Battle of Blair's Landing

Battle of Blair's Landing
Part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War
The Union gunboats engage the Confederates
Date April 12 – 13, 1864 Location Red River Parish, Louisiana Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
David Dixon Porter Thomas Kilby Smith	Tom Green †
Units involved
XVII Corps Mississippi River Squadron	Green's cavalry
Strength
1 infantry division 6 gunboats	750, 2 batteries
Casualties and losses
57	200

The Battle of Blair's Landing (April 12, 1864) saw a Confederate cavalry-artillery force commanded by Brigadier General Tom Green attack several Union gunboats led by Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter and soldiers in river transports under Brigadier General Thomas Kilby Smith in Red River Parish, Louisiana. Green's force attempted but failed to stop the retreat of Porter's and Smith's forces downstream in an action that was part of the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War. The only significant casualty during the fighting was Green, who was killed by an artillery round.

Background

Campaign

President Abraham Lincoln and Major General Henry Halleck wanted a Union army to establish a foothold in Texas by way of the Red River. Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, commander of the Department of the Gulf was ordered to organize an expedition in cooperation with Major Generals William T. Sherman and Frederick Steele. While Steele moved south from Little Rock, Arkansas, with 15,000 troops, Banks moved in two columns. A 17,000-strong column ascended Bayou Teche and joined 10,000 men that came up the Red River under Major General Andrew Jackson Smith to occupy Alexandria, Louisiana on March 18. The Red River force was on loan from Sherman and was accompanied by 13 ironclad and 7 light-draft gunboats from Porter's Mississippi River Squadron.

After A. J. Smith's force won two minor actions at Fort De Russy (March 14) and Henderson's Hill (March 21), Banks' army started marching upriver and reached Natchitoches on April 2. Porter started upriver with 6 gunboats and T. K. Smith's division of the XVII Corps aboard transports. They planned to meet with Banks' army at Springfield Landing, 110 mi (177 km) below Shreveport. However, Major General Richard Taylor drubbed the Union army at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8, forcing Banks to retreat. Reinforced, Taylor attacked Banks again at the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9, but was repulsed. Nevertheless, Banks withdrew to Grand Ecore near Natchitoches on the Red River.

River operations

On April 7, Porter and T. K. Smith left Grand Ecore and headed upstream on the Red River. Porter commanded the gunboats USS Cricket, USS Chillicothe, USS Fort Hindman, USS Lexington, USS Neosho, and USS Osage, the last two being monitors. There were also several auxiliary vessels. T. K. Smith led 2,500 Union soldiers on 20 river transports. Water level in the river was low, causing the naval vessels to proceed at a slow pace. That day, the expedition reached Campti where it briefly landed a regiment to clear the town and anchored for the night.

On April 8, the expedition reached Coushatta Point where it anchored for the night. A brigade was sent ahead by land to chase away a Confederate force reported 3 mi (4.8 km) farther ahead. On April 9, the vessels advanced as far as Nine-Mile Bend before anchoring for the evening. On April 10, the expedition reached the mouth of Loggy Bayou where they found the Confederates sank the riverboat New Falls City loaded with bricks athwart the channel. While they pondered what to do, a courier arrived from Banks saying his army was defeated and falling back to Grand Ecore. Porter and T. K. Smith decided to obey Banks' verbal instructions to return to Grand Ecore.

Battle

Map of Blair's Landing Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program.

After the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9, Brig. Gen. Tom Green led his men to Pleasant Hill Landing on the Red River, where, about 4:00 p.m. on April 12, they discovered grounded and damaged Union transports and gunboats, the XVI and XVII Corps river transportation, and U.S. Navy gunboats, with supplies and armament aboard. Troops from Union Brig. Gen. Thomas Kilby Smith's Provisional Division, XVII Corps, and the Navy gunboats furnished protection for the army transports. Green and his men charged the boats. When Green attacked, Smith's men used great ingenuity in defending the boats and dispersing the enemy. Hiding behind bales of cotton, sacks of oats, and other ersatz obstructions, the men on the vessels, along with the Navy gunboats, repelled the attack, killed Green, and savaged the Confederate ranks. The Confederates withdrew and most of the Union transports continued downriver. On April 13, at Campti, other boats ran aground and came under enemy fire from Brig. Gen. St. John Richardson Liddell's Sub-District of North Louisiana troops, which harassed the convoy throughout April 12–13. The convoy rendezvoused with Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks's army at Grand Ecore, providing the army with badly needed supplies.

References

• Bergeron, Arthur W. Jr. (1989). Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units 1861-1865. Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-2102-9.
• Boatner, Mark M. III (1959). The Civil War Dictionary. New York, N.Y.: David McKay Company Inc. ISBN 0-679-50013-8.
• Brooksher, William Riley (1998). War Along the Bayous: The 1864 Red River Campaign in Louisiana. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's. ISBN 1-57488-139-6.
• Oates, Stephen B. (1994) [1961]. Confederate Cavalry West of the River. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-71152-2.
• Official Records (1891). "The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies' Series I, Volume XXXIV, Part I". U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
• Winters, John D. (1987) [1963]. The Civil War in Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-0834-0.

External links

• Louisiana CWSAC Report Update
• Blair's Landing Photos CivilWarAlbum, 2008