The Union invades the Red River Valley. This book details one of the most surprising and humiliating defeats in United States' military history. The campaign began in April of 1864 when the Union army invaded the Red River Valley, anticipating little resistance from the Confederates. But when General Taylor launched a surprise attack near Mansfield, the Yankees were soon running for their lives.
An Alternate Selection of the History Book Clubi One of the most shocking and humiliating defeats in the United States' military history, the Red River Campaign narrowly missed turning the tide of the entire Civil War. The daring military operation took place in north Louisiana, in April of 1864. Though the Union soldiers outnumbered the Confederates nearly four to one, the Union forces found themselves under assault and running for their lives. Written in an engaging tone, this illustrated volume chronicles the campaign in precise detail.This accessible book begins with an overview of the campaign, emphasizing the impact that it had on the outcome of the Civil War. Successive sections cover Confederate Richard Taylor's strategy, the initial assault of the Union Army of the Gulf, the Confederate's surprise retaliation attack at Mansfield, and the Southerner's pursuit of the fleeing Yankees. The final chapter discusses alternative strategies that may have led to a Confederate victory, along with the subsequent careers of major participants.
The Union Army's Red River Campaign began on March 12, 1864, with a two-pronged attack aimed at gaining control of Shreveport, Louisiana. It lasted until May 22, 1864, when, after suffering significant casualties, the Union army retreated to Simmesport, Louisiana. The campaign was an attempt to prevent Confederate alliance with the French in Mexico, deny supplies to Confederate forces, and secure vast quantities of Louisiana and Texas cotton for Northern mills. With this examination of Confederate leadership and how it affected the Red River Campaign, the author argues against the standard assumption that the campaign had no major effect on the outcome of the war. In fact, the South had--and lost--an excellent opportunity to inflict a decisive defeat that might have changed the course of history. With this campaign as an ideal example, the politics of military decision-making in general are also analyzed.
This book chronicles not only the remarkable military victory at Mansfield but the subsequent engagements that forced Union forces into an ignominious withdrawal.
Includes over 30 maps and Illustrations The Staff Ride Handbook for the Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863, provides a systematic approach to the analysis of this key Civil War campaign. Part I describes the organization of the Union and Confederate Armies, detailing their weapons, tactics, and logistical, engineer, communications, and medical support. It also includes a description of the U.S. Navy elements that featured so prominently in the campaign. Part II consists of a campaign overview that establishes the context for the individual actions to be studied in the field. Part III consists of a suggested itinerary of sites to visit in order to obtain a concrete view of the campaign in its several phases. For each site, or “stand,” there is a set of travel directions, a discussion of the action that occurred there, and vignettes by participants in the campaign that further explain the action and which also allow the student to sense the human “face of battle.” Part IV provides practical information on conducting a Staff Ride in the Vicksburg area, including sources of assistance and logistical considerations. Appendix A outlines the order of battle for the significant actions in the campaign. Appendix B provides biographical sketches of key participants. Appendix C provides an overview of Medal of Honor conferral in the campaign. An annotated bibliography suggests sources for preliminary study.
Taking its title from General William Tecumseh Sherman's blunt description, this book is a fresh inspection of what was the Civil War's largest operation between the Union Army and Navy west of the Mississippi River. Maps & photos.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS RICHARD TAYLOR and the Red River Campaign of 1864, CONFEDERATE PATTON, revised and expanded second edition, details one of the most surprising and humiliating defeats in United States' military history. The campaign began in April of 1864 when the Union army invaded the Red River Valley, anticipating little resistance from the Confederates. But when General Taylor launched a surprise attack near Mansfield, the Yankees were soon running for their lives.
Tempest Over Texas: The Fall and Winter Campaigns, 1863–1864 is the fourth installment in Dr. Donald S. Frazier’s award-winning Louisiana Quadrille series. Picking up the story of the Civil War in Louisiana and Texas after the fall of Port Hudson and Vicksburg, Tempest Over Texas describes Confederate confusion on how to carry on in the Trans-Mississippi given the new strategic realities. Likewise, Federal forces gathered from Memphis to New Orleans were in search of a new mission. International intrigues and disasters on distant battlefields would all conspire to confuse and perplex war-planners. One thing remained, however. The Stars and Stripes needed to fly once again in Texas, and as soon as possible.
This final volume of Shelby Foote’s masterful narrative history of the Civil War brings to life the military endgame, the surrender at Appomattox, and the tragic dénouement of the war—the assassination of President Lincoln. Features maps throughout. "An unparalleled achievement, an American Iliad, a unique work uniting the scholarship of the historian and the high readability of the first-class novelist." —Walker Percy “To read this chronicle is an awesome and moving experience. History and literature are rarely so thoroughly combined as here; one finishes this volume convinced that no one need undertake this particular enterprise again.” —Newsweek “In objectivity, in range, in mastery of detail, in beauty of language and feeling for the people involved, this work surpasses anything else on the subject. . . . Written in the tradition of the great historian-artists—Gibbon, Prescott, Napier, Freeman—it stands alongside the work of the best of them.” —The New Republic “The most written-about war in history has, with this completion of Shelby Foote’s trilogy, been given the epic treatment it deserves.” —Providence Journal
