April 9, 1864---The Battle of Pleasant Hill, LA; the Battle of Prairie D'Ane, AR

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.

April 8, 1864---The Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana

APRIL 8, 1864

The Battle of Mansfield (The Battle of Sabine Crossroads). The Red River Campaign grinds ignominiously to a halt for the Union when General Nathaniel P. Banks decides to move inland from the line of the low-running Red River and away from his naval forces. On a narrow road and strung out in a line miles long, Banks’ army is crippled in forming a viable defensive line. Without the fear of fire from the U.S. Navy, a large Confederate force of 14,000 is able to swoop down on Banks’ 12,000 men and chop up Banks’ line piecemeal in a five hour long battle.

The Union forces suffered 113 killed, 581 wounded, and 1,541 captured as well as the loss of 20 cannon, 156 wagons, and a thousand horses and mules killed or captured. Confederate losses were 1,200 killed and wounded. Several hundred men were buried in unmarked graves not discovered until 2008. 

After the defeat, Banks retreated away from Shreveport without ever entering Texas to support the isolated Union forces there. The Texas Unionists were either defeated, captured and hanged, or went underground in order to survive.

Banks was soon after relieved of military command in Louisiana. The Trans-Mississippi remained in Confederate hands until the end of the war.

April 7, 1864---The Gray and The Blue: Two Generals in Virginia

APRIL 7, 1864:            

General James Longstreet C.S.A. is recalled to Virginia to work with Robert E. Lee. General Philip Sheridan U.S.A., assumes command of all cavalry forces of the Army of The Potomac.

April 6, 1864---Milledgeville Mints Its Own Money

APRIL 6, 1864:            

The State of Georgia issues its own currency. 

Reconstructed Louisiana adopts a new State Constitution.