Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee River
Other Names: None
Location: Hardin County
Campaign: Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers (1862)
Date(s): March 1, 1862
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell [US]; Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston and Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard [CS]
Forces Engaged: Army of the Tennessee and Army of the Ohio (unknown) [US]; Army of the Mississippi (unknown) [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 31 total (US 11; CS 20)
Description: March 1, 1862...Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee River...”;There [the 18th Louisiana Infantry Regiment] were assigned picket duty at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. There they engaged and repulsed a landing party from two enemy gunboats and drove away the gunboats on March 1.” 13 “General Ruggles had ordered the 18th, Miles Artillery, and a cavalry detachment (2nd Mississippi Cavalry Battalion?) to Pittsburg Landing to observe and hold the country...The two Federal gunboats were the Tyler, Lieutenant William Gwin, and Lexington, Lieutenant James W. Shirk...Two boats from each gunboat took ashore portions of the two crews and detachments of Companies C and K, 32nd Illionis Infantry Regiment (sharpshooters)...The 18th lost approximately 7 killed and 13 wounded...The Federals reported losing 2 men killed, 6 wounded and 3 missing.” 14
Result(s): Undecided
More Information: Reminiscences of Uncle Silas, A History of the Eighteenth Louisiana Infantry Regiment. p.27-3115
Shiloh
Other Names: Pittsburg Landing
Location: Hardin County
Campaign: Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers (1862)
Date(s): April 6-7, 1862
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell [US]; Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston and Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard [CS]
Forces Engaged: Army of the Tennessee and Army of the Ohio (65,085) [US]; Army of the Mississippi (44,968) [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 23,746 total (US 13,047; CS 10,699)
Description: As a result of the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the commander in the area, was forced to fall back, giving up Kentucky and much of West and Middle Tennessee. He chose Corinth, Mississippi, a major transportation center, as the staging area for an offensive against Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee before the Army of the Ohio, under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, could join it. The Confederate retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union forces, and it took Grant, with about 40,000 men, some time to mount a southern offensive, along the Tennessee River, toward Pittsburg Landing. Grant received orders to await Buell’s Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg Landing. Grant did not choose to fortify his position; rather, he set about drilling his men many of which were raw recruits. Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornets Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many casualties, he retired from the field and headed back to Corinth. On the 8th, Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard, commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest’s aggressive tactics, although eventually contained, influenced the Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant’s mastery of the Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The Confederates continued to fall back until launching their mid-August offensive.Result(s): Union victory
CWSAC Reference #: TN003
Preservation Priority: III.1 (Class A)
National Park Unit: Shiloh National Military Park. 16
Corinth
Other Names: None
Location: Hardin County and McNairy County, Tennessee; Alcorn County and Tishomingo County, Mississippi
Campaign: Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers (1862)
Date(s): April 29-June 10, 1862
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck [US]; Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard [CS]
Forces Engaged: Department of the Mississippi [US]; Department No. 2 [CS]
Estimated Casualties: Unknown
Description: Following the Union victory at Shiloh, the Union armies under Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck advanced on the vital rail center of Corinth. By May 25, 1862, after moving 5 miles in 3 weeks, Halleck was in position to lay siege to the town. The preliminary bombardment began, and Union forces maneuvered for position. On the evening of May 29-30, Confederate commander Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard evacuated Corinth, withdrawing to Tupelo. The Federals had consolidated their position in northern Mississippi.
Result(s): Union victory
CWSAC Reference #: MS016
Preservation Priority: I.3 (Class B)
More Information: The Siege and Battle of Corinth Commission.17
Georgia Landing
Other Names: Labadieville, Texana
Location: Lafourche Parish
Campaign: Operations in LaFourche District (1862)
Date(s): October 27, 1862
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel [US]; Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton
Forces Engaged: Reserve brigade, Department of the Gulf [US]; 18th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, Crescent Regiment, Ralston’s Battery, Detachment of Cavalry, 33rd Louisiana Infantry Regiment, Terre Bonne Regiment Louisiana Militia, Semmes’s Battery and 2nd Louisiana Cavalry Regiment (approx. 1,392 men) [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 315 total (US 86; CS 229)
Description: Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, commanding Union forces in the Department of the Gulf, launched an expedition into the Bayou Lafourche region to eliminate the Rebel threat from that area, to make sure that sugar and cotton products from there would come into Union hands and, in the future, to use it as a base for other military operations. He organized a brigade of about 4,000 men under the command of his protege Brig. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel to accomplish the missions. On October 25, Weitzel and his men arrived at Donaldsonville, where the Lafourche meets the Mississippi, and began an advance up the east bank of the bayou. The Confederates under the command of Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton attempted to concentrate to meet the threat. By the 27th, the Confederates had occupied a position on the bayou above Labadieville. A little more than half the force was on the east bank while the rest of the men were on the west bank near Georgia Landing, generally without means of concentrating on one side or the other. As the Federal troops continued down the east bank, they encountered the Rebels at about 11:00 am and began skirmishing. The Confederates fell back quickly. Weitzel then began crossing his men to the west bank to attack the Rebel troops there. For some time, these Confederate troops fought resolutely and brought the Union assault to a standstill. The Rebels, however, ran out of artillery ammunition and had to withdraw to Labadieville, opening up this portion of the Lafourche to the Union.
