The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 78, July 1974 - April, 1975 Page: 25
562 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Hamilton P. Bee in the Red River Campaign of 1864
By now Union strength had been somewhat reduced, as detachments
were left behind to occupy Alexandria and other points. At Natchitoches,
Banks sent 2,500 more away from the main force to go upriver with the
navy. After that assignment he still had about I9,ooo, more than enough
to crush any Rebel opposition. On the sixth of April the Federals marched
out of Natchitoches for Shreveport with their inexperienced cavalry in the
van. They met the Confederates at Pleasant Hill on the seventh."
A portion of Green's cavalry waiting for the Yankees put up a brisk
fight, finally halting the Union advance at Carroll's Mill, some eight miles
on the road to Mansfield. Bee was ordered up in reserve with Debray's,
Buchel's, and Terrell's regiments and put his forces into line of battle, where
they remained for the night.'"
At daylight Green returned to Mansfield with James P. Major's Division
and all of the artillery, leaving Bee to contest the enemy advance." This
Bee did by forming the regiments in "successive lines of battle," at intervals
of five hundred yards, holding each line as long as possible, and then re-
tiring to the next. In the heavily wooded country the Confederate cavalry
was able to consume seven hours in its retreat of seven miles to Taylor's
waiting position.?
While Bee was delaying the Federal advance, Taylor had prepared his
battle lines about three miles outside of Mansfield.8 His men occupied the
northern side of a large clearing, eight hundred yards across by twelve hun-
dred from east to west, straddling the road. A hill ran down the middle
parallel to the long sides of the clearing, and the enemy following Bee took
the crest as the skirmishers fell back. Discovery of the Confederate line of
battle led to hurried attempts to bring forces to the front. Banks had com-
mitted an error in choosing the Mansfield road, but that in itself was not a
fatal mistake. His order of march, however, was disastrous, because imme-
14Banks to Grant, report, April 13, 1864, O.R.A., XXXIV, pt. I, p. i8I; Johnson, Red
River Campaign, I o- I i ; Harrington, Banks, 154.
15Bee to Hart, April zo, 1864, William T. Mechling Subcollection, Jeremiah Y.
Dashiell Papers (Archives, University of Texas Library, Austin); Bee to Hart, report,
April Io, I864, O.R.A., pt. I, p. 6o6.
16e to Bee, April 8, 1864, Mechling Subcollection.
17Bee to Hart, report, April o0, 1864, O.R.A., XXXIV, pt. I, pp. 606-607; Bee to
Hart, April I o, 1864, Mechling Subcollection.
s8More complete descriptions of the battle of Mansfield, upon which this account is
based, may be found in Johnson, Red River Campaign, 1oI-145; Winters, Civil War in
Louisiana, 330-347; Landers, "Wet Sand," I62-18o; Williams, "Red River," I18-I22;
Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction, x59-162; Richard B. Irwin, History of the
Nineteenth Army Corps (New York, 1892), 299-312; Harrington, Fighting Politician,
151-157; Jackson Beauregard Davis, "The Life of Richard Taylor," Louisiana Historical
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 78, July 1974 - April, 1975, periodical, 1974/1975; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117149/m1/43/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.