The Union Army of the Gulf under General Banks aimed to capture Shreveport, state capital and headquarters of the Confederate command, west of the Mississippi.

Smith and Brigadier General Joseph Mower, who surprised and captured Fort DeRussy on March 14, taking over 300 prisoners and the enemy's only heavy guns.

The Union launched a multi-purpose expedition into Confederate Gen. E. Kirby Smith's Trans-Mississippi Department, headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana, in early 1864.

This force dispersed and chased an enemy brigade, after which, Smith set his men in motion up the Fort DeRussy road.

Around 6:30 pm, Smith ordered a charge on the fort and about twenty minutes later, Mower's men scaled the parapet, causing the enemy to surrender.