Battle of Mansfield - Prelude

Prelude

During the second half of March, 1864, a combined force from the Union Army of the Gulf and navy led by Major General Nathaniel P. Banks ascended the Red River with the goal of defeating the rebel forces in Louisiana and capturing Shreveport. By April 1 Union forces had occupied Grand Ecore and Natchitoches. While the accompanying gunboat fleet with a portion of the infantry continued up the river, the main force followed the road inland toward Mansfield, where Banks knew his opponent was concentrating.

Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, in command of the Confederate forces in Louisiana, had retreated up the Red River in order to connect with reinforcements from Texas and Arkansas. Taylor selected a clearing a few miles south of Mansfield as the spot where he would take a stand against the Union forces. Sending his cavalry to harass the Union vanguard as it approached, Taylor called his infantry divisions forward.

The morning of April 8 found Banks' army stretched out along a single road through the woods between Natchitoches and Mansfield. When the cavalry at the front of the column found the Confederates taking a strong position along the edge of a clearing, it stopped and called for infantry support. Riding to the front, Banks decided that he would fight Taylor at that spot and he ordered all his infantry to hurry up the road. It became a race to see which side could bring its forces to the front first.