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251]
Chapter 9: the Red River expedition.
- Object of the Red River expedition, 251.
-- plan of the expedition, 252.
-- land and naval forces for the expedition, at Simms's Port, 253.
-- the expedition to Alexandria
-- Franklin's overland March
-- the rapids at Alexandria, 254.
-- advance from Alexandria
-- threatening dangers, 255.
-- advance upon Shreveport, 256.
-- the Trans-Mississippi Confederate Army
-- approach to Sabine cross
-- Roads, 257.
-- battle at Sabine cross-roads, 258.
-- battle of Pleasant Grove, 259.
-- battle of Pleasant Hill, 261.
-- retreat of the Nationals to Grand Ecore ordered, 262.
-- retreat of the War vessels impeded, 263.
-- the Army and Navy at Grand Ecore, 264.
-- battle at Cane River, 265.
-- a fight on the Red River, 266.
-- the Red River Dam, 267.
-- passage of the Red River rapids, 268.
-- end of the Shreveport or Red River expedition, 269.
-- General Steele's Army in Arkanass
-- battle at Jenkinson's Ferry, 272.
-- Steele's Army at little Rock, 273.
Let us now look across the
Mississippi River and see what was occurring there in 1864.
We left
General Banks at New Orleans, after his failure to “repossess”
Texas in the autumn and early winter of 1863, engaged in planning another expedition to that State, the first important work to be the capture of
Galveston.
While so engaged he received
a dispatch from
General Halleck, dated the 4th of January, informing him that it was proposed to operate against
Texas by the line of the
Red River, that route having “the favor of the best military opinions of the generals of the
West.”
Halleck proposed to have the expedition to consist of the forces of
Banks and
Steele, and such troops as
Grant might spare for the winter, to act in combination or in co-operation, together with gun-boats.
He informed
Banks that both
Grant and
Steele had been written to, and instructed him to communicate with them upon the subject.
The grand object was the capture of
Shreveport, on the
Red River, near the boundary between
Louisiana and
Texas; the capture or dispersion of the
Confederates in that region, then under
General E. Kirby Smith,
1 as commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, and then the recovery of
Texas and the opening of the way for trade in the immense supplies of cotton in the latter State.
The objections to this route, which
Banks had hitherto urged, still existed, and he had apprehensions of disastrous results in a campaign without a unity of command and purpose.
But so often had this inland route been urged upon him by
Halleck, as the most feasible way for winning a conquest of
Texas, that he did not feel at liberty to offer serious opposition again; so he promptly replied, on the day when he received
Halleck's dispatch, that with the forces proposed the expedition might be successful and important, and that he should cordially co-operate in the movement.
He thought it proper, however, to send to the
General-in-Chief a memorial prepared by his chief engineer (
Major D. C. Houston), on the proposed expedition, in which was explicitly stated the obstructions to be encountered and the measures necessary to accomplish the objects in view.
It recommended as indispensable to success: (1.) Such complete preliminary organization as would avoid the least delay in movements after the campaign had opened; (2.) That a line of supply be established from the
Mississippi, independent of water-courses, because these would become unmanageable at certain seasons of the year;
