Battle of Yellow Bayou
Part of theAmerican Civil War
Date May 18, 1864 (1864-05-18) Location Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana 30°59′55″N91°52′00″W / 30.9985°N 91.8668°W /30.9985; -91.8668 Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Nathaniel P. Banks Joseph A. Mower	Richard Taylor John A. Wharton
Units involved
XVI Corps	District of Western Louisiana
Strength
4,500 plus cavalry	5,000
Casualties and losses
267–360	452–608
Yellow Bayou class=notpageimage| Location in Louisiana

TheBattle of Yellow Bayou, also known as theBattle of Norwood's Plantation,^[1][2] (May 18, 1864) sawUnion Army forces led byBrigadier GeneralJoseph A. Mower clash withConfederate States Army troops commanded by Brigadier GeneralJohn A. Wharton inAvoyelles Parish, Louisiana during theAmerican Civil War. This was the final action of theRed River campaign in which a Union army underMajor GeneralNathaniel P. Banks was repulsed by Confederate forces led by Major GeneralRichard Taylor. The failed Union campaign almost ended in disaster when an accompanying Union fleet led byRear AdmiralDavid Dixon Porter was trapped atAlexandria, Louisiana, by low water in theRed River. An engineering feat saved the fleet, allowing Banks' army to complete its withdrawal.

While Banks' army waited for a bridge to be built across theAtchafalaya River, Wharton's forces began pressing the Union troops from the rear. Mower was ordered to halt their advance. Mower's forces subsequently drove the Confederates back to their main line. The Confederates then counter-attacked and a back-and-forth battle erupted, with the Confederates finally repulsed. A thicket between the contending sides caught fire, ending the fighting after a few hours. Mower's holding action allowed the Union army to safely cross the Atchafalaya on May 19–20.

PresidentAbraham Lincoln and Major GeneralHenry Halleck wanted a military campaign to plant the United States flag in Texas to counter the threat of the French-installedMaximilian regime in Mexico. Over the objections of Major Generals Banks,Ulysses S. Grant, andWilliam T. Sherman, the venture up the Red River was ordered and assigned to Banks. In mid-March, one 17,000-man column under Banks moved north onBayou Teche to meet a 10,000-strong column under Major GeneralAndrew Jackson Smith at Alexandria. A. J. Smith's troops were accompanied by Porter's gunboats and river transports in the Red River. Slowed by low water in the Red River, the Banks-Porter expedition finally reachedNatchitoches on April 2–3.^[3]

On April 8, Banks' troops were routed by Taylor at theBattle of Mansfield (Sabine Cross Roads) and compelled to retreat. Both armies were reinforced and on April 9, Taylor's attacks were repelled by Banks' army at theBattle of Pleasant Hill. Taylor's superior, GeneralEdmund Kirby Smith reached the scene and decided to take Major GeneralJohn George Walker's and Brigadier GeneralThomas James Churchill's divisions north to oppose a 15,000-man Union column coming fromLittle Rock, Arkansas, under Major GeneralFrederick Steele. Kirby Smith left Taylor with only 5,200 troops to harass Banks' much larger army. Realizing that he could expect no help from Steele and required to return A. J. Smith's troops to Sherman, Banks decided to end the campaign and retreat.^[4]

On April 23, the Union army overcame a Confederate attempt to block its retreat at theBattle of Monett's Ferry and reached Alexandria safely. Porter's fleet suffered some losses to Confederate artillery in theaction of 26–27 April 1864 and reached Alexandria, but his vessels proved unable to pass its rapids because of low water in the Red River. From May 4 to 13, Taylor's inferior force completely isolated the Banks-Porter expedition inactions near Alexandria. Finally, a Union army engineer, ColonelJoseph Bailey designedBailey's Dam which raised the water level enough to allow Porter's fleet to pass the rapids on May 13. On that day, Banks' army evacuated Alexandria and continued its retreat. On May 14–15, there were skirmishes at Wilson's Landing andMarksville. Taylor tried unsuccessfully to block the Federal retreat at theBattle of Mansura on May 16.^[5]

On May 17, Banks' army crossed Bayou De Glaise and broke down the bridge spanning that stream.^[6] AtMoreauville, Wharton pressed back the Union cavalryrearguard. When A. J. Smith's troops advanced to meet this threat, two cavalry regiments and an artillery battery led by ColonelXavier Debray ambushed the Federals. Opening enfilading fire from a concealed position in the woods, the Confederates killed some of Smith's men and took others prisoner. Simultaneously, ColonelWilliam O. Yager,^[7] leading his own regiment, the1st Texas Cavalry,^[8] and the2nd Louisiana Cavalry attacked the Union wagon train near Yellow Bayou.^[7] The wagon guard, Company E of the92nd U.S. Colored Infantry, put up a spirited fight and the Confederates eventually fell back to Norwood's Plantation.^[9] Yager's men destroyed some wagons but were unable to remove any captured wagons because A. J. Smith's troops blocked the only road.^[7]