Result(s): Union victory
CWSAC Reference #: LA005
Preservation Priority: IV.1 (Class C). 18
Fort Bisland
Other Names: Bethel Place
Location: St. Mary Parish
Campaign: Operations in West Louisiana (1863)
Date(s): April 12-13, 1863
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks [US]; Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor [CS]
Forces Engaged: Banks’s Department of the Gulf, XIX Army Corps [US]; District of Western Louisiana [CS]
Estimated Casualties: Total 684 (US 234; CS 450)
Description: In April 1863, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks launched an expedition up Bayou Teche in western Louisiana aimed at Alexandria. On April 9, two divisions crossed Berwick Bay from Brashear City to the west side at Berwick. On the 12th, a third division went up the Atchafalaya River to land in the rear of Franklin intending to intercept a Rebel retreat from Fort Bisland or turn the enemy’s position. Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor sent Col. Tom Green’s regiment to the front to ascertain the enemy’s strength and retard his advance. On the 11th, the Yankees began their advance in earnest. Late on the 12th, Union troops arrived outside the defenses in battle line. An artillery barrage ensued from both sides until dark when the Yankees, many of whom were hit by Rebel cannon fire, fell back and camped for the night. About 9:00 am on the 13th, the Union forces again advanced on Fort Bisland. Combat did not begin until after 11:00 am and continued until dusk. In addition to Rebel forces in the earthworks, the gunboat Diana, now in Confederate hands, shelled the Yankees. U.S. gunboats joined the fray in late afternoon. The fighting ceased after this. Later that night, Taylor learned that the Yankee division that went up the Atchafalaya and landed in his rear was now in a position to cut off a Confederate retreat. Taylor began evacuating supplies, men, and weapons, leaving a small force to retard any enemy movement. The next morning, the Yankees found the fort abandoned. Fort Bisland was the only fortification that could have impeded this Union offensive, and it had fallen.
Result(s): Union victory
CWSAC Reference #: LA006
Preservation Priority: IV.1 (Class D). 19
LaFourche Crossing
Other Names: Lafourche Crossing
Location: Lafourche Parish
Campaign: Taylor’s Operations in West Louisiana (1863)
Date(s): June 20-21, 1863
Principal Commanders: Lt. Col. Albert Stickney [US]; Col. James P. Major [CS]
Forces Engaged: 838 men from eight regiments [US]; 2nd Cavalry Brigade [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 267 total (US 48; CS 219)
Description: Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor sent an expedition under Col. James P. Major to break Union supply lines, disrupt Union activities and force an enemy withdrawal from Brashear (Morgan) City and Port Hudson. Major set out from Washington, Louisiana, on Bayou Teche, heading south and east. While marching, his men conducted raids on Union forces, boats, and plantations and in the process captured animals and supplies and liberated slaves. Brig. Gen. William H. Emory, commanding the defenses of New Orleans, assigned Lt. Col. Albert Stickney to command in Brashear City and to stem the Rebel raid if possible. Emory informed Stickney of Major’s descent on LaFourche Crossing and ordered him to send troops. Feeling that no threat to Brashear City existed, Stickney, himself, led troops off to LaFourche Crossing, arriving on the morning of the 20th. That afternoon, Stickney's scouts reported that the enemy was advancing rapidly. The Rebel forces began driving in Stickney’s pickets around 5:00 pm. Confederate cavalry then advanced but was driven back. After the Union troops fired a few rounds, the Confederates withdrew in the direction of Thibodeaux. In the late afternoon of the 21st, Confederate soldiers engaged the Union pickets, and fighting continued for more than an hour before the Rebels retired. About 6:30 pm, the Confederates reappeared in force, started an artillery duel, and charged the Union lines at 7:00 pm. An hour later, the Confederates disengaged and retired toward Thibodeaux. The Union held the field. Despite the defeat, Major’s raiders continued on to Brashear City.
