A second fight ends in a tie

The Battle of Mansfield ended in a decisive Confederate victory with the outnumbered forces of Gen.

Richard Taylor overcoming the heavier and better provisioned forces of Union Gen. Nathaniel Banks. The Mansfield battle occurred at day’s end, and troops were not as prepared for the ensuing battle on the second day.

There is little doubt the April 8 battle had exacted a particularly heavy toll on the far-outnumbered Confederates.

The losses on both sides had been high, but the effect was far less for the larger Union forces. The total Union losses were 113 killed, 581 wounded, and 1,541 missing or 2,235 official casualties of a force of 12,000 participating in all three phases. Taylor reported taking 2,500 prisoners. On the other hand, Confederate losses were listed as approximately 1,000 killed and wounded of 8,800 combat soldiers, but the effect on a much smaller force was significant.

While victorious, the Confederate forces were still facing the loss of key players, among them Col. James Beard of the Consolidated Crescent Regiment and Gen. Jean Jacques Alfred Alexandre Mouton, U.S Military Academy graduate and son of Louisiana Gov. Alexander Mouton.

Despite the loss of many of his favorite commanders and the fact that the Union advance on Shreveport had been thwarted, Taylor never considered simply holding the ground he had won on the 8th of April. He felt he could crush Banks’ XIX Corps and was determined to sweep over the ride south of Mansfield.

Taylor wanted vengeance against the Union army that had besieged his state and held it in obedience. He felt he could either capture or destroy the XIX Corps and perhaps even capture the Union fleet on the Red River that was supporting Banks’ army.

Banks had withdrawn from Mansfield and encamped at the village of Pleasant Hill. It was there that Taylor’s