Edward Alfred Pollard, The lost cause; a new Southern history of the War of the Confederates ... Drawn from official sources and approved by the most distinguished Confederate leaders.

Gen. Smith had determined to make a stand at a point between Mansfield and Shreveport, where he calculated on having his army concentrated, expecting by the superiour valour of his men to defeat the enemy's large force, but if not, to fall back on Shreveport, and fight from fortifications. On the morning of April 8th, Gen. Taylor, with his command now augmented to fifteen thousand, had reached within two miles of Mansfield, and had halted, determined to have an affair with the enemy. The Arkansas and Missouri infantry organized into two divisions, the Missourians under Gen. Parsons and the Arkansians under Gen. Tappan, and both under Gen. Churchill, were at Keachi, a village twenty miles from Mansfield. Churchill was under orders to march his command until he formed a junction with Taylor. Accordingly, his command, on the 8th of April, marched from Keachi to Mansfield, a distance of twenty miles, and reached their camp after dark.

Gen. Banks was marching his army by brigades, with intervals of from one to three miles, each brigade with its train — a favourite plan of marching with the Federal troops. The place selected by Gen. Taylor for engagement was calculated to give great advantage to the party attacked. He expected that as soon as Banks' forces came up they would attack him, as they had been doing for the past twenty days.

The ground selected was a large plantation three-quarters of a mile in width, and three or four miles in length. The Mansfield and Alexandria road ran across it. The ground traversed by the road was higher than on either side, forming a ridge. Gen. Taylor, in falling back, crossed the clearing, and halted his command on the west side, in the timber. The advance-guard of Gen. Banks discovering that the Confederates had halted, also halted. It appeared as if each party desired the other to attack, and several hours were passed in inactivity. About four o'clock in the afternoon, Gen. Taylor, becoming impatient, and desiring to camp, determined to drive back the advance-guard of the enemy. For this purpose he sent forward a battalion of skirmishers, which the enemy perceiving when about half way across the field, sent a regiment of cavalry to cut it off. Gen. Taylor, to save his skirmishers, sent a regiment to their relief; the enemy immediately developed an entire brigade; the Louisiana Brigade was ordered to charge, and thus in a few moments a general action was provoked.

The Louisiana troops moved gallantly forward, at a rapid run, making across the clearing half-a-mile, under a terrible fire of the enemy's artillery and small arms. There was no pause until they struck the enemy, broke the line of his first brigade, and captured nearly the whole of it. A second