This Month in the Civil War: Fort Blakely, the End of the Confederacy

From the American Battlefield Trust 2023 April calendar.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Battle of Fort Blakely, Alabama.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Union breakthrough at Petersburg, Virginia.

APRIL 3, 1865

**  Union forces occupy Richmond, Virginia.

APRIL 5, 1862

**   Siege of Yorktown, Virginia begins and lasts for 28 days.

APRIL 6, 1862

**  Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee begins.

APRIL 8, 1864

**  Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana (Red River Expedition).

APRIL 9,1865

**  Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in April: Siege of Fort Blakely Begins, Richmond Occupied, Battle of Shiloh

From the April 2022 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Battle of Fort Blakely, Alabama begins.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Union Breakthrough at Petersburg, Virginia

APRIL 3, 1865

**  Union forces occupy Richmond, Virginia

APRIL 5, 1862

**  Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, begins and lasts 28 days

APRIL 6, 1862

**  The Battle of Shiloh begins

APRIL 8, 1864

**  Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana (Red River Expedition)

APRIL 8, 1864

**  The U.S. Senate passes the 13th Amendment.  Abolishes slavery.

--Old Secesh

It Happened in April: Richmond, Yorktown, Shiloh, Red River Campaign, 13th Amendment, Prairie D'Ane and Surrender

From the American Battlefield Trust 2021 calendar for April.

APRIL 2--  1865   Union breakthrough at Petersburg. Virginia

APRIL 3--  1865  Union forces occupy Richmond, Virginia

APRIL 5--  1862  Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, begins and lasts for 28 days.

APRIL 6--  1862  The Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee,  begins

APRIL 8--  1864   Battle of Mansfield (Red River Campaign

                               U.S. Senate passes the 13th Amendment

APRIL 9--  1864  The Battle of Prairie D'Ane, Arkansas, begins

                    1865  Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

--Old Secesh

So, Who was Confederate General Alfred Mouton?

 I wrote about this man in my Civil War II blog as he has a statue in front of the Lafayette Parish courthouse in Louisiana that certain people want removed.  I have heard about him, but that is about all.  The article had this to say about him.

Alfred Mouton was the son of the 9th governor of Louisiana, attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and later returned to Lafayette where he became a landowner and, of course, slaveowner.  He supported the parish's laws limiting the assembly of Blacks and their ability to move around.

He was killed at the Battle of Mansfield in 1864.

The Alfred Mouton charter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy donated the statue to the city in 1922

--Old Secesh

Seven Rebel Graves Designated a Cemetery-- Part 3

The 13th participated in these battles in Louisiana during the war:

Lake Providence
Fort DeRussey
Mansfield
Pleasant Hill

And in Arkansas at Jenkins Ferry.

The majority of the regiment's 145 fatalities during the war were from disease.  Only eleven came from enemy fire.

Those at Camp Blair were forgotten until just recently

--Old Secesh

Nov. MCCWRT-- Part 6: Red River Campaign-- The Battle of Mansfield

The Union forces now veered inland to follow a road at Grand Ecore, about half way between Alexandria and Shreveport.

In the meantime, Confederate General Richard Taylor had been reinforced and now had enough men to fight Smith.  In addition, he also now had cavalry to serve as his eyes on Union movements.

The Union forces were heading toward Mansfield, but Taylor set up a defensive position at Sabine's Crossroads and a battle took place there on April 4, 1864.  It goes by two names, the Battle of Mansfield and the Battle of Sabine's Crossroads.

The Confederates had a numerical advantage at this battle, 8,000 to 4,400.  Confederate officers rode their horses into battle and many were killed or wounded, but the Union line was forced back.  Banks lost 2200 men and Confederates 1,000.

--Old Secesh