Key Facts
- Duration
- March 10 – May 22, 1864 (about 10 weeks)
- Union force size
- ~30,000 federal troops
- Confederate force size
- 6,000–15,000 troops (varied)
- Theater
- Trans-Mississippi, Gulf Coastal Plain
- Union commander
- Major General Nathaniel P. Banks
Strategic Narrative Overview
Roughly 30,000 Union troops under Banks advanced through the densely forested Gulf Coastal Plain along the Red River corridor from March into May 1864. The Battle of Mansfield proved a decisive turning point, inflicting defeat on Banks and halting the Union advance. Confederate General E. Kirby Smith's subsequent decision to redirect Richard Taylor's forces northward to Arkansas rather than pursue Banks generated sharp internal discord among Confederate commanders.
01 / The Origins
By early 1864, Union strategists sought to neutralize the Confederate port of Shreveport, secure the cotton and sugar resources of northern Louisiana, and split Confederate lines in the Trans-Mississippi theater. Major General Henry W. Halleck championed the offensive, diverting Banks' Army of the Gulf from Lieutenant General Grant's preferred objective of capturing Mobile, Alabama, reflecting competing priorities within Union high command.
03 / The Outcome
The campaign ended on May 22, 1864, with the Union forces withdrawing without achieving their objectives. Shreveport remained in Confederate hands, northern Louisiana's resources were not secured, and Confederate forces in the region were not encircled or destroyed. The failed expedition marked the end of significant Union offensive action in the Trans-Mississippi theater for the remainder of the war.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, Major General Henry W. Halleck.
Side B
1 belligerent
General E. Kirby Smith, Major General Richard Taylor.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.