Battle of Fort DeRussy
1864 battle of the American Civil War
The Battle of Fort DeRussy was the first engagement in the Red River Campaign of March–May 1864 in the American Civil War.
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. The operation was spearheaded by General A.J. 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 Confederates, under General Richard Taylor, were forced to retreat, leaving south and central Louisiana to the Union forces.
Background
The Union launched a multi-purpose expedition into Confederate Gen. E. Kirby Smith's Trans-Mississippi Department, headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana, in early 1864. Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks and Rear Adm. David D. Porter jointly commanded the combined force.
The public source identifies “Battle of Fort DeRussy” as 1864 battle of the American Civil War. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Battle, Fort and DeRussy.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2766079. Authority coordinates are 31.184, -92.054. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1864.
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This entry incorporates text from “Battle of Fort DeRussy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.