Qualla: Battle of Blair's Landing

Battle of Blair's Landing: Introduction

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. One Texan who served under Brigadier General Tom Green recalled that he "was a man who, when out of whiskey, was a mild mannered gentleman, but when in good supply of old burst-head was all fight." On the afternoon of April 12, 1864, Green proved the observation fatally accurate. After an all-night cavalry march through the Louisiana backcountry, he arrived at Blair's Plantation on the Red River to find a Union fleet in disarray -- gunboats grounded on sandbars, transports tangled together, horses and soldiers crammed aboard vessels that could barely move in the dropping water. Green saw an opportunity to destroy the retreating flotilla of Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter. What followed was an hour of furious combat between cavalry on the bluffs and ironclads in the shallows, ending with one of the most dramatic deaths of the entire Red River Campaign.

Image: American Battlefield Protection Program | Public domain

Battle of Blair's Landing: A Fleet in Reverse

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Francis H. Schell and Thomas Hogan. A list of artists and engravers can be found on p. 21 of the PDF., Public domain. The Union expedition on the Red River had turned into a fiasco. President Lincoln and General Halleck had ordered a push up the Red River toward Shreveport to establish a Union foothold in Texas. Major General Nathaniel Banks led the land forces while Porter commanded six gunboat...

Image: Francis H. Schell and Thomas Hogan. A list of artists and engravers can be found on p. 21 of the PDF. | Public domain

Battle of Blair's Landing: Horsemen Against Ironclads

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Francis H. Schell and Thomas Hogan. A list of artists and engravers can be found on p. 21 of the PDF., Public domain. Confederate General Richard Taylor, left with only 5,200 troops after his superior sent most of the infantry to Arkansas, ordered Tom Green to intercept Porter's fleet. Green set out at 6:00 pm on April 11 with roughly 1,000 dismounted cavalrymen from the 12th, 23rd, and 36th Tex...

Image: Francis H. Schell and Thomas Hogan. A list of artists and engravers can be found on p. 21 of the PDF. | Public domain

Battle of Blair's Landing: Not Six Inches Without a Bullet

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Francis H. Schell and Thomas Hogan. A list of artists and engravers can be found on p. 21 of the PDF., Public domain. The fighting erupted into a storm of small arms fire from both sides. The Confederates were shielded by the high riverbank; the Union soldiers aboard the transports crouched behind cotton bales and sacks of oats. Guns on the transport Emerald, a howitzer on the Black Hawk, and fo...

Image: Francis H. Schell and Thomas Hogan. A list of artists and engravers can be found on p. 21 of the PDF. | Public domain

Battle of Blair's Landing: The Man on the White Horse

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0. When the Neosho arrived and joined the Lexington and Fort Hindman in raking the west bank, and the Alice Vivian finally drifted free of the shoal, every Confederate cannon was out of action. Green decided to charge. The water in places was only shoulder-deep to a horse, making a ...

Image: Bubba73 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Blair's Landing: Smoke-Stacks Like Pepper Boxes

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Francis H. Schell and Thomas Hogan. A list of artists and engravers can be found on p. 21 of the PDF., Public domain. The Union fleet pressed downriver through the night, anchoring at 1:00 am. The ordeal was far from over. The next day, the transport John Warner ran hard aground, and Confederate forces under General Liddell set up small guns on a bluff at Bouledeau's Point to harass the stalled ...

Image: Francis H. Schell and Thomas Hogan. A list of artists and engravers can be found on p. 21 of the PDF. | Public domain