <br/>
        <input name ="fid"  id="fid" size="25" value="252"/> = fid = Dept Number <br/>
        <input name ="fn"   id="fn" value="LiveFirstName"/> = fn = First Name <br/>
        <input name ="ln"   id="ln" value="LiveLastName"/> = ln = Last Name <br/>
        <input name ="ph"   id="ph" value="100-200-3000"/> = ph = PHone <br/>
        <input type="submit" value="login"/>
    </form>

The code behind that is failing is:

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

sb.Append("&ln=");
sb.Append(ln);
sb.Append("&fn=");
sb.Append(fn);
sb.Append("&ph=");
sb.Append(ph);
sb.Append("&em=");
sb.Append(em);
sb.Append("&co=");
sb.Append(co);
sb.Append("&ad1=");
sb.Append(ad1);
sb.Append("&ct=");
sb.Append(ct);
sb.Append("&st=");
sb.Append(st);
sb.Append("&zip=");
sb.Append(zip);



Version #1:
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create("https://xxxx.xxxxxx.com/xxxxx.asp");
request.ContentType = "text/xml";  // new
request.Method = "POST";
byte[] byteArray = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(sb.ToString());
request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
request.ContentLength = byteArray.Length;
Stream dataStream = request.GetRequestStream();  // [[IT GETs THE ERROR MESSAGE HERE]].
dataStream.Write(byteArray, 0, byteArray.Length);
dataStream.Close();
WebResponse response = request.GetResponse();


Version #2:
This returns the EXACT SAME ERROR as #1
using (var client = new WebClient())
{
    var values = new NameValueCollection
   {
        { "key", "em=Ima.Test@Gavilon.com" }
    };
   string url = "https://xxxx.xxxxxx.com/xxxx.asp";
   byte[] result = client.UploadValues(url, values); // [[IT GETs THE ERROR MESSAGE HERE]].
   Console.WriteLine(Encoding.UTF8.GetString(result));
}