Battle of Lake Providence: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

m

Line 23:

| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg}}

}}

The '''Battle of Lake Providence''' was fought on June 9, 1863, during the [[Vicksburg campaign]] of the [[American Civil War]]. [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] troops from the [[Trans-Mississippi Department]] were trying to relieve [[Union Army|Union]] pressure during the [[Siege of Vicksburg]]. [[Major General (CSA)|Major General]] [[Richard Taylor (CSA)|Richard Taylor]], primarily utilizing [[Walker's Greyhounds]], prepared a three-pronged attack against Union positions at [[Milliken's Bend, Louisiana|Milliken's Bend]], Young's Point, and [[Lake Providence, Louisiana|Lake Providence]] which was scheduled to take place on June 7. The strike against Lake Providence was conducted by 900 men led by [[Colonel]] Frank Bartlett.

Bartlett's force crossed [[Bayou Macon]] two days late. The Confederates encountered a Union [[picket (military)|picket]] force {{convert|6|miles|km|spell=in}} from their destination. The Union pickets withdrew, alerted Union commander [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[Hugh T. Reid]], and while withdrawing burned the bridge over [[Tensas River|Bayou Tensas]]. The Confederate halted at Bayou Tensas by the wrecked bridge, and before the structure could be rebuilt, Reid arrived with his main force. A Confederate cannon was driven off by Union fire, and Bartlett withdrew his men at dusk. The attack against Lake Providence accomplished little, the strike against Milliken's Bend was defeated in the [[Battle of Milliken's Bend]], and little came of the movement against Young's Point. [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]] surrendered on July 4.

Line 29:

==Background==

{{main|Vicksburg campaign}}

In early 1863, during the [[American Civil War]], [[Major General (United States)|Major General]] [[Ulysses S. Grant]] of the [[Union Army]] began a [[Vicksburg campaign|campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi]], which was held by [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] troops. In late April, the Union troops crossed the [[Mississippi River]] from [[Louisiana]] to [[Mississippi]], south of [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]].{{sfn|Winschel|1998|pp=157{{endash}}158}} By May 18, Grant's troops had surrounded Vicksburg and [[Siege of Vicksburg|placed the city under siege]].{{sfn|Bearss|1998|p=171}} During the early part of the campaign, Grant had operated a supply depot at [[Milliken's Bend, Louisiana|Milliken's Bend]] in Louisiana,{{sfn|Kennedy|1998|p=173}} but this decreased in importance,{{sfn|Miller|2019|pp=452{{endash}}453}} as by the time of the siege, he had established a different supply line.{{sfn|Miller|2019|p=432}} Grant still kept minor supply points at there, Young's Point, and [[Lake Providence, Louisiana|Lake Providence]] in Louisiana; the sites were also used to train newly-recruited [[United States Colored Troops]] (USCT).{{sfn|Miller|2019|p=453}} The USCT troops were not intended to be used as front-line combat soldiers,{{sfn|Foote|1995|p=259}}{{sfn|Miller|2019|p=337}} so they had only received rudimentary military training.{{sfn|Foote|1995|p=259}} The positions were also garrisoned by white troops.{{sfn|Bearss|1991|p=1175}}

[[Jefferson Davis]], the Confederate president, pressured [[E. Kirby Smith]], the commander of the [[Trans-Mississippi Department]], to undertake an offensive in Louisiana to take some of the pressure off of Vicksburg.{{sfn|Miller|2019|pp=452{{endash}}453}} The Confederates did not know at this time that events had rendered Milliken's Bend of lower importance to Grant.{{sfn|Bearss|1991|pp=1166{{endash}}1168}} The Confederate Trans-Mississippi effort to help Vicksburg would be conducted by [[Major General (CSA)|Major General]] [[Richard Taylor (CSA)|Richard Taylor]], using an infantry [[division (military)|division]] from [[Texas]] known as [[Walker's Greyhounds]]. Taylor preferred a strike against [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], and conducted the campaign with subdued enthusiasm.{{sfn|Bearss|1991|pp=1167{{endash}}1169}} Taylor's men had previously withdrawn up the [[Red River of the South|Red River]],{{sfn|Winters|1991|p=198}} but the Union forces operating on the Red River had transferred to the [[Port Hudson, Louisiana]], area. The withdrawal of these troops allowed the Confederates greater freedom to operate against Grant's posts in Louisiana.{{sfn|Bearss|1991|p=1166}} Taylor's command, after it had been reinforced by Walker, was to advance up [[Tensas River|Bayou Tensas]].{{sfn|Winters|1991|p=198}} Confederate cavalry occupied [[Richmond, Louisiana]], on June 3;{{sfn|Bearss|1991|p=1174}} Major General [[John George Walker]]'s troops reached Richmond on June 6; and Taylor planned a three-pronged strike for the next day: Confederate troops were to attack Milliken's Bend, Young's Point, and Lake Providence.{{sfn|Bearss|1991|p=1177}} The selection of Lake Providence included some political motivations: Confederates viewed the training of USCT to be the fomenting of a [[slave rebellion]], and some of the locals were trading with the Union from the produce of their plantations. Confederate troops had been active in the area since May under the leadership of [[Brigadier General (CSA)|Brigadier General]] [[Paul O. Hébert]]. While Hébert's troops were able to harass the Union forces at Lake Providence, they lacked the strength to make an all-out attack.{{sfn|Reid|2005|pp=93{{endash}}94}}

