USS Laurel Hill, May 26, 1862 (Baldwin Lithograph, Collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, New York, 1936, U.S. Naval Heritage Command, public domain).

Barely out of sight of the city of Alexandria, in Rapides Parish Louisiana, when it ran into the enemy during its retreat south in mid-May 1864, the Union’s Army of the Gulf easily defeated the Confederate States Army troops it encountered and continued its trek toward the village of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish. Members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which was positioned farther back in the Union column, were aware of, but not involved in, that short engagement. According to C Company Musician Henry D. Wharton:

After marching a few miles skirmishing commenced in front between the cavalry and the enemy in riflepits [sic] on the bank of the river, but they were easily driven away. When we came up we discovered their pits and places where there had been batteries planted. At this point the John Warren, an unarmed transport, on which were sick soldiers and women, was fired into and sunk, killing many and those that were not drowned taken prisoners. A tin-clad gunboat was destroyed at the same place, by which we lost a large mail. Many letters and directed envelopes were found on the bank – thrown there after the contents had been read by the unprincipled scoundrels. The inhumanity of Guerrilla bands in this department is beyond belief, and if one did not know the truth of it or saw some of their barbarities, he would write it down as the story of a ‘reliable gentleman’ or as told by an ‘intelligent contraband.’ Not satisfied with his murderous intent on unarmed transports he fires into the Hospital steamer Laurel Hill, with four hundred sick on board. This boat had the usual hospital signal floating fore and aft, yet, notwithstanding all this, and the customs of war, they fired on them, proving by this act that they are more hardened than the Indians on the frontier.

* Note: The USS Laurel Hill survived the attack and, in a few short weeks, became the final home for ailing 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, including Corporal William Schweitzer and Privates Amandus Bellis and Nicholas Hoffman (Company A) and Private John Witz (Company E).

Map of key 1864 Red River Campaign locations, showing the battle sites of Sabine Cross Roads, Pleasant Hill and Mansura in relation to the Union’s occupation sites at Alexandria, Grand Ecore, Morganza, and New Orleans (excerpt from Dickinson College/U.S. Library of Congress map, public domain; click to enlarge).

Resuming their trek south with the retreating Army of the Gulf, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers engaged in yet another long march, trudging more than thirty miles as the month of May 1864 wore on. According to the expedition’s commanding officer, Union Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks:

The fleet passed below Alexandria on the 13th of May. The army on its march from Alexandria did not encounter the enemy in force until near the town of Mansura. He was driven through the town in the evening of the 14th of May, and at daybreak next morning our advance encountered his cavalry on the prairie east of the town.

According to Henry Wharton, “On Sunday, May 15, we left the river road and took a short route through the woods, saving considerable distance.”

The windings of Red river are so numerous that it resembles the tape-worm railroad wherewith the politicians frightened the dear people during the administration of Ritner and Stevens. – We stopped several hours in the woods to leave cavalry pass, when we moved forward and by four o’clock emerged into a large open plain where we formed in line of battle, expecting a regular engagement. The enemy, however, retired and we advanced ‘till dark, when the forces halted for the night, with orders to rest on their arms. – ‘Twas here that Banks rode through our regiment, amidst the cheers of the boys, and gave the pleasant news that Grant had defeated Lee.

“Sleeping on Their Arms” by Winslow Homer (Harper’s Weekly, May 21, 1864).

Positioned just outside of the town of Marksville, under orders to “rest on their arms” for the night, the 47th Pennsylvanians half-dozed with their rifles within a finger’s length—but without the benefit of tents for cover. It was the eve of the Battle of Mansura, which unfolded on May 16, 1864 as follows, according to Wharton:

Early next morning we marched through Marksville into a prairie nine miles long and six wide where every preparation was made for a fight. The whole of our force was formed in line, in support of artillery in front, who commenced operations on the enemy driving him gradually from the prairie into the woods. As the enemy retreated before the heavy fire of our artillery, the infantry advanced in line until they reached Mousoula [sic, Mansura], where they formed in column, taking the whole field in an attempt to flank the enemy, but their running qualities were so good that we were foiled. The maneuvring [sic, maneuvering] of the troops was handsomely done, and the movements was [sic, were] one of the finest things of the war. The fight of artillery was a steady one of five miles. The enemy merely stood that they might cover the retreat of their infantry and train under cover of their artillery.

Per Major-General Banks, the Confederate troops “fell back, with steady and sharp skirmishing across the prairie, to a belt of woods, which he occupied.”

The enemy’s position covered three roads diverging from Mansura to the Atchafalaya. He manifested a determination here to obstinately resist our passage. The engagement, which lasted several hours, was confined chiefly to the artillery until our troops got possession of the edge of the woods – first upon our left by General Emory; subsequently on our right by General Smith, when he was driven from the field, after a sharp and decisive fight, with considerable loss.

