Red River Campaign

[War Horse]

I've read a little about the Red River Campaign and from what I've read if it weren't for the brilliance of one Joseph Bailey the entire campaign may have been lost. Bailey having engineering experience as a logger and manipulating shallow rivers derived methods of damming the Red which never rose that year. His ingenuity is the only reason Porter was able to get his fleet down the Red. I dare say Joseph Bailey was the unsung hero of the entire expedition.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I've read a little about the Red River Campaign and from what I've read if it weren't for the brilliance of one Joseph Bailey the entire campaign may have been lost. Bailey having engineering experience as a logger and manipulating shallow rivers derived methods of damming the Red which never rose that year. His ingenuity is the only reason Porter was able to get his fleet down the Red. I dare say Joseph Bailey was the unsung hero of the entire expedition.

I wouldn't say unsung? We're still flattened 150 years later, one, more engineering coup brilliant enough to have saved the river fleet? There's another sight you'd have given a lot to have witnessed, one of the ships going over that thing. There are threads here with descriptions- only regret is I'd thought Henry Walke was there because the Carondelet was. In my head they went together. You know, like Roy Rodgers and Trigger? Anyway, don't think it's just me, though Bailey was pretty well feted for his role in scooping the fleet out of oblivion?

Cool thread, not sure the campaign has been discussed here from both perspectives before? Always makes me think of RobertP's grgrandmother- his family has a quilt, gives me chills. It's stained red. The family had to evacuate during this time, their wagon turned over in the Red River. Just picturing that scene, those poor people, the chaos in war time, what was happening- both armies engaged in what they were. That quilt is just an amazing piece of Southern History.

Sorry. Love the Red River Campaign, Bailey's Dam especially. Ridiculous, high drama, suspense- could be a movie.

 

[Keiri]

I have had this problem is well. Sister regiments are great, but also remember entire armies occasionally were in the same place... i forgot that and was able to find more info when I realized it. But then again "my guys" were union so I'm luckier I think about that.

The 22nd Kentucky are 'my guys.' I had two direct relatives serve and have been researching them for the past two years. Honestly, it's been tough. Outside of Stevenson's letters, very little in the way of primary sources from men of the 22nd Ky are available online and I live too far from Kentucky to see some of the clothing books and consolidated morning reports that are in Franklin. No diaries or journals I'm aware of and only a handful of letters. So I have been relying on sister regiments brigaded with them to fill in some gaps. Not perfect, but it's all I have. That's one of the reasons I'm trying to find a Red River Campaign book that mentions them.

 

[Keiri]

Oh Vicodin....ugh! So did I miss it, who's "your guys?" The 22nd KY? Good luck in your research.
Right now I'm concentrating on Granburys Bde. Then I'll move on to the rest kin folk.

Yeah, I finished the book and realized the whole part about the transports was actually in the book and perhaps I should have waited before I opened my big mouth. Drugs are bad, mmkay? lol. He didn't name the transport boat, but he did say later on that they "received word Banks was fighting. That night orders came to turn back. They were in the rear." (my paraphrasing again) And that on April 11, "They arrived at Grand Ecore they disembarked, left the boat, and took their place with Smith's army again." His memories were composed so much later that the dates are occasionally, in my opinion, off.

My guys were the 17th Wisconsin Infantry company K, and brothers Charles and August Schoepke were my fiance's ancestors. I've decided to research the entire company for the duration of the war -- and also before and afterwards, to be honest. I'm writing something about death, loss, and grief, and I am using this as a setting. If I ever figure out which units my ancestors were in, I'd probably do their's as well.

 

[Keiri]

The next book on my "to-read" list is:
Hero of the Red River : the life and times of Joseph Bailey by Goc, Michael J .

I've read a little about the Red River Campaign and from what I've read if it weren't for the brilliance of one Joseph Bailey the entire campaign may have been lost. Bailey having engineering experience as a logger and manipulating shallow rivers derived methods of damming the Red which never rose that year. His ingenuity is the only reason Porter was able to get his fleet down the Red. I dare say Joseph Bailey was the unsung hero of the entire expedition.

 

[War Horse]

The next book on my "to-read" list is:
Hero of the Red River : the life and times of Joseph Bailey by Goc, Michael J .

I didn't know it existed. I'll have to look it up. Thank you.

 

[Keiri]

LOL Keiri, wonder if your guys and my kin ever faced off? Third MO Cav was down in that neck o the woods.

Entirely possible...

 

[James N.]

Sometime next year I plan to make a 3-4 day road trip to Vicksburg with a stop in Alexandria on the way.

There's nothing left to see in Alexandria itself because it was BURNED by Banks' army when it retreated further, but right across the Red is a nice little park with walking trails that take you to a couple of post-campaign earthworks built by the Confederates once they reoccupied the area and also information about Bailey's Dam which was built in this same general location. Of course you have to get off the Interstate to see anything.

 

[bdtex]

There's nothing left to see in Alexandria itself because it was BURNED by Banks' army when it retreated further, but right across the Red is a nice little park with walking trails that take you to a couple of post-campaign earthworks built by the Confederates once they reoccupied the area and also information about Bailey's Dam which was built in this same general location. Of course you have to get off the Interstate to see anything.

That's what I was talking about. The National Cemetery is in Alexandria too isn't it?

 

[James N.]

