In the spring of 1864, as the armies of Grant and Lee waged a highly
scrutinized and celebrated battle for the state of Virginia, a no- less
important, but historically obscured engagement was being conducted in
the pine barrens of northern Louisiana. In a year of stellar triumphs by
Union armies across the South, the Red River Campaign stands out as a
colossal failure. General William Tecumseh Sherman's scathing summation
describes it best, 'One damn blunder from beginning to end.'
Taking its title from Sherman's blunt description, One Damn Blunder from
Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign of 1864 is a fresh inspection
of what was the Civil War's largest operation between the Union Army and
Navy west of the Mississippi River. In a bold, but poorly managed effort
to wrest Louisiana and Texas from Confederate control, a combined force
of 40,000 Union troops and 60 naval vessels traveled up the twisting Red
River in an attempt to capture the capital city of Shreveport.
Gary D. Joiner provides not a recycled telling of the campaign, but a
strategic and tactical overview based on a stunning new array of facts
gleaned from recently discovered documents. This never-before-published
information reveals that the Confederate army had laid a clever trap by
engineering a drop in the water level of the Red River to try to maroon
the Union naval flotilla. Only the equally amazing ingenuity of the
Union troops saved the fleet from certain destruction, despite a
humiliating defeat at the Battle of Mansfield.
The Red River campaign had lasting implications. One Damn Blunder from
Beginning to End magnifies just how devastating the diversion of so many
men and so much material to this failed campaign was to the Union effort
in the pivotal year of 1864. Because of the Union Army's failures,
Northern plans to capture Mobile were scrapped. Military careers were
made and lost. And at time when the Confederacy was teetering on the
brink of oblivion, Southern morale was bolstered.
Joiner puts together a compelling description of what was one of the
most important military operations conducted west of the Mississippi.
The fierce military action, the squabbling of the leaders on both sides,
and most importantly, essential new knowledge of the Confederate
defensive preparations are all contained in the pages of this new book.
Civil War buffs and military enthusiasts will revel in this in-depth
look at this critical, but previously overlooked campaign.
