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Three Days in April: Tom Green’s Contributions at Carroll’s Mill, Mansfield, and Pleasant Hill during the Red River Campaign Curtis W. Milbourn the red river CampaigN was arguably the ClimaCtiC CoNfroNtatioN betweeN Confederate and Union forces west of the Mississippi River during the Civil War. And three crucial days in April 1864, for all intents and purposes, determined the outcome of the campaign. Thomas Green of Texas was a brilliant cavalry commander and a reliable and aggressive combat officer. From the commencement of the Red River Campaign through the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Green—recently promoted to major general—was a central figure for the Confederates. His ability to march his cavalry division from Texas to Louisiana in a timely manner, organize all cavalry into a corps, coordinate forward operations, and substantially delay the Union advance demonstrated both his administrative ability and his exceptional skills as a cavalry commander. At both Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Green commanded not only cavalry but also large bodies of infantry in set-piece battles. Though his performance at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill was satisfactory, the restrictions necessitated by commanding infantry as a major part of a concentrated army curtailed Green’s ability to operate with the independence and mobility he utilized so effectively to bring about the overwhelming successes he had previously demonstrated. Tom Green was born June 8, 1814, in Virginia and raised in Tennessee. He had a fine academic education, attending Cumberland College in Princeton , Kentucky, a manual labor academy in Jackson, Tennessee, and the University of Nashville in Tennessee, though he never graduated from the latter. By the time he was twenty-one years old, a revolution had broken out in the Curtis W. Milbourn 198 Mexican province of Texas, and the adventurous, headstrong youth made his way to the “new American El Dorado,” where he fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, a victory that nominally secured Texas independence.1 Tom Green remained in Texas and over the next decade fought in campaigns against hostile Indians and the Mexican army. Outnumbered in nearly every campaign, the Texians, as they referred to themselves before joining the United States, used fearless aggression and a merciless fighting style as an equalizer. Green developed a capacity to lead men by serving with such Texas legends as Mark B. Lewis, John C. Hayes, Ben McCulloch, Robert Gillespie, and Samuel Walker. During the Mexican War, Green raised a company for the First Texas Mounted Rifles, which was mustered into the U.S. Army. The regiment saw continuous fighting in Major General Zachary Taylor’s campaign to capture the Mexican city of Monterrey. Ten years of fighting for Texas and the United States had allowed Green to acquire invaluable combat experience ; and that, coupled with his personal attributes and leadership abilities, marked him as one of the most capable soldiers from Texas. In August 1861, as a result of the secession crisis, Green accepted a commission as a colonel in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States and promptly raised a regiment of mounted volunteers that became the 5th Texas Cavalry. As part of Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley’s Brigade, Green and his regiment participated in the unsuccessful 1861–62 invasion of New Mexico Territory, where he led the Confederates to their only significant victory of the campaign at Valverde. In 1863 Tom Green’s military fortunes began to rise. On January 1, he participated in the recapture of Galveston Island and earned the thanks of the Confederate Congress as a result. When Sibley’s Brigade was sent to Louisiana in April, Green’s capable handling of Major General Richard Taylor’s rear guard during the retreat along the Bayou Teche earned the commanding general’s notice and praise. Taylor referred to Green as “the Ney of our retreat, and the shield and buckler of our little force.” The following month, Green ascended to brigade command and was promoted to brigadier general.2 In June, Green helped plan the attack that captured Brashier City—a major Union supply depot—a victory that launched the Lafourche Offensive . Operating independently and in command of two cavalry brigades, but believing himself to be under positive orders from his immediate superior, Brigadier General Alfred Mouton, the Texan assaulted Fort Butler against his better judgment and was repulsed. Days later, with Taylor present, Green attacked and routed three Union infantry brigades at Kock’s Plantation. Of the fight, Taylor wrote, “I joined Green but did not interfere with his...

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