==Battle==

Line 53:

}}

For the strike at Lake Providence, Hébert's command was strengthened by the detachment of the [[13th Texas Cavalry Regiment]] from Walker's division. The regiment had no prior combat experience{{sfn|Reid|2005|pp=94, 100}} and had been dismounted in early 1863. It fought as infantry for the rest of the war.<ref name="tsha">{{cite web |last1=Derbes |first1=Brett J. |title=Thirteenth Texas Cavalry |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/thirteenth-texas-cavalry |publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] |access-date=1 September 2024 |date=April 27, 2011}}</ref> The operation was commanded by [[Colonel]] Frank Bartlett, who was responsible for Confederate forces operating in the Lake Providence area,{{sfn|Lowe|2004|pp=100{{endash}}101}} and consisted of the [[13th Louisiana Cavalry Battalion]] and the 13th Texas Cavalry,{{sfn|Bearss|1991|p=1186}} a force totaling about 900 men. Bartlett had orders to destroy the Union camp at Lake Providence and then destroy the Union-run plantations between that point and Milliken's Bend.{{sfn|Winters|1991|p=202}} The Confederate forces gathered at [[Floyd, Louisiana]], where a bridge across [[Bayou Macon]] was constructed. However, Bartlett decided to cross the [[bayou]] elsewhere, instead moving his troops to Caledonia.{{sfn|Bearss|1991|p=1186}} The historian Warren Grabau states that Bartlett chose not to cross at the new bridge because the only road between there and Lake Providence was in poor condition and could easily be blocked by a small opposing force.{{sfn|Grabau|2000|p=393}} The terrain traversed between Floyd and Caledonia consisted of thick woods and [[canebrake]]s.{{sfn|Reid|2005|p=97}} Another bridge had to be built at Caledonia.{{sfn|Grabau|2000|p=393}} The Confederates finally crossed Bayou Macon on June 9, two days late.<ref name="nps">{{cite web |title=Battle of Lake Providence, June 9, 1863 |url=https://www.nps.gov/vick/learn/historyculture/battle-of-lake-providence-june-9-1863.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=23 October 2022 |date=April 14, 2015}}</ref>

After crossing the bayou, Bartlett struck a Union outpost at Bunch's Bend on the Mississippi River and then continued along the shore of an [[oxbow lake]] also known as Lake Providence. Only 600 Confederates were present for this stage of the advance.{{sfn|Winters|1991|pp=176, 202}} When the Confederates reached Bayou Baxter, {{convert|6|miles|km|spell=in}} from their objective,<ref name="nps" /> they made contact with a [[picket (military)|picket]] force consisting of two [[company (military unit)|companies]] from the [[1st Kansas Infantry Regiment|1st Kansas Mounted Infantry Regiment]]. Outnumbered, the Kansans withdrew, and a messenger informed [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[Hugh T. Reid]], the Union commander at Lake Providence, of the Confederate advance.{{sfn|Bearss|1991|p=1186}} The Union soldiers' repeated attempts to make a stand during the fighting withdrawal were not successful, and the position at Bayou Baxter fell to the Confederates.{{sfn|Reid|2005|p=98}} The withdrawal crossed Bayou Tensas, where the Union forces destroyed the bridge over the bayou.<ref name="nps" /> Bartlett halted his cavalry at the bridge in order to allow the infantry to catch up. The historian Thomas Reid suggests that if Bartlett's cavalry had pushed ahead while the Union forces were destroying the bridge, they could have made a [[lodgment]] on the east side of the bayou.{{sfn|Reid|2005|p=98}} During this stage of the action between first contact and the Union withdrawal across Bayou Tensas, the Confederates captured 9 supply wagons and 36 mules.{{sfn|Winters|1991|p=202}}