Banks had his Corps-sized Expeditionary Force; the Confederates had a couple of divisions.

The North lost about 1,100, the Southerners 2,000.

Taylor had whipped three Yankee forces in succession the previous day, and wanted to keep going. However, Banks had withdrawn to better positions at Pleasant Hill, knowing that fighting would resume the next day. Early on the 9th, Taylor’s reinforced troops marched toward Pleasant Hill in the hopes of finishing off the Union force.

With numbers about even, Taylor felt that the Union army would be timid and that an audacious, well-coordinated attack would be successful. The Confederates closed up, rested for a few hours, and then attacked at 5:00 pm.

Taylor planned to send a force to assail the Union front while he rolled up the left flank and moved his cavalry around the right flank to cut the escape route. The attack on the Union left flank, under the command of Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Churchill, succeeded in sending those enemy troops fleeing for safety. Churchill ordered his men ahead, intending to attack the Union center from the rear. Union troops, however, discerned the danger and hit Churchill’s right flank, forcing a retreat.

Pleasant Hill was the last major battle, in terms of numbers of men involved, of the Louisiana phase of the Red River Campaign. Although Banks won this battle, he retreated, wishing to get his army out of west Louisiana before any greater calamity occurred. The battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill jointly (although the former was much more decisive) influenced Banks to forget his objective of capturing Shreveport.

Content provided by:
eHistory Staff

Selected sources:
American Battlefield Protection Program, Heritage Preservation Services, National Park Service.