Battle of Mansfield The Battle of Mansfield , also known as the Battle of Sabine Crossroads , occurred on April 8 , 1864 , in De Soto Parish , Louisiana . Confederate forces commanded by Major General Richard Taylor attacked Union forces commanded by Major General Nathaniel P . Banks a few miles outside the town of Mansfield , near Sabine Crossroads . The Union forces held their positions for a short time before being overwhelmed by Confederate attacks and driven from the field . The battle was a decisive Confederate victory which stopped the advance of the Union army ' s Red River Campaign during the American Civil War . Prelude . During the second half of March 1864 , a combined force from the Union Army of the Gulf and navy led by Major General Nathaniel P . Banks ascended the Red River with the goal of defeating the rebel forces in Louisiana and capturing Shreveport . By April 1 Union forces had occupied Grand Ecore and Natchitoches . While the accompanying gunboat fleet with a portion of the infantry continued up the river , the main force followed the road inland toward Mansfield , where Banks knew his opponent was concentrating . Maj . Gen . Richard Taylor , in command of the Confederate forces in Louisiana , had retreated up the Red River in order to connect with reinforcements from Texas and Arkansas . Taylor selected a clearing a few miles south of Mansfield as the spot where he would take a stand against the Union forces . Sending his cavalry to harass the Union vanguard as it approached , Taylor called his infantry divisions forward . The morning of April 8 found Banks ' army stretched out along a single road through the woods between Natchitoches and Mansfield . When the cavalry at the front of the column found the Confederates taking a strong position along the edge of a clearing , it stopped and called for infantry support . Riding to the front , Banks decided that he would fight Taylor at that spot and he ordered all his infantry to hurry up the road . It became a race to see which side could bring its forces to the front first . Forces Involved . Confederate forces . At the start of the battle , Taylor had approximately 9 , 000 troops consisting of Brigadier General Alfred Mouton ' s Louisiana / Texas infantry division , Major General John G . Walker ' s Texas infantry division , Brigadier General Thomas Green ' s Texas Cavalry Division , and Colonel William G . Vincent ' s Louisiana cavalry brigade . He had also called on the 5 , 000 men in the divisions of Brigadier General Thomas J . Churchill and Brigadier General Mosby M . Parsons which had been encamped near Keachie , between Mansfield and Shreveport . These troops arrived late in the afternoon , after the battle had commenced . Anecdotal evidence indicates that there were additional Louisiana men in the ranks . This included paroled soldiers from units that had surrendered at Vicksburg . Historian Gary Joiner claimed that " there may have been from several hundred to several thousand of them . " The Confederate Governor of Louisiana , Henry Watkins Allen , had organized two battalions of the State Guard and brought them to Taylor ' s aid , yet the documentary record is unclear as to what role they played in the battle . Joseph Blessington , a soldier in Walker ' s Division , wrote that " The Louisiana militia , under command of Governor Allen , was held in reserve , in case of an emergency . " In addition , Blessington wrote that , from the surrounding communities , " old men shouldered their muskets and came to our assistance " . Union forces . At the start of the battle , the Union forces consisted of a cavalry division commanded by Brig . Gen . Albert L . Lee , consisting of approximately 3 , 500 men , and the 4th Division of the XIII Corps , commanded by Col . William J . Landram , consisting of approximately 2 , 500 men . During the battle , the 3rd Division of the XIII Corps , commanded by Gen . Robert A . Cameron , arrived with approximately 1 , 500 men . The battle ended when the pursuing Confederates met the 1st Division of the XIX Corps , commanded by Brig . Gen . William H . Emory , with approximately 5 , 000 men . Thomas E . G . Ransom commanded the XIII Corps during the engagement , while the XIX Corps was commanded by William B . Franklin . The battle . During the morning , Taylor positioned Mouton ’ s division on the east side of the clearing . Walker ’ s division arrived in the afternoon and formed on Mouton ' s right . As Green ' s cavalry fell back from the advancing US forces , two brigades moved to Mouton ’ s flank and the third to Walker ’ s flank . The Arkansas division arrived around 3 : 30 but was sent to watch a road to the east . The Missouri division did not arrive until around 6pm , after the battle was fought . About noon , the Union cavalry division supported by one infantry brigade of Landram ' s division was deployed across a small hill at the south end of the clearing . Shortly thereafter the other brigade of Landram ' s division arrived . Cameron ' s division was on its way , but would not get there until the battle had already begun . For about two hours the two side faced each other across the clearing as Banks waited for more of his troops to arrive and Taylor arranged his men . At that point , Taylor enjoyed a numeric advantage over Banks . At about 4 p . m . , the Confederates surged forward . On the east side of the road , Mouton was killed , while several of his regimental commanders were hit as well and the charge of his division was repulsed . However , west of the road Walker ' s Texas division wrapped around the Union position , folding it in on itself . Ransom was wounded trying to rally his men and was carried from the field ; hundreds of Union troops were captured and the rest retreated in a panic . As the first Union line collapsed , Cameron ' s division was arriving to form a second line but it too was pushed back by the charging Confederates , with Franklin wounded as well but remaining on the field in command . For several miles the Confederates and pursued the retreating Union troops until they encountered a third line formed by Emory ' s division . The Confederates launched several charges on the Union line but were repulsed , while nightfall ended the battle . Aftermath . The Union forces had suffered 113 killed , 581 wounded , and 1 , 541 captured as well as the loss of 20 cannon , 156 wagons , and a thousand horses and mules killed or captured . More than half of the Union casualties were from 4 regiments – 77th Illinois , 130th Illinois , 19th Kentucky and 48th Ohio . Most of the Union casualties occurred in the XIII Corps , while the XIX Corps lost few men . Kirby Smith would report that Confederate loss was " about 1 , 000 killed and wounded " at Mansfield , but precise details of Confederate losses were not recorded . Some of the wounded , perhaps thirty , were taken to Minden for treatment . Those who died of wounds there were interred without markers in the historic Minden Cemetery . They were finally recognized with markers erected on March 25 , 2008 . The local town of Keatchi converted its Women ' s College into a hospital and morgue on its second floor . 100 soldiers ' remains are marked nearby in Keatchi ' s Confederate Cemetery , maintained by the local Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy .