These dates, April 8 & 9, in history.

[dawg80]

In 1864 the Union army, the Army of the Gulf, bolstered by two corps (16th and 17th) from Sherman's Army of the West, was soundly defeated at the Battle of Mansfield (April 8). Coming up a narrow road, and being stacked up, the Yankee column stretched 22 miles end to end. Commanded by General Nathanial Banks, it numbered 30,000 men. Confronting this juggernaut was a smaller Confederate army, under the command of General Richard Taylor (son of former US president Zachary Taylor), and numbering a mere 8,800 at Mansfield. But Taylor knew the lay of the land, the roads in Desoto Parish, and used that knowledge to strike the Union army at the Moss Plantation, 3 miles south of the town of Mansfield.

The Yanks were able to bring up 5,600 men and get them in line on Honeycutt Hill but they were overwhelmed by Taylor's attacking 8,800 soldiers, and the Yanks routed. A mile to the south, the 3rd Division of the 13th Corps (Union) got into battle line at the Sabine Crossroads, but they too were quickly routed and joined "the great skedaddle" back down the road. Finally, just before dusk, General Emory's 1st Division of the 19th Corps (Union) held off the attacking Confederates at Chapman's Bayou. April 8th ended and the Yanks retreated 17 miles back to Pleasant Hill.

During the night, reinforcements in the form of General Churchill's corps (Arkansas and Missouri troops) reached Taylor above Pleasant Hill. This brought the Confederates' numbers up to 12,500. Taylor had suffered 1,000 losses at Mansfield. At the same time. Banks reduced the size of his army, sending the remnants of the 13th Corps, his cavalry division, and most of his supply wagons, back to Natchitoches and Grand Ecore. Banks retained 12,100 combat troops at Pleasant Hill. The Yanks had suffered 3,200 losses at Mansfield on the 8th.

The Battle of Pleasant Hill commenced at 4PM, April 9, 1864 and was the largest battle ever fought on American soil west of the Mississippi River. Churchill's Corps, being the freshest, opened the attack against the Union left flank, but they had failed to move far enough south through the thick woods and emerged on the open fields smack in front of a dug-in Yankee Brigade (General Benedict's New York troops) and with the 16th Corps (General A.J. Smith) on their right flank. Churchill recognized the danger but he now had no choice, the Confederates charged and over-ran the New Yorkers in a bloody fight at a deep gully. Churchill's men entered the town of Pleasant Hill, having crushed all Yankee opposition.

Meanwhile, under the able command of General John Walker, Taylor's finest division of infantry, the Texas Division, began its attack. They swept aside one Yankee brigade after another. The first to fall was 5 regiments of crack Iowa troops under the command of Colonel Shaw. Walker's triumphant Texans emerged in an open field just north of Pleasant Hill in time to see Churchill's men fighting a withdrawing action. The 16th Corps (the best the Yankees had to offer) was rolling forward.

The Texans had to hold their fire until Churchill's men cleared their front. This allowed the Yanks to get close. Then both sides charged with the bayonet. Walker's 5,000 screaming Texans crashed into the 7,000 Yanks coming at them. The encounter was brief, but deadly. Both sides recoiled and fell back, exchanging musket fire.

Finally, what was left of the gallant Louisiana Division, now under the command of a Frenchman, General Camille de Polignac (called "pole cat" by his men), rolled forward on the Texas Division's left and joined the fray. They were met by attacks from Emory's 19th Corps Yanks. The Louisiana Division, under General Alfred Jacque Mouton (killed in action) had led the charge at Mansfield and had lost over 600 men.

Darkness put an end to the fighting on April 9th. Neither side was able to gain an upper hand and the battle ended in a tactical draw. Each side had lost over 1,600 men.

But, Banks ordered a retreat of his entire army back to Grand Ecore. This made it a strategic victory for the Confederates. The Union attempt to capture Shreveport and then push into East Texas, with designs to capture Marshall and Jefferson, which were key supply depots for the Confederates, had been stopped. This would prove to be the last major victory (a campaign) of the war for the South.

History: April 8 and April 9, 1864

[Blue Dawg]

Mansfield is a very enjoyable reenactment.