Visited Mansfield Battlefield State Park yesterday.

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This map has been posted before by other members. I reposted it for purposes of this thread. The park itself is relatively small. The good thing about is that it does sit at the site of the worst fighting. The park rangers were very helpful. The area where the Visitors Center is located and where the 77th IL,130th IL,48th OH and 96th KY were was called the "Hornet's Nest" of Mansfield.

There is a walking trail around the area of the park on the north side of the Mansfield Road(now Hwy 175). There are markers along the trail that show the location of those Regiments and some other things of note. Honeycutt Hill,noted on the map,is a distinct feature. The open fields, across which the Confederate forces charged,are wooded now so it's hard to look out and visualize how much ground they had to cover under cannon fire before the Rebel infantrymen could engage. There was a moment when a chill went up my spine as I was standing on that hallowed ground. I read some of the soldiers' accounts of the battle in the Museum before I walked the grounds.

The Park and Museum aren't the greatest picture taking venues,but I did take some and will post some after breakfast along with a few more comments about my visit. All-in-all it was a good day and well worth the time driving there and spent there.
 
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It took 4 hours to drive there from where I live. Knowing what I knew about the size of the park,I figured it would take 1.5-2 hours to do everything I wanted to do there. I was there almost 2.5 hours. Went through the Museum twice. Driving up there, I really didn't have any expectations except 2. I expected to have fun,which I did,and to maybe walk across the same ground my ancestor may have walked on there. Pvt. C.C. Dover enlisted in the 18th TX Infantry in February 1864. The Regiment was part of Waul's Brigade at Mansfield. The area of the park south of Hwy 175 is not open to the public and that is where the 18th TX Inf was in the battle. There are no trails,markers or monuments there yet. The only thing I found about the 18th TX Inf while there was this quote from an exhibit in the Museum. You have to enlarge it to read it. Sorry about that.

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Artillery projectiles used at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. The thing that struck me was the size of the excavated canister rounds which is "J." in the exhibit. Can only imagine the horrible wounds it caused.

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There was a really good exhibit of the medical instruments used there by the Confederate and Union doctors that cared for the wounded. Here are a few pics:

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Didn't get a chance to read in detail about Mansfield or Pleasant Hill before I went. Was in the middle of one book when I decided to make the drive up there and already had the next book planned. So I did learn some new things while I was there.

The 130th IL,48th OH and 19th KY were effectively wiped out as fighting forces. Most of the troops of those regiments were killed,wounded and/or captured. Very few made it out. The 77th IL and 67th IN had heavy losses but quite a few got out when they retreated. Retreating Union artillery batteries had to leave behind several pieces.

I also learned that most of the Union and Confederate soldiers buried on the field and in cemeteries near Mansfield and Pleasant Hill were later exhumed. The Union dead were mostly buried at the Alexandria National Cemetery in Pineville,LA.

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/national_cemeteries/Louisiana/Alexandria_LA_National_Cemetery.html

All of the Confederate Regiments at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill were from Texas and Louisiana. Many of the Confederate dead were exhumed and taken home by their families. Not sure where the rest were buried.
 
All of the Confederate Regiments at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill were from Texas and Louisiana. Many of the Confederate dead were exhumed and taken home by their families. Not sure where the rest were buried.

the Confederate troops that fought at Mansfield were all from Texas and Louisiana but the next day at Pleasant Hill Confederate reinforcements of Gen. Thomas Churchill's Division were from Arkansas and Missouri.

Also several wounded Confederate soldiers were taken to Keachi (pronounced key-chai, sometimes spelled "Keatchie"), La. where some died and were buried in a local cemetery.

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the Confederate troops that fought at Mansfield were all from Texas and Louisiana but the next day at Pleasant Hill Confederate reinforcements of Gen. Thomas Churchill's Division were from Arkansas and Missouri.

Also several wounded Confederate soldiers were taken to Keachi (pronounced key-chai, sometimes spelled "Keatchie"), La. where some died and were buried in a local cemetery.

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You are correct. As s matter of fact,I saw this at the Museum and took a pic of it. My mistake again.

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the Confederate troops that fought at Mansfield were all from Texas and Louisiana but the next day at Pleasant Hill Confederate reinforcements of Gen. Thomas Churchill's Division were from Arkansas and Missouri.

Also several wounded Confederate soldiers were taken to Keachi (pronounced key-chai, sometimes spelled "Keatchie"), La. where some died and were buried in a local cemetery.

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Thanks for the pics. Good stuff.
 
Yoi are correct. As s matter of fact,I saw this at the Museum and took a pic of it. My mistake again.

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the last time i was there i thought i remembered seeing some Arizona cavalry regiments on the map....but i haven't noticed them on other maps of the battle....

there also was an Arizona cavalry captain down on the river with an artillery battery engaging union boats.
 
the last time i was there i thought i remembered seeing some Arizona cavalry regiments on the map....but i haven't noticed them on other maps of the battle....

there also was an Arizona cavalry captain down on the river with an artillery battery engaging union boats.
They were actually the 2nd and 3rd Texas Cavalry, Arizona Brigade and contained mostly Texans but also some men from southwestern territory. They, including two other regiments, were originally part of an attempt by John Baylor to recruit a force that would be used to reclaim southwestern territory, hence their name, but that attempt was never made and they ended up serving in other areas throughout the Trans-Miss. So the 2nd and 3rd regiments went to Taylor's District of Western Louisiana in mid 1863.

I posted a thread with some info & photos on the "Arizona Brigade" a while back:
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/4th-texas-cavalry-arizona-brigade.104757/
 
the last time i was there i thought i remembered seeing some Arizona cavalry regiments on the map....but i haven't noticed them on other maps of the battle....

there also was an Arizona cavalry captain down on the river with an artillery battery engaging union boats.

The 2nd and 3rd cavalry in Lane's brigade were part of the Arizona Brigade, which was mostly Texans but there were some recruits picked up in Arizona (one of the companies of the 3rd was known as the Arizona Scouts).
 
To continue. Before I went up there I had seen pictures of some of the monuments,markers and grounds of the park from the 90's and early 2000's. Since then they have weathered and need cleaning/refurbishing. I'm guessing that with the hurricanes and 2008-2009 market crash,the Louisiana state park budgets have been cut. The park needs work.
 
After finishing up at the Mansfield Battlefield Park,I headed south on LA 175 towards Pleasant Hill. I knew before doing so,mainly from members of this forum,but also from other online sources,that the Pleasant Hill battlefield is privately owned and that all there was in that direction were some highway markers and some monuments and that there is a Pleasant Hill Battlefield Park,but it wasn't actually on the battlefield. The museum at the Mansfield Park does have some Pleasant Hill artifacts and exhibits. It was Saturday afternoon and I had the time so I figured,wth,never been here before and might not ever be back. Might as well go see what there is to see.
 
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A half mile south of the Mansfield Battlefield State Park is the Allen House. It was used as a hospital by Union troops. It is sometimes called Banks' Headquarters but according to the park ranger,he was only there about 20 minutes. The house is privately owned and is fenced,but there is a gravel driveway where you can park. The area outside the fence was mowed and there aren't any no trespassing signs,so one can walk around the house and take pictures.

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Continuing south,Hwy 175 is an elevated 2 lane blacktop with no shoulder on either side. There are a few metal historical markers and monuments along the highway and you don't know they are there until you are right on top of them. Had to turn around each time I came upon one,go back and find a place to park to look at them and take pics. One of 'em was further off the road and the brush underneath was a little too thick for me in shorts and tennis shoes. If I was a member of a local SCV chapter, I'd wanna get out there with a weedeater and clean up a little around them.

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