Arkansas The Battle of Yellow Bayou, also known as the Battle of Norwood's Plantation,[1][2] (May 18, 1864) saw Union Army forces led by Brigadier General Joseph A. Mower clash with Confederate States Army troops commanded by Brigadier General John A. Wharton in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana during the American Civil War.

While Banks' army waited for a bridge to be built across the Atchafalaya River, Wharton's forces began pressing the Union troops from the rear.

President Abraham Lincoln and Major General Henry Halleck wanted a military campaign to plant the United States flag in Texas to counter the threat of the French-installed Maximilian regime in Mexico.

Realizing that he could expect no help from Steele and required to return A. J. Smith's troops to Sherman, Banks decided to end the campaign and retreat.

[4] On April 23, the Union army overcame a Confederate attempt to block its retreat at the Battle of Monett's Ferry and reached Alexandria safely.

Porter's fleet suffered some losses to Confederate artillery in the action of 26–27 April 1864 and reached Alexandria, but his vessels proved unable to pass its rapids because of low water in the Red River.

When A. J. Smith's troops advanced to meet this threat, two cavalry regiments and an artillery battery led by Colonel Xavier Debray ambushed the Federals.

[9] Brigadier General Camille de Polignac's infantry division was placed on the left in reserve,[11] from which Lieutenant Colonel Robert D. Stone's brigade was later committed to support the front line.

[10] At this time, Hill's and Lynch's troops, flanked by Union cavalry, mounted a counterattack that drove Wharton's men back into the open field.

[13] When the Confederates threatened the Union left flank, Mower pushed them back by reinforcing it[10] with regiments from Shaw's brigade.

[13] Mower, whose soldiers began to suffer from heat exhaustion and sunstroke, withdrew his troops from the thicket for a short rest before ordering them forward again.

[15] The 28th Louisiana Infantry Regiment in Colonel Henry Gray's brigade, Polignac's division, "suffered numerous casualties" at Yellow Bayou.

Tragically, Union Colonel Hill's young son, who rode into battle in full uniform on a pony beside his father, was among the dead.

After the bridge was dismantled, the wounded and sick Union soldiers were loaded aboard the transports while those fit for duty marched to Morganza.

[15] On May 18, Major General Edward Canby assumed command of the Military Division of West Mississippi, making Banks his subordinate.

[19] That same day, Taylor wrote, "Nothing but the withdrawal of Walker's division from me has prevented the capture of Banks' army and the destruction of Porter's fleet.