April 6,1864-At New Orleans, the Louisiana legislature adopts a new state constitution abolishing slavery.
April 6,1864-General Nathaniel Banks continues his march with units strung out on a narrow road some distance from the Red River. He is rapidly approaching General Richard Taylor's Confederate forces at Mansfield.
April 7,1864-General Longstreet's Confederate I Corps is ordered to return to the Army of Northern Virginia. They depart Greeneville, Tennessee.
April 8,1864-The 13th Amendment to the Constitution is approved by the U.S. Congress on a 38 to 6 vote. Slavery is abolished in all territories controlled by the United States.
April 8,1864-The 18,000 man Union army under General Banks confronts General Taylor's 8,000 Confederates at Sabine Crossroads near Mansfield, Louisiana. Bank's unit is strung out nearly single file while Taylor's troops are behind field works. Mansfield proves to be the decisive battle of the Red River Campaign and the largest battle waged in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. Taylor's Division Commander General Alfred Moulton is killed along with about 1000 other Confederates. Banks losses are severe with 2,235 killed, missing, or wounded plus 20 cannons, 200 wagons, 1,000 draft animals lost.
April 9,1864-The Union strategy for the final push of the war, with five major components, is announced by General Grant. General Nathaniel Banks will capture Mobile, General William Sherman will seize Atlanta, General Fritz Seigel will advance down the Shenandoah Valley destroying the food source, General Benjamin Butler will descend on Richmond, and General George Meade will follow General Robert E. Lee where ever he goes.
April 9,1864-General Banks consolidates his scattered force and is joined by reinforcement from General Andrew Smith's XVI Corps. Near Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, the Northern forces await General Taylor's appearance. Taylor's troops mount an attack around 4:30 PM but are forced to pull back by nightfall. This tactical victory is the Union's last battle of the Red River Campaign.
April 10,1864-The Red River Campaign grounds are abandoned as General Banks withdraws to Grand Ecore, Louisiana and General Taylor is ordered back to Mansfield by General Edmund Kirby Smith.
April 10,1864-Confederate troops south of the Tennessee-Georgia line capture Mary Edwards Walker, the U.S. Army's only woman surgeon. She is released about four months later.
April 10,1864-Admiral Porter reaches Springfield Landing, Louisiana, 30 miles below Shreveport. The sunken Confederate steamer 'New Falls City' blocks the river. Falling water levels and news of the defeat at Sabine Crossing hinders further progress.
April 11,1864-Admiral Porter works to move his gunships over the Alexandria Rapids and continue upstream. The majority of his Squadron becomes trapped upstream due to the dipping water levels.
April 11,1864-Arkansas inaugurates the pro-Union administration of Dr. Isaac Murphy at Little Rock.
April 12,1864-1,500 Confederate cavalry troops surround Fort Pillow, Tennessee on the Mississippi River. Fort Pillow, an open design earthwork with little protection, is defended by 557 Union soldiers, 262 of them African Americans, all commanded by Major Lionel F. Booth.
General James R. Chambers leads the Confederate cavalry charge and seizes the outer works and cannons. Confederate reinforcements arrive mid morning with General Nathan B. Forrest who concludes the fort cannot be defended. Major Booth is killed and successor Fort Pillow commander Major William F. Bradford refuses Forrest's surrender demand. The earthwork fort soon falls with 231 Union soldiers killed, 100 wounded, and 226 captured. Only 58 African American troops survived and Forrest is accused of a massacre of black soldiers. "Remember Fort Pillow" became a rallying cry for black troops.
April 12,1864-Admiral David Porter moves the Mississippi Squadron and several transport back down the Red River and they engage Southern troops at Blair's Landing, Louisiana. Confederate General Thomas Green, commander of cavalry and artillery units on shore and is one of the first of about 300 Confederates killed. Interesting side note: the USS Osage crew successfully uses a jerry-rigged periscope to direct naval fire.