Result(s): Union victory
CWSAC Reference #: LA012
Preservation Priority: II.4 (Class D).20
Mansfield
Other Names: Sabine Cross-Roads, Pleasant Grove
Location: DeSoto Parish
Campaign: Red River Campaign (1864)
Date(s): April 8, 1864
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks [US]; Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor [CS]
Forces Engaged: Banks’s Red River Expeditionary Force [US]; District of West Louisiana (two divisions) [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 4,400 total ( US 2,900; CS 1,500)
Description: By this time, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Bank’s Red River Expedition had advanced about 150 miles up Red River. Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, without any instructions from his commander, Gen. E. Kirby Smith, decided that it was time to try and stem this Union drive. He established a defensive position just below Mansfield, near Sabine Cross-Roads, an important communications center. On April 8, Banks’s men approached, driving Confederate cavalry before them. For the rest of the morning, the Federals probed the Rebel lines. In late afternoon, Taylor, though outnumbered, decided to attack. His men made a determined assault on both flanks, rolling up one and then another of Banks’s divisions. Finally, about three miles from the original contact, a third Union division met Taylor’s attack at 6:00 pm and halted it after more than an hour's fighting. That night, Taylor unsuccessfully attempted to turn Banks’s right flank. Banks withdrew but met Taylor again on the 9th at Pleasant Hill. Mansfield was the decisive battle of the Red River Campaign, influencing Banks to retreat back toward Alexandria.
Result(s): Confederate victory
CWSAC Reference #: LA018
Preservation Priority: II.1 (Class A)
More Information: Mansfield State Commemorative Area. 21
Pleasant Hill
Other Names: None
Location: DeSoto Parish and Sabine Parish
Campaign: Red River Campaign (1864)
Date(s): April 9, 1864
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks [US]; Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor [CS] Forces Engaged: Red River Expeditionary Force (Banks’s Department of the Gulf) [US]; District of West Louisiana [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 3,100 total (US 1,100; CS 2,000)
Description: By April 1864, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’s Red River Expedition had advanced about 150 miles up Red River. Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, commander of the Confederate forces in the area, decided, without any instructions from his commander Gen. E. Kirby Smith, that it was time to try and stem this Union drive. Taylor gained a victory at Mansfield on April 8. Banks withdrew from that battlefield to Pleasant Hill, but he knew that fighting would resume the next day. Early on the 9th, Taylor’s reinforced forces marched toward Pleasant Hill in the hopes of finishing the destruction of the Union force. Although outnumbered, Taylor felt that the Union army would be timid after Mansfield and that an audacious, well-coordinated attack would be successful. The Confederates closed up, rested for a few hours, and then attacked at 5:00 pm. Taylor planned to send a force to assail the Union front while he rolled up the left flank and moved his cavalry around the right flank to cut the escape route. The attack on the Union left flank, under the command of Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Churchill, succeeded in sending those enemy troops fleeing for safety. Churchill ordered his men ahead, intending to attack the Union center from the rear. Union troops, however, discerned the danger and hit Churchill’s right flank, forcing a retreat. Pleasant Hill was the last major battle, in terms of numbers of men involved, of the Louisiana phase of the Red River Campaign. Although Banks won this battle, he retreated, wishing to get his army out of west Louisiana before any greater calamity occurred. The battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill jointly (although the former was much more decisive) influenced Banks to forget his objective of capturing Shreveport.
Result(s): Union victory
CWSAC Reference #: LA019
Preservation Priority: N/D (Class B). 22
Yellow Bayou
Other Names: Norwood’s Plantation
Location: Avoyelles Parish
Campaign: Red River Campaign (1864)
Date(s): May 18, 1864
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Mower [US]; Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor [CS]
Forces Engaged: 1st and 3rd Divisions, XVI Army Corps [US]; District of Western Louisiana [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 860 total (US 360; CS 500)
Description: Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks during his retreat in the Red River Campaign, following the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, reached the Atchafalaya River on May 17. Once on the other side of the river he would be shielded from the continuous Confederate harassment. But, he had to wait to cross the river until the army engineers constructed a bridge. On the 18th, Banks learned that Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor’s force was near Yellow Bayou so he ordered Brig. Gen. A.J. Smith to stop them. Since Smith could not comply himself, he ordered Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Mower to meet Taylor. The Yankees attacked and drove the Rebels to their main line. The Confederates counterattacked, forcing the Federals to give ground. The Union force finally repulsed the Confederates. This see-saw action continued for several hours until the ground cover caught fire forcing both sides to retire. Yellow Bayou was the last battle of Banks’s ill-fated Red River Expedition, and it insured that the Federals would escape as an army to fight again.
Result(s): Union strategic victory
CWSAC Reference #: LA023Preservation Priority: IV.1 (Class C). 23
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18th Louisiana Infantry Regiment
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