According to military historian Steven E. Clay, “As the Army of the Gulf marched from Alexandria to Simmesport, it followed the River Road. As it moved, Taylor’s cavalry harassed the column from all sides.”

Steele’s men resumed the pressure on A. J. Smith’s rearguard. Annoying Emory and the cavalry advanced guard was Major and Bagby’s commands. The troops also attempted to slow the Federal march by cutting trees and placing other obstacles in the way. Parson’s men skirmished with Gooding’s troopers on the right flank. None of the rebel cavalry’s efforts, however, appreciably slowed the Union column.

On 14 May, the army’s van arrived at Bayour Choctaw. Emory called the pontoon train forward, and within a short time, the pontonniers had the stream bridged and the army was crossing…. That evening the troops of the XIX Corps [including the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers] bivouacked beside the wrecks of the John Warner, Signal, and Covington. Strewn upon the ground were the letters many of the men had mailed to their loved ones earlier and had been placed on the Warner bound for New Orleans. The rebel soldiers had opened the letters, read them for entertainment, and simply tossed them aside. The idea did not sit well with the Federals, but neither did the wanton destruction and plunder of civilian homes with the Confederates.

On 15 May the column slowly crossed the Bayou Choctaw Swamp and entered the Avoyelles … Prairie. There, Major’s cavalry, later along with Bagby’s troops, attacked the lead elements several times. The fighting became so hot at moments that Emory deployed his artillery to help drive the bothersome rebel troopers away…. By nightfall … the XIX Corps had reached Marksville with the rest of the army strung out behind.

Late on 15 May, Banks learned that Taylor had massed his forces six miles ahead at the town of Mansura, evidently with the intention of blocking further Federal movement on the road to Simmesport…. On learning of the concentration of rebel forces, Banks sent orders to Emory directing him to move no later than 0300 [3 a.m.] on 16 May and to attack the enemy at daybreak. Further, Smith advanced on Emory’s right to attack into Taylor’s left flank. The XIII Corps [13th Corps], now under Lawler since 9 May … was to remain in front of Marksville as the reserve. The trains [Union wagon trains] were held behind that town….

As ordered, the Army of the Gulf moved south before sunrise. As morning dawned, the Federal army began its deployment on the wide open plain of the Avoyelles Prairie. The US troops advanced with Emory’s XIX [including the 47th Pennsylvania] in the lead with Grover’s 1st Division on the Federal left near the Grand River and McMillan’s 2nd Division [including the 47th Pennsylvania] on the right. The XIX Corps was followed by A. J. Smith’s XVI Corps [16th Corps] in column; Mower’s division was followed by that of Kilby Smith. As the Federal brigades deployed on the field they could see the Confederate battle line in the distance. Virtually in the center of the battlefield was the tiny village of Mansura.

According to Clay, Confederate Major-General Richard Taylor (a plantation owner and son of former U.S. President Zachary Taylor) “had placed eight dismounted cavalry regiments from Major’s and Bagby’s commands to the east of the hamlet” of Mansura. “At least 19 cannon with the batteries interspersed among the brigades supported these troops.” Confederate Brigadier-General Camille Armand Jules Marie, the Prince de Polignac, a prince of France who fought with the Confederate Army during America’s Civil War and whom the 47th Pennsylvanian Volunteers had previously faced in combat during the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads near Mansfield, Louisiana, “posted his two small infantry brigades and two dismounted regiments of cavalry on the left, west of town, and thirteen more guns supported Polignac’s force.”

New York Tribune headline announcing the U.S. Army of the Gulf’s May 1864 victory near Marksville, Louisiana (New York Tribune, June 3, 1864, public domain).

Standing “on a flat, green savanna,” according to Clay, the troops under Brigadier-General Emory’s command, including the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, were the first to march into the battle’s fray, followed by A. J. Smith’s “divisions to the right of the line.” It quickly became obvious to all who were watching the scene unfold that Taylor had woefully misjudged his opponents; his six thousand Confederates were greeted with the spectacle of the eighteen-thousand strong Army of the Gulf arrayed before them.

According to Clay, “The battle began sometime after 0600 [6 a.m.] with a mutual artillery bombardment.”

As the fusillade opened, commanders on both sides ordered their men to lie down in order to reduce casualties during the artillery duel. The tactic was effective. The barrage lasted about four hours, but few men were struck by the many rounds fired. As the Union battle line rose and moved forward on occasion, Taylor’s skirmish line responded by slowly giving ground…. Finally, at about 1000 (1 p.m.), as the XVI Corps pressed forward on the Confederate left to flank Taylor’s position as planned, the rebel line quickly sidestepped the move and fell back toward their trains which were located southwest in the village of Evergreen.

