The Red River Campaign began on March 10, 1864, with the arrival of Nathaniel Banks' Army of the Gulf at Simmesport, Louisiana. Banks' troops were joined a short time later by a detachment of troops from Sherman's army under the command of Brigadier General A. J. Smith. Smith's command was on loan to Banks for the first phase of the campaign.

For the next several weeks, this combined force of about 35,000 men moved by land and river to Alexandria, Louisiana, and then to Grand Ecore, Louisiana. The objective was Shreveport, after which Smith's command was to return to Sherman, while Banks was to embark on an invasion of Texas. The Union forces were opposed by scattered, small Rebel units, many of them cavalry. The total Confederate strength in the area was about 15,000 men. The overall Rebel commander was General Edmund Kirby Smith. However, Major General Richard Taylor (son of Zachary) was in command in the field.

Throughout the early weeks of the campaign, Union forces had met only token resistance. Since Taylor was greatly outnumbered, he chose only to harass Union troops rather than try to bring them to battle. He was waiting for a fight on his own terms.

Split Forces

At Grand Ecore, Banks split his forces, sending some of A. J. Smith's Command along the Red River to cover Porter's fleet. The rest of the army moved away from the river, and away from its supply lines. On April 6, Banks marched his 13th and 19th corps, and his cavalry, out of Grand Ecore to Natchitoches, and then to Pleasant Hill, where they camped on the night of April 7. Smith's command did not leave Grand ecore with the rest of Banks' army. They departed Grand Ecore on April 7, following Banks' route, and camped at Pleasant Hill the night of April 8.

On the morning of April 8, Banks sent his long column of troops and baggage on its way to Mansfield. Taylor now had his opportunity. Late in the day on April 8, Taylor attacked Banks' forward units near Mansfield (the battle was known to the Confederates as Sabine Crossroads.) The surprised Union forces were routed badly, and were sent streaming back to Pleasant Hill. The drive to Shreveport had been blunted.

Taylor pursued the fleeing Yankees vigorously. With Green's cavalry, he gave chase all the way back to Pleasant Hill, where he arrived at 9:00 a.m., April 9. He then waited for the rest of his victorious army to arrive. He was joined by Churchill's troops, who had been marching for forty-eight hours to get into battle, early in the afternoon.

Bagging the Army

Taylor had faced Banks before during Jackson's Valley Campaign, and had no respect for his military abilities. As a result, Taylor felt he had an opportunity to bag the Union army. The Union retreat route was the two roads off the west edge of the battle map (Blair's Landing Road and the Natchitoches Road.) One road led to Porter's fleet, the other back to Grand Ecore. If Taylor could not cut the Yankees off, he wanted to at least destroy this army's ability to fight in the future.

After giving Churchill's troops two hours' rest, Taylor sent them south to approach Pleasant Hill along the Sabine River road. Churchill was harassed all along his advance, but was ready to join the battle by about 5:00 p.m. The artillery batteries of General Green's cavalry division began bombarding a Union battery to the east, down the Mansfield Road at about 4:30 p.m.

By 5:00 p.m., the Union battery was forced to withdraw. The remainder of Taylor's troops were ordered to begin their advance as soon as they heard the sounds of Churchill engaging the enemy (Bee's cavalry were ordered to charge down the Mansfield Road at that point.) Mouton's Division (now under Polignac's command) was last to arrive, and did not get involved until the battle was about an hour old.

The Union 13th Corps bore the brunt of the attack at Mansfield, and was not an organized fighting force that day. The 19th Corps fought the rear guard action after Mansfield, but was now in a defensive position at Pleasant Hill. Smith's command, which spent the night at Pleasant Hill, awoke to discover Banks' troops coming back in disarray. Smith's command then took up a defensive position. However, Banks had squandered his numerical superiority, and was now facing the Rebels on roughly equal terms, just the situation Taylor was looking for.

The majority of Franklin's 19th Corps was placed in reserve positions to rest. What was left of Franklin's cavalry was sent down the Blair's Landing and Natchitoches Roads. Dwight's and McMillan's brigades were placed north of the town. Benedict's brigade was positioned in a gully to guard the approach to the town along the Sabine River Road. And Shaw's brigade from A.J. Smith's command was loaned to Emory's division to hold the Mansfield Road. However, the positions of these brigades left Shaw's flanks dangerously exposed.

Baggage Train

While these troops were in position, they were not completely ready to fight. General Banks had declared that there wouldn't be a battle on that day; he didn't feel the Rebels had any interest in fighting right away. Smith's troops were basically in the position where they had camped the night before. Smith had great respect for Franklin, but little respect for his troops. Smith's western troops were veterans of Sherman's army. Franklin's troops had little combat experience and were from the east. Smith's "gorillas" were appalled at the extensive baggage train the easterners had brought with them, and had derisively suggested that many of the wagons contained paper collars for the easterners to wear.

When Churchill's troops emerged from the woods about 5:00 p.m., they saw Benedict's troops in front of them. For some reason, how-ever, they either did not see, or ignored, Smith's troops on the hill off to their right. Churchill easily routed Benedict's troops, and moved toward the town itself. At the sound of Churchill's advance (shortly after 5:00 p.m.), Bee's cavalry charged Shaw's positions, and was repulsed with heavy losses. Meanwhile, Walker's division also began an advance on Shaw's position. Shaw's troops fought valiantly, and held out against the assault of Bee, Walker, and a dismounted cavalry brigade under Major's command. Polignac's division was eventually also added to this front.

During the heat of the fight, Shaw asked Dwight for assistance. Dwight refused, however, saying he had no orders from Emory to take action. In the meantime, McMillan was joined by some of Benedict's troops and moved to plug the gap created by the rout of Benedict's brigade. Dwight eventually came to the aid of Shaw's right flank. But the Rebels had the upper hand, and the capture of the town was imminent. Ordered by Smith, Shaw eventually withdrew.

At about this time, the 58th Illinois fell upon Churchill's right flank from its hidden position in the woods. Lynch, seeing this movement, ordered his brigade to advance. Smith then ordered a general advance. Churchill's flank was crushed, and the Rebels were sent fleeing back toward Mansfield. Taylor made an effort to stem the tide, but to no avail. His army was saved by the onset of darkness. By 8:00 p.m. the battle was over and the Union had won the day.

After the battle, Banks approached Smith, saying, "God bless you, General, you saved the army." However, Banks determined not to pursue his advance to Shreveport, but to retreat to Grand Ecore. The Red River Campaign really came to an end on this day. Smith was so incensed, he went to Franklin, and demanded that he arrest Banks and take command of the army. Franklin declined. The retreat was on. Taylor, with a greatly inferior force in the theatre of operations, was defeated at Pleasant Hill, but won the Red River Campaign.

Pleasant Hill Order of Battle

Related:

Battle of Sabine Crossroads

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