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| Map of the Red River Campaign |
In the spring of
1864 the Union Army began a campaign up the Red River in Western
Louisiana. An army under Nathaniel Banks, supported by a flotilla of
gunboats, headed upriver towards Shreveport, LA. The Confederate
commander in the area was Richard Taylor. When he received news of
Banks' advance, he ordered his troops to concentrate at Mansfield.
When Banks drew near the area, he left the immediate support of the
gunboats to fight Taylor there.
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| Battle of Mansfield |
At the beginning
of the day the Confederates had 9,000 men on one side of a clearing,
with more reinforcements on the way. Although the Federal army was
much larger, they were still on their way to the battlefield. Both
sides waited during the first part of the day, until finally the
Confederates struck at 4 pm. The Confederate left was repulsed and
many of its commanders killed, but on the right they overlapped the
Union position. The Federal line broke and many prisoners fell into
Confederate hands. A second line was quickly organized, but it too
was overrun by Confederate charges. After pursuing the retreating
Yankees for several miles, the Confederates encountered a third
Federal line, which they were unable to capture before nightfall.
The Union lost 113
killed, 581 wounded and 1,541 captured, along with 20 cannon and many
wagons. The losses of the Confederates were not precisely recorded,
but they were about 1,000 killed and wounded combined.
1 comments:
Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
Your article is very well done, a good read.
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