page_title: Louisiana Maneuvers
section_title: Exercises
hierarchical_section_title: Louisiana Maneuvers / Exercises
caption_attribution_description: English: Cropped version of File:8e00006v.jpg Louisiana Maneuvers
context_page_description: The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of major U.S. Army exercises held in 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana, an area bounded by the Sabine River to the west, the Calcasieu River to the east, and by the city of Shreveport to the north. The area included Fort Polk, Camp Claiborne and Camp Livingston. The exercises, which involved some 400,000 troops, were designed to evaluate U.S. training, logistics, doctrine, and commanders. Similar U. S. Army field exercises carried out in the fall of 1941 included the Arkansas Maneuvers in August and the Carolina Maneuvers in November.
  Many Army officers present at the maneuvers later rose to very senior roles in World War II, including Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Walter Krueger, Samuel E. Anderson, Lesley J. McNair, Joseph Stilwell, and George Patton.
context_section_description: Around 400,000 troops were divided into equal armies of two fictitious countries: Kotmk (Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Kentucky), also called the Red Army; and Almat (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee), or the Blue Army. The troops were organized into a total of 19 divisions.
  From August to September 1941, the war game was conducted over 3,400 square miles (8,800 km²) of Louisiana. The area was bounded on the west by the Sabine River, on the east by the Calcasieu River, and on the north by the Red River at Shreveport. The two fictitious factions were supposedly at war over Mississippi River rights.  There were two phases to the Louisiana Maneuvers. In Phase 1 of the exercise, both sides were given offensive missions. The Red 2nd Army would cross the Red River on September 15 and invade the Blue homeland. The Blue 3rd Army would move north to intercept the invaders and drive the Red force back across the river. In Phase 2, the Blue Army was both twice as large as the Red and equipped with its own armored division, the 2nd, which had switched sides since Phase 1. Blue's mission was to advance upon and seize Shreveport, Louisiana. The Red force was much smaller and tasked largely with positional defense for a 100-mile zone south of the city. The Blue Army emerged victorious, due chiefly to General George S. Patton, who commanded the Blue 2nd Armored Division.
  Omar Bradley, who participated in the exercises, later said that Louisianans welcomed the soldiers with open arms. Some soldiers even slept in some of the residents' houses. Bradley said it was so crowded in those houses sometimes when the soldiers were sleeping, there would hardly be any walking room. Bradley also said a few of the troops were disrespectful towards the residents' land and crops, and would tear down crops for extra food. However, for the most part, residents and soldiers established good relations.
  During the exercises, 26 men died, most from drowning in the Sabine River or in vehicle accidents. One died when struck by lightning, and one had a heart attack at age 24.
  This exercise also led to the creation of Fort Polk, named for the Confederate General Leonidas Polk.
caption: Quartermaster Supply Unit during Louisiana Maneuvers.
exif: {}