The Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9, 1864, in Louisiana formed part of the Red River Campaign during the American Civil War, when Union forces were attempting to occupy the Louisiana state capital, Shreveport.
The battle was essentially a continuation of the Battle of Mansfield, a Confederate victory, which had caused the Union commander, Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, to send his wagons, with most of his artillery, downriver in retreat. However, both sides had been reinforced through the night, and when the Confederate commander, Major General Richard Taylor launched an assault against the Union line, it was repulsed though at a high cost in casualties; the Union army retreated the next day. The majority of historians consider the battle to be a Union tactical victory, although some consider it to be a draw.
Prelude
After the success of the Confederates at the Battle of Mansfield, April 8, 1864, Union forces retreated during the nightThe War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, p. 603. Report of Brigadier-General Mosby M. Parsons, C.S. Army, dated April 13, 1864, at his Camp near Mansfield, La. and next morning took up a position on Pleasant Hill. The road from Mansfield to Pleasant Hill was "littered by burning wagons, abandoned knapsacks, arms, and cooking utensils. Federal stragglers and wounded were met by the hundreds and were quickly rounded up and sent to the rear," explains the historian John D. Winters of Louisiana Tech University in his The Civil War in Louisiana.Winters, p. 348
The Battle of Mansfield took place about southeast of the town of Mansfield at Sabine Cross Roads. Pleasant Hill was located about southeast of Sabine Cross Roads. Confederate reinforcements had arrived late on April 8 — Churchill's Arkansas Division arrived at Mansfield at 3.30 p.m.The War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, p. 604. Report of Brig. Gen. James C. Tappan, C.S. Army, commanding Churchill's division, of engagement at Pleasant Hill — dated April 12, 1864. and Parson's Missouri Division (numbering 2,200 men) arrived at Mansfield at 6 p.m.The War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, p. 602. Report of Brig. Gen. Mosby M. Parsons, C.S. Army — dated April 13, 1864, at Camp near Mansfield, La. Neither of these Divisions participated in the Battle of Mansfield — however, both would play a major role during the Battle of Pleasant Hill.The War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, p. 596. General Orders of Maj. Gen. R. Taylor – dated April 11, 1864, at Mansfield, La.
On the Union side reinforcements also arrived, when Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith, commanding detachments of 16th and 17th Corps, arrived from Grand Ecore late on the April 8, around nightfall, and encamped about from Pleasant Hill.The War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, p. 307. Report of Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith, U. S. Army, commanding detachments of Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps [regarding Red River Campaign] — dated September 26, 1865, at Saint Louis, Mo.
On the morning of April 9, Franklin ordered the baggage train to proceed to Grand Ecore. It left Pleasant Hill at 11 a.m., and included many pieces of artillery. Most of Franklin's Cavalry (commanded by Brig. Gen. Albert Lindley Lee) and the 13th Corps left with it.The War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, pp 304–312. Report of Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith, dated September 26, 1865, at Saint Louis, Mo. This included the Corps D'Afrique commanded by Colonel William H. Dickey (wounded on April 8) and Brig. Gen. Thomas E. G. Ransom's detachment of the 13th Corps, now under the command of Brig. Gen. Robert A. Cameron—Ransom was also wounded on the April 8.The War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, pp 267–268. Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas E.G. Ranson, U.S. Army, commanding detachment of the Thirteenth Army Corps, of operations April 6–8, dated June 11, 1864, at New York City.The War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, p. 268. Report of Brig. Gen. Robert A. Cameron, U.S. Army, April 11, 1864. The baggage train made slow progress and was still only a few miles from Pleasant Hill when the major fighting began later that day. Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone, Chief of Staff, and others, attempted to get Cameron to return to Pleasant Hill throughout the day, but he failed to do so—he stated that he never received any written orders to return. Banks doesn't appear to have been fully aware of the exact orders Cameron had received from Franklin.
The Union side lost 18 pieces of artillery at the Battle of Mansfield.Pollard, p. 495. These were turned on the Union forces the next day at Pleasant Hill. Confederate Brig. Gen. Jean Jacques Alexandre Alfred Mouton was killed during the Battle of Mansfield, April 8, 1864; Brig. Gen. Camille J. de Polignac commanded Mouton's forces at Pleasant Hill. Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department commander Lt. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, who was at Shreveport, received a dispatch from Taylor that reached him at 4 a.m., April 9. It informed him of the Battle of Mansfield. Smith then rode to Pleasant Hill, but did not reach there in time for the battle—arriving around nightfall.Brooksher, pp. 97, 108.
Among the Union regiments fighting at Pleasant Hill on April 9 was the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. Part of the Second Brigade in Emory's 14th Corps, the 47th Pennsylvania was the only regiment from the Keystone State to fight in the Union's 1864 Red River Campaign.Snyder, Laurie. Red River Campaign (Louisiana, March to May 1864) , in 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment's Story, retrieved online November 1, 2016. Led by Col. Tilghman H. Good, the 47th Pennsylvania sustained a significant number of casualties, including several men who were captured by Confederate troops. Held initially at Pleasant Hill, POWs from the 47th Pennsylvania and other Union regiments were marched and moved by rail to the largest Confederate prison west of the Mississippi, Camp Ford, which was situated near Tyler, Texas. Other members of the 47th ended up at Camp Groce near Hempstead, Texas, and/or at the Confederate hospital in Shreveport.