On May 18, Taylor tried one final attack on Banks' army before it could escape over the Atchafalaya River. He arranged all his troops in position at Norwood's Plantation. Confederate skirmishers pushed back the Union cavalry pickets toward theXVI Corps andXVII Corps infantry.^[10] In response, A. J. Smith ordered Mower to drive back the Confederates. Mower gathered about 4,500 soldiers, including the infantry brigades of ColonelsSylvester G. Hill, William T. Shaw, andWilliam F. Lynch, and the3rd Indiana and9th Indiana Batteries,^[9] plus one cavalry brigade. Banks asked Mower to hold off the Confederates until the soldiers of theXIII Corps andXIX Corps atSimmesport could cross the Atchafalaya.^[7]

Mower's force advanced west across Yellow Bayou and drove back the Confederate skirmishers for about 2 mi (3.2 km). After struggling through a tangled thicket of woods, the Federals found themselves confronted by 5,000 Confederates in line of battle. According to William Riley Brooksher, the Confederate right wing was made up of ColonelsArthur P. Bagby Jr.'s and Debray's brigades, both from Brigadier GeneralHamilton P. Bee's cavalry division, and on the extreme right, Brigadier GeneralWilliam Steele's cavalry division which had only ColonelWilliam H. Parsons' brigade. The Confederate left wing consisted of the12th Texas Cavalry Regiment (detached from Parsons' brigade) on the extreme left, and ColonelsWilliam Polk Hardeman andGeorge W. Baylor's brigades, both belonging to Brigadier GeneralJames Patrick Major's cavalry division. Wharton was in tactical command.^[9] Brigadier GeneralCamille de Polignac's infantry division was placed on the left in reserve,^[11] from whichLieutenant Colonel Robert D. Stone's brigade was later committed to support the front line.^[9] In John D. Winters' account, Polignac's infantry division was on the left in the front line while Major's dismounted cavalry division was on the right.^[10]

At first, the 12 Confederate artillery pieces dueled with the two Indiana batteries. Though they were positioned in an open field, at least some of the Confederates were protected by taking cover in a drainage ditch. As the cannonade tapered off, Wharton ordered an assault. Parsons warned him that it would result in serious loss of life and questioned the need, since the Union army was in retreat. Wharton ordered the attack to be made at once or Parsons would face acourt-martial. Parsons' men charged on foot, but their attack faltered when threatened by Federal cavalry. Wharton's general attack began to force back the brigades of Hill on the Union right and Lynch on the left, so that Mower had to call on Shaw's brigade for support.^[12] The Union batteries began firing doublecanister shot.^[10] At this time, Hill's and Lynch's troops, flanked by Union cavalry, mounted a counterattack that drove Wharton's men back into the open field.^[13]

When the Confederates threatened the Union left flank, Mower pushed them back by reinforcing it^[10] with regiments from Shaw's brigade.^[11] The Federals did not pursue their adversaries into the open field.^[13] Mower, whose soldiers began to suffer fromheat exhaustion andsunstroke, withdrew his troops from the thicket for a short rest before ordering them forward again.^[10] After re-ordering their lines, the Confederates charged again and the two sides grappled in the thicket. The Union troops ousted their opponents from the thicket, but it caught fire, preventing them from following up their advantage. At sunset, both sides withdrew from the burning thicket which consisted of dead trees and heavy underbrush.^[14]

Mower reported losing 38 killed, 226 wounded, and 3 missing, for a total of 267 casualties. Taylor reported his losses as 30 killed, 350 wounded, and over 100 of Polignac's men captured, for about 500 casualties.^[15] The28th Louisiana Infantry Regiment in ColonelHenry Gray's brigade, Polignac's division, "suffered numerous casualties" at Yellow Bayou.^[16] Brooksher estimated losses at 350 Union and 608 Confederate casualties. Tragically, Union Colonel Hill's young son, who rode into battle in full uniform on a pony beside his father, was among the dead.^[17]Mark M. Boatner III stated total losses as 267 Union and 452 Confederate.^[18] TheNational Park Service listed 360 Union and 500 Confederate casualties.^[2]

The Atchafalaya, filled with backwater from the floodingMississippi River, was a serious obstacle to Banks' army.^[17] Banks asked Bailey to improvise a bridge and his engineer officer succeeded in accomplishing the task. Bailey anchored 22 river transports abreast in the Atchafalaya, lashed them together, and built a roadway across their decks with gangplanks and lumber. The XIII and XIX Corps troops began crossing on May 19 and the XVI and XVII Corps troops crossed on May 20. After the bridge was dismantled, the wounded and sick Union soldiers were loaded aboard the transports while those fit for duty marched toMorganza. On May 21 atRed River Landing, A. J. Smith's troops left the army, bound forVicksburg, Mississippi.^[15]

On May 18, Major GeneralEdward Canby assumed command of the Military Division of West Mississippi, making Banks his subordinate. Banks retained nominal control over theDepartment of the Gulf, but his future responsibilities were purely administrative.^[19] That same day, Taylor wrote, "Nothing but the withdrawal of Walker's division from me has prevented the capture of Banks' army and the destruction of Porter's fleet. I feel bitterly about this, because my army has been robbed of the just measure of its glory and the country of the most brilliant and complete success of the war."^[15] In a series of letters, Taylor lashed out at his superior until Kirby Smith relieved him of command on June 10, 1864. Taylor was reassigned to command the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana on July 18.^[20]

• 1864 in Louisiana
• Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
• Battles of the American Civil War in Louisiana
• Battles of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War
• May 1864
• Red River campaign
• Union victories of the American Civil War

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