Mansfield State Historic Site
Encyclopedia
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
state historic site which preserves the site of the 1864 Battle of Mansfield
Battle of Mansfield
The Battle of Mansfield, also known as the Battle of Sabine Crossroads, occurred on April 8, 1864, in De Soto Parish, Louisiana. Confederate forces commanded by Richard Taylor attacked a Union army commanded by Nathaniel Banks a few miles outside the town of Mansfield, near Sabine Crossroads...
in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It is located four miles south of Mansfield
Mansfield, Louisiana
Mansfield is a city in and the parish seat of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,001 at the 2010 census. Mansfield is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, the seat of DeSoto Parish in northwestern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. The battle is considered significant because Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
troops succeeded in the overall Red River Campaign
Red River Campaign
The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....
in turning back large Union forces, preventing the progression of the war into Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and perhaps delaying the final southern surrender on April 9, 1865.
The Union expected the Red River Campaign
Red River Campaign
The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....
to lead to the seizure of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
for New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
mills, to prevent a French-Mexican force from joining the Confederates, and provide protection for Union loyalists in Texas and bring the state back into the Union. The capture of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, then the Louisiana capital as well as headquarters of Trans-Mississippi Confederate operations, was another Union goal. The Union army and navy progressed through Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
and reached Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
by early April 1864. The army separated from the navy at Natchitoches and veered toward Mansfield, a situation which left ground troops without naval backup.
Confederate General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Richard Taylor
Richard Taylor (general)
Richard Taylor was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was the son of United States President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret Taylor.-Early life:...
, son of U.S. President and General Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
, decided to challenge the Union at Mansfield, rather than waiting until Union commander Nathaniel P. Banks reached Shreveport. This tactic allowed Taylor to face the enemy on more equal terms because the Confederate troops were heavily outnumbered. At noon on April 8, 1864, some 6,400 Union troops faced 10,500 Confederates. The Union formed a line of battle along a rail fence and ridge called "Honeycutt Hill". On orders from Taylor, General Alfred Mouton
Alfred Mouton
Jean-Jacques-Alfred-Alexandre "Alfred" Mouton was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, and spent most of his life in Lafayette. Beloved by those under his command, Mouton was a strict drillmaster and disciplinarian who simultaneously freely...
and his division charged the rail fence. Mouton was killed in the attack, but General Camille Armand de Polignac
Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince de Polignac
Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince de Polignac was a French nobleman, scholar and soldier who joined the Confederate States Army at the outbreak of the American Civil War and became major general before the end of the war...
, a native of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, continued the advance and overwhelmed Union troops. In a plaque in the museum Taylor is quoted as having said: "The death of the gallant Mouton affected me. He joined me soon after I reached Western Louisiana and had ever proven faithful to duty. Modest, unselfish, and patriotic, he showed best in action, always leading his men."In addition to the monument in his honor, Mouton is honored with an interpretative nature trail in the park.
An infusion of two thousand Union troops failed to change the outcome, as Taylor and his men took many prisoners and seized the weaponry and wagons abandoned by the enemy. Fighting continued the next day at the Battle of Pleasant Hill
Battle of Pleasant Hill
The Battle of Pleasant Hill was fought on April 9, 1864, during the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War, near Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, between Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks and Confederate forces, led by Maj. Gen...
in Sabine Parish
Sabine Parish, Louisiana
Sabine Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Many. In 2010, the parish's population was 24,233....
south of Mansfield. A military draw at Pleasant Hill caused the Union to retreat south toward Alexandria.
The battle site encourages visitor to "step back in time" through its living history events, military exhibits, a film, battle reenactments, musket demonstrations, and interpretative programs. There are also interpretative trails and a picnic area. Candlelight tours of the battlefields are occasionally offered. Among the exhibits is a picture of Civil War Governor Thomas Overton Moore
Thomas Overton Moore
Thomas Overton Moore was an attorney and politician who was the 16th Governor of Louisiana from 1860 until 1864 during the American Civil War.-Early years:...
and the sculpture "Spirit of the Confederacy", based on St. Barbara, patron saint of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
men. There is a model of the ship, USS Carondelet
USS Carondelet
There have been two ships of the United States Navy named Carondelet:*The USS Carondelet was a gunboat on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War.*The USS Carondelet was a tanker that served during World War II....
. The museum also contains a replica of a field campsite and a collection of medical instruments required to treat the wounded from battle.
A large celebration was held for the centennial of the battle in 1964. Lieutenant Governor of Texas
Lieutenant Governor of Texas
The Lieutenant Governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the work of the Texas Senate and controls the budgeting process as a leader of the...
Preston Smith
Preston Smith (Texas)
Preston Earnest Smith was the 40th Governor of Texas from 1969 to 1973, who earlier served as the lieutenant governor from 1963 to 1969.-Early life:...
and F. Jay Taylor
F. Jay Taylor
Foster Jay Taylor, known as F. Jay Taylor , was a historian who served from 1962 to 1987 as the president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana...
, an historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of the Civil War who was then president of Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
at Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
, led the processions. Smith, who later served as governor from 1969-1973, headed an eight-mile caravan of vehicles from Texas, which supplied Confederate troops at Mansfield.
The Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
historian Alwyn Barr
Alwyn Barr
Chester Alwyn Barr is an American historian who specializes in African American studies, the American South, the American Civil War, and Reconstruction. He is a professor emeritus and former history department chairman at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.-Works:Barr received his Ph.D...
in 1998 released the second edition of his Polignac's Texas Brigade,, a study of Polignac and the Texan who fought in Mansfield and then Sabine Crossroads.
External links
- Mansfield State Historic Site - official site