Opposing forces Commanders
Other main leaders Union Confederate Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Churchill Brig. Gen. William H. Emory Brig. Gen. James C. Tappan Brig. Gen. James W. McMillan Brig. Gen. Mosby M. Parsons Brig. Gen. William Dwight Maj. Gen. John G. Walker Colonel William T. Shaw Brig. Gen. Camille J. de Polignac Colonel Lewis Benedict Brig. Gen. William Read Scurry Brig. Gen. Andrew J. Smith Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Green Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Mower Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee Colonel William F. LynchAfter the War he was a prominent Fenian. Brig. Gen. Xavier Debray Colonel Risdon M. Moore Brig. Gen. Augustus C. BuchelThe War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, p. 608. Report of Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee, C.S. Army, commanding Cavalry Division — dated April 10, 1864, at Pleasant Hill, La. According to Bee, Brig. Gen. Augustus C. Buchel was "mortally wounded" in the initial attack at Pleasant Hill at 5 p.m. (or shortly before) and died two days after the battle at Bee's Camp. † Brig. Gen. Richard Arnold Brig. Gen. James P. Major Colonel Thomas J. Lucas Brig. Gen. Thomas Neville Waul Colonel Sylvester G. Hill Brig. Gen. Arthur P. Bagby, Jr. Colonel Lucius F. Hubbard Colonel Robert Dillard Stone Captain George T. Hebard Colonel Horace Randal Colonel Francis Fessenden Colonel Henry Gray Colonel S. P. Burns Colonel H. L. Grinstead Colonel Lucien C. Gause Brig. Gen. John Bullock Clark, Jr.
Battlefield
In 1864, Pleasant Hill was a small village, situated about north the current village of Pleasant Hill—a new village that later grew up nearby (in order to be closer to the railroad) and that took the same name, after the old village was abandoned. The site of the old village is today referred to as the "Old town" or "Old Pleasant Hill". Dr. Harris H. Beecher, Assistant-Surgeon, 114th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, present at the battle, described the village of Pleasant Hill as
In 1864, the countryside in this part of Louisiana mostly consisted of pine forests and scrub oaks. According to Banks,
A newspaper described Pleasant Hill as "a little village situated on a low ridge, containing in peace-times probably 300 inhabitants." It further stated that,
Historian John Winters describes Pleasant Hill as a "piney-woods summer resort consisting of a dozen or more houses clustered along a cleared knoll, offered Banks many advantages as a battlefield, but because of the great distance from the main supply base at Alexandria and the serious lack of sufficient drinking water for an entire army, Banks could not hold this position for any length of time. During the one day, April 9, most of the rain water stored in the cisterns was depleted. Without making a final decision concerning the future of his campaign, Banks sent his wagon trains ... on the way toward Grand Ecore."
Battle
According to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks' Report of the Battle,
At 5 p.m., the Confederate forces launched their attack, charging the entire Union line.The War of the Rebellion, Vol. XXXIV, p. 331. Itinerary of the Third Brigade, First Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, March 4 – May 24 (from returns for March, April, and May), 1864. Walker's and Major's attack on the Union right had little success — the Union right, for the most part, held its ground. However, overall, this initial charge by the Confederates was highly successful and many of the positions down the Union left and center were overrun by Churchill's and Parson's forces and the Union positions were forced backwards. However, the Union side succeeded in halting the advance and regained the left and center ground, before driving the Confederates from the field. The fiercely fought battle lasted about two hours. Losses were heavy on both sides. The 32nd Iowa Infantry sustained especially heavy casualties, as it was cut off from the rest of the Union forces during the battle.Brooksher, p. 134.
Confederate Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee, with two regiments in columns of four rode swiftly down the Pleasant Hill road toward the enemy lines. The Confederate forces were suddenly attacked at close range by Federals concealed behind a fence. Winters describes the scene, accordingly: "Men toppled from their saddles, wounded horses screamed in anguish, and for a moment pandemonium reigned. Bee's men took temporary shelter ... in a series of small ravines studded with young pines until they recovered from the shock of the unexpected attack. Bee rallied his men but in the process had two horses shot from under him. Colonel [Xavier B.] Debray was injured when he fell from the saddle of his dead horse. ... Debray was able to withdraw his men safely to the rear leaving, however, about a third of them killed or wounded on the front."Winters, p. 352
Banks and his army began their retreat from Pleasant Hill at 1 a.m. on the morning of the April 10 (just a few hours after the battle had ended).Brooksher, pp. 144–145.
Aftermath According to Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee, writing from his headquarters at Pleasant Hill on April 10, 1864, he was in possession of the battlefield of Pleasant Hill at daylight on the morning of April 10 and he wrote that,
A number of Union soldiers were captured during the battle (and many more at the Battle of Mansfield), and were taken to Camp Ford, a Confederate prisoner-of-war Camp, near Tyler, Texas.Pollard, p. 498. Most were kept prisoner here for the next year or so, and were not released until a general exchange of prisoners occurred near the end of the war—a small number, however, were released at an earlier date.