Fort Bisland was a Civil War engagement fought in Louisiana, 1863. It was a Union victory.
In April 1863, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks launched an expedition up Bayou Teche in western Louisiana aimed at Alexandria. On April 9, two divisions crossed Berwick Bay from Brashear City to the west side at Berwick. On the 12th, a third division went up the Atchafalaya River to land in the rear of Franklin intending to intercept a Rebel retreat from Fort Bisland or turn the enemy's position. Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor sent Col. Tom Green's regiment to the front to ascertain the enemy's strength and retard his advance. On the 11th, the Yankees began their advance in earnest. Late on the 12th, Union troops arrived outside the defenses in battle line. An artillery barrage ensued from both sides until dark when the Yankees, many of whom were hit by Rebel cannon fire, fell back and camped for the night. About 9:00 am on the 13th, the Union forces again advanced on Fort Bisland. Combat did not begin until after 11:00 am and continued until dusk. In addition to Rebel forces in the earthworks, the gunboat Diana, now in Confederate hands, shelled the Yankees. U.S. gunboats joined the fray in late afternoon. The fighting ceased after this. Later that night, Taylor learned that the Yankee division that went up the Atchafalaya and landed in his rear was now in a position to cut off a Confederate retreat. Taylor began evacuating supplies, men, and weapons, leaving a small force to retard any enemy movement. The next morning, the Yankees found the fort abandoned. Fort Bisland was the only fortification that could have impeded this Union offensive, and it had fallen.
During the American Civil War, Union forces under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks clashed with Confederate troops led by Major General Richard Taylor at Fort Bisland. This engagement occurred as part of Banks' campaign targeting the Bayou Teche region in southern Louisiana.
On December 16, 1862, Banks took command of the XIX Army Corps within the Department of the Gulf, and his orders called for him to strike at Port Hudson, the Confederate stronghold, in coordination with General Ulysses S. Grant's operations against Vicksburg. As he laid out plans for the campaign, Banks recognized the trouble that lay ahead on the route south. For one thing, the terrain stretching from New Orleans consisted largely of swampland, where illness could spread easily among troops. Beyond the landscape itself, a further complication stood in his way: the modest Army of Western Louisiana, commanded by General Richard Taylor.
Banks devised a strategy in which the XIX Corps would push toward Alexandria, taking control of the Bayou Teche area along the way, a region rich in forage and untouched stores of supplies. Supply depots would be set up as the army advanced, after which the force would turn from Alexandria toward Port Hudson. Yet the rapid advance Banks envisioned did not materialize, since Taylor's small army delayed him through a string of engagements, the first of which unfolded at Fort Bisland in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.
Banks left New Orleans hoping to trap Taylor's entire force in one decisive stroke. His campaign opened on April 9, when two XIX Corps divisions moved across Berwick Bay, traveling from Brashear City (known today as Morgan City, Louisiana) to reach Berwick on the western shore. Two days later, on April 11, the main Union push got underway. Little of this escaped Taylor's notice, since his cavalry commander, Brig. Gen. Thomas Green, kept close watch on the Federal columns and relayed every movement back to his commanding officer.
By April 12, Banks had committed a third division to the operation. Brig. Gen. Cuvier Grover led his men up the Atchafalaya River, aiming to come ashore behind Franklin so he could either cut off a Confederate withdrawal from Fort Bisland or flank the rebel line entirely. In response, Taylor dispatched a portion of Green's horsemen forward to gauge enemy numbers and buy time, while Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton took troops to blunt Grover's approach. As daylight faded, Brig. Gen. William H. Emory's division reached the scene and drew up in line facing the fort's outer defenses. Cannon fire erupted between the two sides and persisted until nightfall forced the Federals back to their camp.
Fighting resumed the following morning, April 13, around nine o'clock as Union soldiers pressed toward Fort Bisland once more. Banks positioned three brigades south of Bayou Teche: Godfrey Weitzel held the left flank, Halbert E. Paine anchored the right along the bayou itself, and Timothy Ingraham stood ready in reserve. Facing them on that side of the waterway was a Texas cavalry brigade under Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley. Across the Teche to the north, Oliver P. Gooding's Union brigade squared off against Mouton's Confederates.
The real clash did not erupt until past eleven that morning, lasting until dusk settled in. Confederate defenders fought from their entrenchments while the Diana, a gunboat previously seized from Union hands, added its firepower against the advancing troops. Federal naval vessels entered the engagement as afternoon wore on.
The guns fell silent by early evening. Word reached Taylor that night that Grover's division, having landed via the Atchafalaya, now threatened to seal off any avenue of retreat for his army. He wasted no time ordering supplies, soldiers, and armaments withdrawn, leaving only a token force behind to delay pursuit. When Banks and his troops reached Fort Bisland the next morning, they found it empty.
Nothing else stood in the way of the Union advance except Fort Bisland, and that stronghold was now lost. With this obstacle removed, Banks pressed forward along Bayou Teche, continuing toward Alexandria, Louisiana, the goal he ultimately sought. A few days afterward, Taylor managed to check his progress once more, this time at the Battle of Irish Bend.
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