The Red River Campaign

In the Spring of 1864, 7,000 troops marched from Arkansas towards the confederate headquarters in Shreveport Louisiana to meet up with Col. Joseph Bailey’s navel force as part of the Red River Campaign. An additional 30,000 troops led by Bailey were going to attack Shreveport by going up the Red River. The navel force consisted of 90 ships including ironclads and various other support vessels. The much smaller ground forces were constantly attacked by confederate guerrilla forces and had to retreat back to Baileys force. Ironically Bailey’s naval ships were stuck in the mud near Alexandra Louisiana due  to shallow water. Bailey came up with a brilliant solution to get the naval ships out of the mud. He had a dam built so the water level would rise and release the ships saving the Union 2 million dollars in war materials. This was considered a Confederate victory because the Union soldiers never completed their goal of seizing Shreveport.

    ""mule" (Civil War)." "mule" (Civil War). Wisconsin Historical Society, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view>.