Battles & Campaigns · 1864
Battle of Mansfield
Near Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, USA
What happened
Confederate forces under Richard Taylor fought the Union Army of the Gulf under Nathaniel Banks. In the Red River Campaign, a Union army marched toward Shreveport, Louisiana's capital. A few miles south of Mansfield, Taylor's Confederates attacked in the late afternoon. Their Texas division swept around the Union position, and the first Union lines collapsed until a third line held at dusk.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It stopped the Union advance on Shreveport. The Union campaign became a failure.
What came next
The armies fought again the next day at Pleasant Hill. Banks then retreated down the Red River.
Did you know?
It is also called the Battle of Sabine Crossroads.
Timeline
- 8 April 1864Battle of Mansfield.
- 9 April 1864Battle of Pleasant Hill.
- 22 May 1864The Red River Campaign ends.