The lowering water level on the Red River becomes a serious concern for David D. Porter because it threatens to trap his massive naval squadron in hostile territory.
Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
The lowering water level on the Red River becomes a serious concern for David D. Porter because it threatens to trap his massive naval squadron in hostile territory.
Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federals retreat to Pleasant Hill, where Richard Taylor’s Confederates track them down. Banks decides to make a stand as Taylor seeks to drive him out of western Louisiana.
Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federals unexpectedly run into Confederates under Richard Taylor blocking their path to Shreveport, which results in heavy fighting in western Louisiana.
Nathaniel P. Banks’s Federal Army of the Gulf veers away from the Red River to confront Richard Taylor’s Confederates. But the Confederates are much closer and in a much better position than Banks had expected.
Federal forces at Natchitoches, Louisiana, look to continue further up the Red River on the way to their ultimate goal of Shreveport and eastern Texas beyond.
Nathaniel P. Banks assembles the largest Federal force west of the Mississippi River, but he soon finds himself facing several problems as he tries to advance on the key city of Shreveport.