Through the Howling Wilderness : The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West

by Joiner, Gary D.

• ISBN13: 9781572335448
• ISBN10: 1572335440
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Tennessee Pr

Summary

The Red River Campaign of 1864 was a bold attempt to send large Union army and navy forces deep into the interior of Louisiana, seize the Rebel capital of the state, and defeat the Confederate army guarding the region enabling uninhibited access to Texas to the west. Through the Howling Wilderness emphasizes the Confederate defensive measures and the hostile attitudes of commanders toward each other as well as toward their enemies. Gary D. Joiner contends that the campaign was important to both the Union army and navy in the course of the war and afterward, altering the political landscape in the fall presidential elections in 1864. The campaign redirected troops originally assigned to operate in Georgia during the pivotal Atlanta campaign, thus delaying the end of the war by weeks or even months, and it forced the navy to refocus its inland or "brown water" naval tactics. The Red River Campaign ushered in deep resentment toward the repatriation of the State of Louisiana after the war ended. Profound consequences included legal, political, and sociological issues that surfaced in Congressional hearings as a result of the Union defeat. The efforts of the Confederates to defend northern Louisiana have been largely ignored. Their efforts at building an army and preparations to trap the union naval forces before the campaign began have been all but lost in the literature of the Civil War. Joiner's book will remedy this lack of historical attention. Replete with in-depth coverage on the geography of the region, the Congressional hearings after the Campaign, and the Confederate defenses in the Red River Valley, Through the Howling Wilderness will appeal to Civil War historians and buffs alike.

Author Biography

Gary D. Joiner is assistant professor of history at Louisiana State University in Shreveport where he is director of the Red River Regional Studies Center.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Edwin C. Bearss
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	xvii
1. The Campaign in Context	1	(16)
2. Confederate Preparations	17	(28)
3. Union Plans	45	(12)
4. The Union Advance	57	(30)
5. The Battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill	87	(22)
6. The Campaign in Arkansas	109	(22)
7. Union Retreat in Louisiana	131	(34)
8. Congressional Investigation	165	(12)
Conclusion	177	(10)
Appendix 1. Mississippi Squadron Vessels Deployed in the Red River Campaign, March-May 1864	187	(4)
Appendix 2. Orders of Battle for the Red River Campaign	191	(14)
Appendix 3. David Dixon Porter Letter	205	(2)
Appendix 4. Richard Taylor Letter	207	(2)
Appendix 5. Chronology of Combined Operations	209	(4)
Appendix 6. David French Boyd Letter	213	(2)
Appendix 7. Red River Campaign Time Line	215	(10)
Notes	225	(34)
Selected Bibliography	259	(44)
Index	303