Battle of Lake Providence

The Battle of Lake Providence was an engagement that was fought between Confederate and Union forces near Lake Providence, Louisiana on June 9, 1863, during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War.

Battle of Lake Providence
Part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War
Lake Providence, Louisiana
Date June 9, 1863 Location Carroll Parish, Louisiana Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Hugh T. Reid	Frank Bartlett
Strength
800 infantry 200 cavalry[1]	600 cavalry 2 guns[2]
Casualties and losses
1 killed 1 wounded	2 killed 5 wounded 3 captured

History

The battle at Lake Providence was meant to be in conjunction with Confederate attacks against Union supply depots at Young's Point and Milliken's Bend ordered by Confederate General Richard Taylor on June 7. However the Confederate commander, Lt. Col. Frank Bartlett set out 48 hours behind schedule, building a floating bridge to cross Bayou Macon and pushing on toward the Federal garrison at Lake Providence on June 9.[2] Bartlett’s command was made up of the 13th Texas Mounted Infantry Regiment and the 13th Louisiana Cavalry Battalion. The Union forces were commanded by Brig. Gen. Hugh T. Reid and greatly outnumbered Bartlett's force. Reid's brigade was a mixed command of white soldiers from the 1st Kansas Mounted Infantry and the 16th Wisconsin Infantry and United States Colored Troops from the 8th Louisiana Infantry.[3] Reaching the banks of Lake Providence six miles west of their objective, the Confederate cavalrymen encountered two Companies of the 1st Kansas Mounted Infantry at Bayou Baxter, and Corporal William F. Parker of Company K, 1st Kansas was mortally wounded in the skirmish.[4] Bartlett's force captured nine supply wagons and 36 mules. The Federals withdrew toward the town of Lake Providence, crossing the bridge over the Tensas Bayou before destroying the span. The Kansans took a position along the streambank where they were reinforced by the remainder of their regiment as well as the 16th Wisconsin and the black soldiers of the 8th Louisiana. In spite of a strong Federal presence, Bartlett formed a line of battle supported by artillery and advanced toward Tensas Bayou while a 6-pdr gun was moved into position near the present-day Club House of the Lake Providence Country Club.[2] Confederate Pioneers attempted to rebuild the bridge, but Reid's sharpshooters drove off the artillery and a brief skirmish ensued, in which Second Lieutenant Francis Becker of Company I, 1st Kansas and Sergeant Carlisle McClung of Company F, 13th Texas were killed, and a Lieutenant and two Privates of the 13th Texas were captured.[5] A heavy force of Union skirmishers eventually caused the Confederates to withdraw toward Floyd, Louisiana, after having suffered two men killed, five wounded and three captured.[6] The Federals lost one man killed and another mortally wounded, both from the 1st Kansas Mounted Infantry.[2]

The three Confederate attacks against Federal supplies in Louisiana failed and the Union grip on Vicksburg continued to tighten.

Opposing forces

Union

Post of Lake Providence: Brig. Gen. Hugh T. Reid

• 1st Brigade, 6th Division, XVII Corps
  • 1st Kansas Mounted Infantry: Col. William Y. Roberts
  • 8th Louisiana Infantry (African Descent): Lt. Col. Charles J. Payne
  • 16th Wisconsin Infantry: Col. Benjamin Allen

Confederate

• Bartlett's Cavalry Brigade: Lt. Col. Frank Bartlett
  • 13th Texas Mounted Infantry Regiment
  • 13th Louisiana Cavalry Battalion (Partisan Rangers)
  • Artillery section, one 6-pdr cannon and one gun

Sources

• Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

References

1. Eicher p.449
2. Vicksburg NMP: Battle of Lake Providence, June 9, 1863
3. Hugh Thompson REID
4. "William F. Parker". www.civilwardata.com. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Francis Becker". www.civilwardata.com. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
6. Reid, Thomas R. "13th Texas Cavalry/Unit History". ancestry.com. Retrieved 28 December 2016.