Battle of Mansfield

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Mansfield


caption=
partof=the American Civil War
date=
place=De Soto Parish, Louisiana
result= Confederate victory
combatant1= flagicon|USA|1863 United States (Union)
combatant2= flagicon|CSA|1863 CSA (Confederacy)
commander1=Nathaniel P. Banks
commander2=Richard Taylor
strength1=12,000
strength2=7,000 (estm)
casualties1=113 killed
581 wounded
1,541 captured/missing
casualties2=1,000 killed, wounded, and missingThe Battle of Mansfield, also known as the Battle of Sabine Crossroads or Pleasant Grove, on April 8, 1864, in De Soto Parish, Louisiana, was the first major clash of the Union Army's Red River Campaign during the American Civil War.

Prelude

Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's Union contingent ascended the Red River to within 25 miles of the Texas border, but lost contact with the accompanying gunboat fleet, due to low water conditions and the necessity for the army to follow an established road that turned inland away from the river. Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, in command of the Confederate forces, along with his subordinates Brig. Gen. Thomas Green and Maj. Gen. Camille de Polignac, determined to make a stand near Mansfield against the direct orders of his more cautious superior, Maj. Gen. E. Kirby Smith, the commander of all Confederate forces west of the Mississippi River.

The battle

Green's cavalry harassed the Union vanguard as they advanced. Confederate forces attacked the disorganized Federals and decisively routed them. Both pursuit and reinforcement were hampered by the Union wagon train's blockage of the narrow road, which fell into Confederate hands. Banks, despite displaying great personal bravery in attempting to rally his troops, was revealed once again to be a military incompetent.

When darkness and stiffening Union resistance ended pursuit, the Union had suffered the loss of many supplies which includes 20 cannons, 150 wagons and around 1,000 horses killed or captured, and the Federal force was demoralized. The Confederates, however, were consumed with hope that the entire Union expedition could be destroyed. A large number of Union prisoners of war were sent by the Confederates to Camp Ford, a prison stockade in Texas.

References

*cite book |author=Ayres, Thomas |title=Dark and bloody ground: the Battle of Mansfield and the forgotten Civil War in Louisiana |publisher=Taylor Trade Pub |location=Lanham, Md |year=2001 |pages= |isbn=0-87833-180-8 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=

External links

* [http://www.mansfieldbattlefield.org/ Friends of the Mansfield Battlefield]
* [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_sabine_crossroads.html Battle of Sabine Crossroads or Mansfield, 8 April 1864]