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Brig. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel, USA
Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton, CSA
A mixed brigade of Confederates (about 1,400 men) was attacked by a larger brigade of Union troops.
Union casualties were about 100; the Confederates lost a little over 200.
Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, commanding Union forces of the Department of the Gulf, launched an expedition into the Bayou Lafourche region to eliminate the Rebel threat from that area, to make sure that sugar and cotton products from there would come into Union hands and, in the future, to use it as a base for other military operations.
Ben Butler, commanding the Department of the Gulf, wanted to sweep the Confederates out of the Bayou Lafourche area, and collect the sugar and cotton. It would also be the base for future operations, when he needed more loot or more headlines in the Massachusetts newspapers.
He organized a brigade of about 4,000 men under his protégé Brig. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel. On October 25, Weitzel and his men arrived at Donaldsonville, where the Lafourche meets the Mississippi, and began to advance up the east bank. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton, tried to concentrate his forces to meet the threat. By the 27th, Mouton had men in position on the bayou above Labadieville. A little more than half were on the east bank while the rest of the men were on the west bank near Georgia Landing, but there were few boats to move across the bayou. As the Federal troops continued down the east bank, they encountered the Rebels at about 11:00 am and began skirmishing; the Confederates fell back quickly. Weitzel then began moving his men to the west bank to attack that Rebel force. For some time, these Confederate troops fought resolutely and brought the Union assault to a standstill. The Rebels, however, ran out of artillery ammunition and had to withdraw to Labadieville, which opened this portion of the Lafourche to the Union.
