Planting the Union Flag in Texas: The Campaigns of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks in the West

Ch4 Irish Bend, Alexandria,and Port Hudson

4In early April 1863 Banks traveled to Brashear City with the intent of opening his water route to the upper Mississippi. By that time some 15,000 Union soldiers were stationed at or near the town. Taylor, observing this activity, had positioned his small army, approximately 3,000 in number, at a place called Fort Bisland, about ten miles up Bayou Teche from Berwick City. Although the position could scarcely be called a “fort,” the site was well chosen. In addition to a line of barricades prepared under the direction of Col. Valery Sulakowski, who was formerly with the Austrian army, the Confederate defense included a captured Union gunboat, Diana. By moving his boat around the bends of the bayou above the earthworks, the captain of Irish Bend,Alexandria, and Port Hudson The Lower Mississippi River and Bayou Teche  chapter 4 the Diana, Oliver J. Semmes, son of Raphael Semmes, could bring her guns into play as needed to support the troops along the barricade. The Union boats, on the other hand, were unable to maneuver in the straight, narrow channel of the bayou below the Confederate position and thus could offer but little assistance in an attack against that position. In February General Weitzel had suggested sending a portion of the Union army across Grand Lake to Indian Bend, above Fort Bisland, to cut off Taylor’s retreat. This was part of a plan to invade the Teche country and capture the small Confederate fort located at Butte-à-la-Rose, at the upper end of Grand Lake, known as Fort Burton. After this flanking force was in position, the main army would launch an attack up the Teche. This would catch Taylor in a trap from which escape would be difficult. After some consideration Banks accepted Weitzel’s plan and, in late March, began to implement it. He ordered Grover, with about 8,000 men, to cross Grand Lake and take a position at Irish Bend, near the town of Franklin. Then, near noon on April 11, Banks began his ground advance on Fort Bisland. The Union infantry reached Fort Bisland April 12. Instead of waiting to hear from Grover, Banks attacked the next morning. The evening of April 12, the Diana had been moved down the bayou in advance of the Confederate line. As a result the gunboat became a target for much of the Union artillery, and soon a fortunate shot penetrated the superstructure and exploded in the engine room. The boat was disabled and, to the cheers of the Union troops, withdrew up the Teche. The boat was subsequently sunk by the Confederates. One member of the 38th Massachusetts, apparently familiar with Banks’s political past, described the army commander during this attack as “sitting on his horse, amid the flying missiles in the air, as cool and as calm as if he was presiding over the Legislature.” Meanwhile, Grover had shown little initiative in executing Banks’s orders. First, he spent a day and a half packing men and equipment onto his army transports until, as one participant noted, “The men appear to lie two or three deep on deck; while some hang up in the ‘shrouds.’ . . . We are literally ‘as thick’ on board ‘as three in a bed.’” After finally getting under way, with a four-gunboat escort under Lt. Cdr. Augustus P. Cooke, Grover lost more time trying, but failing, to free the navy escort vessel Estrella, which ran aground in Grand Lake. He then used another full day finding a location for his landing. After deciding on a spot, he sent the gunboat Clifton to inform Banks. However , because of the low water level he was unable to reach the shore and lost more time as, in the late afternoon of April 13, his men jumped overboard and irish bend,alexandria,and port hudson  scrambled through the water and mud to dry land. The artillery was transported to shore in flatboats. Having gotten his men ashore, Grover, with no maps and no wagons, was uncertain what to do. Finally, after driving away some Confederate cavalry, he was able to reach Oaklawn Manor, where he bivouacked for the night. Meanwhile, shortly after four o’clock in the afternoon of April 13, the Clifton had arrived in front of Fort Bisland. Banks was told that Grover was ashore and was marching toward Taylor’s rear. Expecting Grover to be in...