Unlike the sanguinary opening battles of the Red River Campaign, the Battle of Mansura was far less brutal. Per Wharton:

Our loss was slight. Of the rebels we could not ascertain correctly, but learned from citizens who had secreted themselves during the fight, that they had many killed and wounded, who threw them into wagons, promiscuously, and drove them off so that we could not learn their casualties.

Afterward, the victorious Army of the Gulf resumed its march south. According Major-General Banks:

The 16th of May we reached Simmsport [sic, Simmesport], on the Atchafalaya. Being entirely destitute of any ordinary bridge material for the passage of this river – about six hundred yards wide – a bridge was constructed of the steamers, under direction of Lieutenant Colonel Bailey. This work was not of the same magnitude, but was as important to the army as the dam at Alexandria was to the navy. It had the merit of being an entirely novel construction, no bridge of such magnitude having been constructed of similar materials. The bridge was completed at one o’clock on the 19th of May. The wagon train passed in the afternoon, and the troops the next morning, in better spirit and condition, as able and eager to meet the enemy as at any period of the campaign.

Union Major-General Nathaniel Banks subsequently reported that, during the Army of the Gulf’s final engagement with Confederates, the “command of General A. J. Smith, which covered the rear of the army during the construction of the bridge and the passage of the army, had a severe engagement with the enemy, under Polignac, on the afternoon of the 19th, at Yellow Bayou, which lasted several hours.”

Our loss was about one hundred and fifty in killed and wounded; that of the enemy much greater, besides many prisoners who were taken by our troops. Major General E. R. S. Canby arrived at Simmsport [sic, Simmesport] on the 19th of May, and the next day assumed command of the troops as a portion of the forces of the military division of the West Mississippi, to the command of which he had been assigned.

The 47th Pennsylvania, however, was not involved in that battle at Yellow Bayou; according to Wharton:

This fight was the last one of the expedition. The whole of the force is safe on the Mississippi, gunboats, transports and trains. The 16th and 17th have gone to their old commands.

It is amusing to read the statements of correspondents to papers North, concerning our movements and the losses of our army. I have it from the best source that the Federal loss from Franklin to Mansfield, and from their [sic] to this point does not exceed thirty-five hundred in killed, wounded and missing, while that of the rebels is over eight thousand.

Union Army base at Morganza Bend, Louisiana, circa 1863-1865 (U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).

After that final battle, the surviving members of the 47th made their way through Simmesport and into the Atchafalaya Basin, and then moved on to the village of Morganza, where they made camp again. According to Wharton, the members of Company C were sent on a special mission which took them on an intense journey of one hundred and twenty miles:

Company C, on last Saturday was detailed by the General in command of the Division to take one hundred and eighty-seven prisoners (rebs) to New Orleans. This they done [sic] satisfactorily and returned yesterday to their regiment, ready for duty. While in the City some of the boys made Captain Gobin quite a handsome present, to show their appreciation of him as an officer gentleman.

By May 28, 1864, the men from Company C had returned from New Orleans and were once again encamped at Morganza with the full 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, prompting Henry Wharton to write:

The boys are well. James Kennedy who was wounded at Pleasant Hill, died at New Orleans hospital a few days ago. His friends in the company were pleased to learn that Dr. Dodge of Sunbury, now of the U.S. Steamer Octorora, was with him in his last moments, and ministered to his wants. The Doctor was one of the Surgeons from the Navy who volunteered when our wounded was [sic, were] sent to New Orleans.

Their long trek through Louisiana was over, but their fight to preserve America’s Union was not.

Sources:

1. Banks, Nathaniel P. “Report of the Red River Campaign,” in “Annual Report of the Secretary of  War,” in Message of the President of the United States, and Accompanying Documents, to the Two Houses of Congress, at the Commencement of the First Session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1866.
2. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
3. “Battle of Pleasant Hill, April 9, 1864, Walker’s Texas Division Campaign Map, Detail,” in “House Divided.” Carlisle, Pennsylvania: History Department, Dickinson College, November 21, 2009 (cropped from the original public domain map available on the website of the U.S. Library of Congress).
4. Clay, Steven E. The Staff Ride Handbook for the Red River Campaign, 7 March-19 May 1864. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press, U.S. Army Combined Arms Centers, 2023.
5. Prisoner of War Records, Camp Ford and Camp Groce (47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry). Tyler Texas: Smith County Historical Society, 2010.
6. “Report of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, U. S. Army, Commanding Expedition and Department of the Gulf” (to Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War), in Annual Report of the Secretary of War, in Message of the President of the United States, and Accompanying Documents, to the Two Houses of Congress, at the Commencement of the First Session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1866.
7. Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
8. “The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, July 20, 1870.
9. Wharton, Henry D. Letters from the Sunbury Guards, 1861-1868. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury American.