Mansfield State Historic Site Mansfield State Historic Site is a Louisiana state historic site which preserves the site of the 1864 Battle of Mansfield in the American Civil War . It is located four miles south of Mansfield , the seat of DeSoto Parish in northwestern Louisiana . The battle is considered significant because Confederate troops succeeded in the overall Red River Campaign in turning back large Union forces , preventing the progression of the war into Texas , and perhaps delaying the final southern surrender on April 9 , 1865 . The Union expected the Red River Campaign to lead to the seizure of cotton for New England mills , to prevent a French - Mexican force from joining the Confederates , and provide protection for Union loyalists in Texas and bring the state back into the Union . The capture of Shreveport , then the Louisiana capital as well as headquarters of Trans - Mississippi Confederate operations , was another Union goal . The Union army and navy progressed through Alexandria and reached Natchitoches by early April 1864 . The army separated from the navy at Natchitoches and veered toward Mansfield , a situation which left ground troops without naval backup . Confederate General Richard Taylor , son of U . S . President and General Zachary Taylor , decided to challenge the Union at Mansfield , rather than waiting until Union commander Nathaniel P . Banks reached Shreveport . This tactic allowed Taylor to face the enemy on more equal terms because the Confederate troops were heavily outnumbered . At noon on April 8 , 1864 , some 6 , 400 Union troops faced 10 , 500 Confederates . The Union formed a line of battle along a rail fence and ridge called " Honeycutt Hill " . On orders from Taylor , General Alfred Mouton and his division charged the rail fence . Mouton was killed in the attack , but General Camille Armand de Polignac , a native of France , continued the advance and overwhelmed Union troops . In a plaque in the museum Taylor is quoted as having said : " The death of the gallant Mouton affected me . He joined me soon after I reached Western Louisiana and had ever proven faithful to duty . Modest , unselfish , and patriotic , he showed best in action , always leading his men . " In addition to the monument in his honor , Mouton is honored with an interpretative nature trail in the park . An infusion of two thousand Union troops failed to change the outcome , as Taylor and his men took many prisoners and seized the weaponry and wagons abandoned by the enemy . Fighting continued the next day at the Battle of Pleasant Hill in Sabine Parish south of Mansfield . A military draw at Pleasant Hill caused the Union to retreat south toward Alexandria . The battle site encourages visitor to " step back in time " through its living history events , military exhibits , a film , battle reenactments , musket demonstrations , and interpretative programs . There are also interpretative trails and a picnic area . Candlelight tours of the battlefields are occasionally offered . Among the exhibits is a picture of Civil War Governor Thomas Overton Moore and the sculpture " Spirit of the Confederacy " , based on St . Barbara , patron saint of artillery men . There is a model of the ship , " USS Carondelet " . The museum also contains a replica of a field campsite and a collection of medical instruments required to treat the wounded from battle . A large celebration was held for the centennial of the battle in 1964 . Lieutenant Governor of Texas Preston Smith and F . Jay Taylor , an historian of the Civil War who was then president of Louisiana Tech University at Ruston , led the processions . Smith , who later served as governor from 1969 - 1973 , headed an eight - mile caravan of vehicles from Texas , which supplied Confederate troops at Mansfield . The Texas Tech University historian Alwyn Barr in 1998 released the second edition of his " Polignac ' s Texas Brigade " , a study of Polignac and the Texan who fought in Mansfield and then Sabine Crossroads .