Date and Location
- March 10–May 22, 1864
- In or near the Red River Valley in northwest Louisiana
Timeline of the Red River Campaign
These are the main battles and events of the Red River Campaign in order.
- March 14, 1864 — Battle of Fort DeRussy
- April 8, 1864 — Battle of Mansfield
- April 9, 1864 — Battle of Pleasant Hill
Principal Union Commanders
- Major General Nathaniel P. Banks
- Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter
Principal Confederate Commanders
- General Kirby Smith (overall)
- Major General Richard Taylor
Union Forces Engaged
- Army of the Gulf (13th and 19th Army Corps), Army of the Tennessee (16th and 17th Army Corps), Department of Arkansas, Mississippi flotilla of the US Navy
Confederate Forces Engaged
- District of West Louisiana, District of Arkansas, District of Indian Territory, District of Texas, Confederate Navy based in Shreveport, Louisiana
Number of Union Soldiers Engaged
- Roughly 30,000
Number of Confederate Soldiers Engaged
- Roughly 6,000 – 15,000
Estimated Union Casualties
- 8,700 (killed, wounded, captured/missing)
Estimated Confederate Casualties
- 6,500 (killed, wounded, captured/missing)
Result
- Confederate victory
Impact of the Red River Campaign
- The Red River Campaign, which included the largest combined army-navy operation of the war, was the last decisive Confederate victory of the war.
- The target of the Red River Campaign was Shreveport, the capital of Confederate Louisiana and the headquarters for the Army of the Trans-Mississippi.
- The Red River Campaign was primarily the plan of Union General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck,
- During the Red River Campaign, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Bailey enabled the Union fleet to escape over the falls at Alexandria, Louisiana by constructing a temporary dam on the Red River.
- The failure of the Red River Campaign ruined Major General Nathaniel Banks’s military career and his presidential aspirations.
- William T. Sherman described the Red River campaign as “one damn blunder from beginning to end.”