Battle for of Big Cypress Bayou

The Red River Campaign of 1864 was one of General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant's initiatives to apply simultaneous pressure on Confederate armies along five separate fronts from Louisiana to Virginia.  In addition to defeating the defending Confederate army, the campaign sought to confiscate cotton stores from plantations along the river and to give support to pro-Union governments in Louisiana. By early April, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks' Union army was about 150 miles up the Red River threatening Shreveport. Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor sought to strike a blow at the Federals and slow or stop their advance. In this what-if scenario, had the Federals succeeded in capturing Shreveport, they may have continued on to invade Texas via the second-most important city in the state at that time: the river port of Jefferson.

For more information, event visitors should go to: http://www.battleforjefferson.com/index.html