Battle of Plains Store

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Plains Store Part of the American Civil War Date May 21, 1863 Location East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Result Union victory Belligerents United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy) Commanders Christopher C. Augur Frank W. Powers William R. Miles Strength 1st Division, XIX Army Corps, Army of the Gulf ~600[1] Casualties and losses 150 100

Siege of Port Hudson Plains Store – Port Hudson‎

v • d • e Lower Seaboard Theater Fort Sumter – Santa Rosa Island – Fort Pulaski – Forts Jackson and St. Philip – New Orleans – Secessionville – Simmon's Bluff – Tampa – Baton Rouge – 1st Donaldsonville – St. John's Bluff – Georgia Landing – 1st Fort McAllister – Fort Bisland – Irish Bend – Vermillion Bayou – 1st Charleston Harbor – 1st Fort Wagner – Grimball's Landing – 2nd Fort Wagner – 2nd Charleston Harbor – 2nd Fort Sumter – Plains Store – Port Hudson – LaFourche Crossing – 2nd Donaldsonville – Kock's Plantation – Stirling's Plantation – Fort Brooke – Gainesville – Olustee – Natural Bridge

The Battle of Plains Store or the Battle of Springfield Road was fought May 21, 1863, in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, during the campaign to capture Port Hudson in the American Civil War. The Union victory closed the last Confederate escape route from Port Hudson.

[edit] Background

The 1st Division, XIX Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Christopher C. Augur, left Baton Rouge and was moving north towards Port Hudson to secure a landing for the rest of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's forces.

[edit] Battle

Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. Grierson, leading the advance of Augur's division, began skirmishing with Confederate forces under Col. Frank W. Powers. Union infantry approached and the fighting escalated. Col. William R. Miles left Port Hudson at noon, but when he reached the field, Powers's forces had already retreated and the fighting subsided. Miles nevertheless attacked, and at first succeeded in pushing back the Union infantry. Augur rallied his troops and counterattacked, driving the Confederates from Plains Store and back to the Port Hudson defenses, ending the battle.

[edit] Aftermath

The battle closed off the last escape route for the Confederate garrison at Port Hudson. That same day Nathaniel Banks invested the fortress and began the siege of Port Hudson.

[edit] References

• National Park Service battle description
• Kennedy, Frances H., ed., The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, ISBN 0-395-74012-6.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Photograph of battle site
• Louisiana State Historical Marker