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Thank you. be expressed to find out more. Hey, everyone. Thanks for tuning into episode number 473 of our Civil War podcast.

My name is Rich.

And I'm Tracy.

Hello, y'all.

Welcome to the podcast.

As you guys will recall, by the end of the last episode, the Federal's Red River campaign had pretty much completely run off the rails after the Battle of Mansfield on April 8, 1864, and the Battle of Pleasant Hill on the 9th.

Confederate General Richard Taylor's decision to give battle and stop the Yankees before they

reach Shreveport had paid off handsomely as the fighting at Mansfield

had turned into a disaster for the Federals. And then at Pleasant Hill, Taylor seemed on the verge

of finishing the job he'd started the day before. But then a successful federal counterattack

sent the Confederates reeling and turned the tide of the battle.

Nevertheless, when all was said and done, the federal commander, Nathaniel Banks, issued orders for

another retreat. And with that, Banks' march on Shreveport came to an ignominious end.

And so, at both Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Dick Taylor's combativeness paid dividends

for the rebels, while Nathaniel Banks' failings as a general had been on full display.

In the end, Confederate aggression and Banks' incompetence

doomed his effort to reach Shreveport. However, as we reminded you guys at the end of the last

episode, Banks' column was just one arm of the intended Federal's Pinsers movement aimed at Shreveport.

...