That's what I was talking about. The National Cemetery is in Alexandria too isn't it?

As I remember, yes; but I don't think there's anything very remarkable about it. However, Grand Ecore CAN be visited, though there's VERY little there either. It's a little above Nachitoches, which is easily worth a day to visit. Also, between Nachitoches and Alexandria is the Cane River country which has several interesting plantations, several of which make up the Cane River Creole National Historical Park (NPS). Several of these were trashed if not actually destroyed by Banks' men as they retreated and one was the setting for part of John Wayne's 1959 epic The Horse Soldiers! A day could easily be devoted to seeing these as well. If you go to Nachitoches, don't forget to eat one of their justly famous meat pies!

 

[ole]

Am thoroughly enjoying this thread. All I know about the campaign is that it was a futile attempt to invade Texas. And that it didn't work out well.

 

[AUG]

LOL Keiri, wonder if your guys and my kin ever faced off? Third MO Cav was down in that neck o the woods.

If he was in the 3rd Battalion Missouri Cavalry then your ancestor probably served east of the Mississippi throughout most of the war.

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

Entirely possible...

well, we'll just let those times pass! LOL
AUG351, I believe you're right, even though they were in the Army of Mississippi, they would not have participated in the RR? Well, Keiri, maybe our kin didn't throw lead at one another!! Reckon I'd better go take a look at their history a little bit more. I know they were in Vicksburg.

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

Ancestor is in the 'second' 3rd Bn
3rd Battalion Missouri Cavalry CSA
Commanded by Lt. Col. Leonidas C. Campbell, Lt. Col. D. Todd Samuel, and Maj. Thomas J. McQuidy. Following the defeat at Pea Ridge (Battle of Elkhorn Tavern) 7-8 Mar 1862, the unit was sent east of the Mississippi as dismounted cavalry in Green's Brigade, Price's Division, Army of West Tennessee. There it saw action at the Battle of Corinth (Mississippi) 3-4 Oct 1862 and the Battle of Hatchie Bridge (Mississippi) 5 Oct. 1862. In late 1862 it was increased in strength and became known as the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment.

So, reckon he wasn't in RR Campaign. For some reason I thought they were involved.

 

[bdtex]

As I remember, yes; but I don't think there's anything very remarkable about it. However, Grand Ecore CAN be visited, though there's VERY little there either. It's a little above Nachitoches, which is easily worth a day to visit. Also, between Nachitoches and Alexandria is the Cane River country which has several interesting plantations, several of which make up the Cane River Creole National Historical Park (NPS). Several of these were trashed if not actually destroyed by Banks' men as they retreated and one was the setting for part of John Wayne's 1959 epic The Horse Soldiers! A day could easily be devoted to seeing these as well. If you go to Nachitoches, don't forget to eat one of their justly famous meat pies!

Well...hmmmm! I'd sorta been lead to believe that there was a little more to see in Alexandria. Maybe I should stay on the highway and proceed to Vicksburg.

 

[AUG]

Ancestor is in the 'second' 3rd Bn
3rd Battalion Missouri Cavalry CSA
Commanded by Lt. Col. Leonidas C. Campbell, Lt. Col. D. Todd Samuel, and Maj. Thomas J. McQuidy. Following the defeat at Pea Ridge (Battle of Elkhorn Tavern) 7-8 Mar 1862, the unit was sent east of the Mississippi as dismounted cavalry in Green's Brigade, Price's Division, Army of West Tennessee. There it saw action at the Battle of Corinth (Mississippi) 3-4 Oct 1862 and the Battle of Hatchie Bridge (Mississippi) 5 Oct. 1862. In late 1862 it was increased in strength and became known as the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment.

So, reckon he wasn't in RR Campaign. For some reason I thought they were involved.

After they became the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment they served in the Vicksburg Campaign and the siege (dismounted), and after capture at Vicksburg and exchange they fought in the Atlanta and Tennessee Campaigns in the AoT. They were part of Cockrell's 1st Missouri Brigade.

 

[1stMS-Arty]

This is a really good one...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1621901963/?tag=civilwartalkc-20
Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River (Voices of the Civil War)

it covers more than just the 1864 campaign....there was one in 1863 also.....

another free book....written by Marine attached to Admiral Porter's naval command.

Civil War Marine: A Diary of the Red River Expedition, 1864

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

I'm glad you posted this! I was about to ask if any US or CS MC dets were involved. Probably no CSMC.

 

[1stMS-Arty]

Another couple of "free" books...both have sections on the Red River Campaign:

General Kirby Smith's Chief of Staff, General William R. Boggs:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/boggs/boggs.html
Military Reminiscences of
Gen. Wm. R. Boggs, C.S.A.:
Electronic Edition
Boggs, William Robertson, 1829-1911

and this one written by General Richard Taylor:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/taylor/taylor.html
DESTRUCTION AND
RECONSTRUCTION:
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF THE LATE WAR:
Electronic Edition.
Taylor, Richard, 1826-1879

 

[AUG]

For those interested in the part Walker's Texas Division played in the campaign I would recommend Walker's Texas Division, C.S.A: Greyhounds of the Trans-Mississippi by Richard Lowe. It gives a pretty detailed account of what they did at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill.

http://cwba.blogspot.com/2007/12/lowe-walkers-texas-division.html