Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federal Army of the Gulf captures the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, opening the waterway to Federal commerce and cutting the Confederacy in two.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federal Army of the Gulf captures the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, opening the waterway to Federal commerce and cutting the Confederacy in two.
The siege of Port Hudson continues to demoralize the Confederate defenders, while another Confederate army tries to break the siege by attacking Federal positions near New Orleans.
Nathaniel P. Banks launches another doomed assault on the Confederate defenses at Port Hudson, Louisiana, but the Federal siege continues.
Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federal Army of the Gulf finally begins advancing on the Confederate stronghold of Port Hudson, Louisiana, after conducting a series of ancillary operations.
May 20, 1864 – One of the greatest Federal military disasters of the war finally ended. Federals under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Bailey, an engineer by
May 2, 1864 – Major General Frederick Steele’s Federal Army of Arkansas began returning to Little Rock, while Federal naval forces on the Red River