APRIL 9, 1864:
The
Battle of Pleasant Hill.
Confederate
forces flush with victory at Mansfield the day before, reengage with retreating
Union forces in what develops into a brutal three hour battle. At first the
Gray overwhelms the Blue, but Union forces are able to redeploy in good order.
They drive the Confederates from the field with slaughter. The Union lost 1,400
men, with 150 killed, and the rest wounded, captured and missing. The
Confederacy lost 1,600 men, mostly killed. Immediately after the battle, Banks
continued his retreat of the day before.
The Battle of Prairie D’Ane.
The Arkansas offensive in the
Red River Campaign scores a minor Union victory, driving Confederate troops
away from Washington, the capital of Confederate Arkansas. However, with the
fracturing of the Red River Campaign as a whole, the Union forces in Arkansas do
not move toward Shreveport.
