dled warships tried to get underway again,
the Rebel guns opened up once more,
pounding Julietand Fort Hindman. Cham-
pion No. 5was abandoned, and Champion
No. 3was thoroughly wrecked. Osage
came up to render assistance, and Fort
Hindmanand Julietmanaged to survive.
When Porter finally reached Alexandria,
he was further dismayed to learn that the
Red River had fallen to a depth of just over
three feet and that the water level was con-
tinuing to drop. After sending the shallow
draft gunboats below the town, Porter
faced the real prospect that his deep-draft
ironclads, requiring seven feet of water for
passage, would have to be destroyed.
Just when it appeared that Porter might
have to abandon or set fire to the largest
warships in his fleet, an unlikely source pre-
sented a solution to the admiral’s predica-
ment. Lt. Col. Joseph Bailey, an engineer
from Wisconsin serving on Franklin’s staff,
suggested that his troops could build dams
along the course of the Red River, suffi-
ciently raising the water level to allow the
deep-draft vessels to pass. Porter was will-
ing to try anything. He blurted, “If
damming the river could do any good we
should have been out of this long ago!”
Bailey set 3,000 men, many of them log-
gers from New York and Maine, to the taskof dam building, and the water level
quickly rose, allowing the Union ships to
traverse the shallow rapids and shoals.
While the dams were being constructed, the
Confederates continued to batter Porter’s
vessels, setting the transport Emmaon fire
and capturing City Belleand the 300 sol-
diers from the 120th Ohio Regiment who
were unluckily on board at the time.
By mid-May, Porter was on the move
toward Alexandria, and Banks had already
pulled out of the city. Taylor grew more
frustrated with each passing day. His army
was too small to halt the Union retreat.
Nevertheless, he was determined to harass
Banks to the bitter end. At the town of
Mansura on May 16, two lines of battle
faced one another, and another artillery duel
ensued. When Banks ordered Smith’s battle-
hardened veterans to attack, Taylor with-
drew. Two days later at Yellow Bayou,
Mower proved his worth as a field com-
mander once again as his rear guard turned
on the pursuing Rebels and fought them to
a standstill. Taylor had shot his bolt. Yel-
low Bayou was the last Confederate attempt
to interfere with the Union retirement.
While Mower bought time, the vanguard
of Banks’s dispirited, depleted, and roughly
handled army reached Simsport on the
Atchafalaya River. Bailey solved anotherproblem that allowed the Union force to
complete its withdrawal to the relative
safety of the river’s far bank. He recom-
mended that Porter’s transports be lashed
together to create a bridge across the water-
way. Men and wagons were soon safely on
the other side. When Mower crossed on
May 20, the disastrous Red River cam-
paign was over—and with it any aspira-
tions Nathaniel Banks may have had for
the White House. Adding to his misery,
Banks was met at Simsport by Maj. Gen.
Edward R.S. Canby, his new boss, whom
Lincoln had recently installed as the com-
mander of the new Military Division of
West Mississippi.
The abortive Red River campaign had
cost the Union Army 8,000 casualties,
3,700 horses, nine vessels, and 57 artillery
pieces. Shreveport remained in Confederate
hands, and an upcoming offensive against
the port of Mobile was delayed for 10
months. Sherman had to initiate his Atlanta
campaign without Smith’s veterans.
Porter’s reputation had suffered as well.
After reaching the safety of the Mississippi
River, he penned a classic line of under-
statement: “I am clear of my troubles, and
my fleet is safe out in the broad Mississippi.
I have had a hard and anxious time of it.”
To say the least.CWQ-Sum16 Red River_Layout 1 4/20/16 4:20 PM Page 43