Banks' Grand Retreat
A Brief Introduction


Above: Admiral David Porter
In the spring of 1864, frustrated by past failures to force a Union foothold in the heart of the
Trans-Mississippi and fueled by hunger for stockpiles of Southern cotton, the Union Army launched a coordinated thrust into General E. Kirby Smith’s Trans-Mississippi department.
Headquartered in Shreveport, Smith found his thinly defended and far-ranging area of responsibility under attack from several directions.  In a plan designed by General Henry Halleck and implemented in the field by General Nathaniel Banks, Union forces moved toward Confederate-held Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas bent on “planting the flag” in previously unconquered land, seizing cotton, and disrupting foreign intervention and aid from Mexico.  Political and economic agendas complicated the plan, with many persons of varying power and reputation eager to earn fame and fortune.

 Banks had at his disposal an impressive force- men of his own command, veterans themselves- as well as the doughty soldiers of General A.J. Smith’s corps.  Banks was promised the cooperation of the Union Navy and as a result, a powerful flotilla of gunboats and transport vessels under the command of Admiral David Porter accompanied his land troops.  As part of General Ulysses Grant’s plan to strike the Confederacy from all points, Banks’ forces would play a critical role.  However, Grant, and his chief lieutenant William Sherman, saw the operation as peripheral and gave approval under the provision that Banks move quickly and that Smith’s veteran corps rejoin Sherman in time for operations in the Southern heartland that summer.  Acting in concert with Banks, a second force of Union troops would move south from captured Little Rock, Arkansas.  A junction of the two armies was to be made and any Confederate forces not destroyed or routed previously would wither in the face of the Federal might.

 Quickly, the elements which had so un-nerved Grant and Sherman began to tell.  Banks was at best a mediocre commander, left in positions of authority due to his political connections rather than his military accomplishments.  The Northern general communicated poorly with his superiors as well as with his colleague, General Frederick Steele, who was moving south through Arkansas in an attempt to effect the planned junction.

Unfortunately for Union aims, Banks was opposed by one of the Confederacy’s ablest field commanders- General Richard Taylor.  Though grossly outnumbered, Taylor was cunning and bold.  The Confederate general, known as “the soldier prince of Dixie,” slowly retreated north and westerly across central Louisiana, looking for an opportunity to pounce the Union aggressors.  On April 8, 1864 in the piney woods of northwestern Louisiana, Taylor halted his command and prepared to give battle near the small berg of Mansfield.  Late on the afternoon of the 8^th, Taylor’s troops attacked.  Though outnumbered, the grey legions pressed forward.  Casualties were high and many field commanders fell in the midst of their men.  Perhaps tired of constant retreats and small engagements of little consequence, the Confederate soldiers moved dauntlessly onward, almost in a frenzy.  With the sun setting, the Southern ranks battered aside the main lines of resistance.  In an instant, the head of the Union army was smashed back.  Cohesion was lost and a general rout ensued.  Darkness, casualties, and confusion in the Southern ranks eventually brought the pursuit to a halt but the Federal Army had been dealt a stinging blow and sent in headlong retreat.

With both forces marching through the night Banks and Taylor again came to blows the following day near Pleasant Hill.  Although his troops had done splendidly at Mansfield, Taylor’s men failed to achieve the same results this time.  However, Banks’ confidence had been shattered and though he had stymied his opponent at Pleasant Hill, the Union chieftain ordered the retreat continued.

 Banks’ Grand Retreat will place the participants in those hectic and bloody days following the battles at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill.  The Union rearguard, men from A.J. Smith’s “gorillas,” will be closely pursued by the Confederates of Richard Taylor’s small army.  You will soldier as these men did in the spring of 1864.  You will march, carrying what you need with you.  You will be fed and watered.  You can expect to move through the day, to stand picket at night, and to contest the enemy whenever he may show himself.  This event will allow participants to feel as soldiers on the campaign, all within an isolated and historically relevant region virtually devoid of any modern intrusion.

 Registration IS NOW OPEN!  Gather your comrades and start walking!

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