sorry folks. No pics this morning. My photo sharing sight (allyoucanupload.com) went belly-up and I gotta find a new way to do it.
April 8, 1864: Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana
144 years ago today, the Red River campaign of US Major General Nathaniel Banks grinds to a halt when Confederate Lieutenant General Richard Taylor routs Banks' army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
The Red River campaign, which had begun a month earlier, was an attempt by the US to invade Confederate Texas from Shreveport, Louisiana. Banks, accompanied by a flotilla of gunboats and supply vessels on the Red River, would move northwest across the state and rendezvous at Shreveport with a force under Brigadier General Frederick Steele moving from Little Rock, Arkansas.
It was a good plan, but the Federals failed to take into account how easy it is to block Red River traffic by cutting down trees and tossing them in the river. That, and the fact the thing was barely navigable even in a normal wet season. That spring was particularly dry and at times, the force had to do dredging and build dams just make enough freeboard to move up river.
The slow-moving Banks approached Mansfield and opted to leave the troubled river route and take a shorter overland road to Shreveport than one that ran along the Red River. Not only was the road narrow, it was far away from the naval gunfire support provided by the USN flotilla.
Like so many Civil War battles, this battle was a classic meeting engagement turned slugfest as both sides poured additional forces into the meat grinder. Banks' scouts and leading elements encountered Taylor's cavalry and a skirmish erupted.
At 4:00 p.m. on this day, CS LTG Taylor ordered an all-out assault on the forces of freedom. The Rebels broke Banks' line and sent the Federals reeling in a disorganized retreat. US forces fell back three miles before the rout was halted by the arrival of reinforcements. There, they made a stand that stopped the Slaveocrats advance.
Banks suffered 113 heroes killed, 581 wounded, and 1,541 missing, while Taylor had about 1,500 total casualties.
The Rebs at the battle were chiefly TX and LA troops. The Texans included quite a few Mexican Americans. Capt. Joseph De La Garza of the 20th TX Infantry was killed at Mansfield
Refugio Benavides, Atanacio Vidaurri, Cristobal Benavides
and his brother-in-law John Leyendecker, C.S.A.. All fought at Mansfield
But Nat Banks was now in retreat, and the Red River campaign was failing. Taylor attacked again the next day, but this time Banks' men held the Confederates at bay. Banks was unnerved, though, and he began to retreat back down the Red River without penetrating into Texas.
No significant Federal force was ever able to penetrate Texas by land. In the end, Texas threw in the towel when the ersatz Cornfed government ceased to exist in April of 1865. By mid June of 1865, most enslaved folks in Texas had learned the Rebs were FAIL and they were free, thus the folk celebration of "Juneteenth" in Texas.
Originally Posted by Okla-homey
Is there any century that global warming doesn't mess up? 
Re: Good Morning...Federal army repulsed as it attempts invasion of Texas
