Plains Store

On May 21, 1863, fighting broke out at Plains Store in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, part of the broader effort to seize Port Hudson during the Civil War. Federal forces moving out from Baton Rouge ran into 600 Confederate defenders positioned at a crossroads. Though the Confederates initially pulled back, another 400 of their comrades soon arrived from Port Hudson to bolster the line. This reinforcement managed to overwhelm a Union artillery position and send a Union regiment fleeing in disarray, though they could not seize the cannons themselves. Fresh Union troops then pushed forward, struck a portion of the Confederate line, and forced their withdrawal from the field entirely. The defeated Confederates fell back toward Port Hudson, which found itself nearly encircled by Union forces the following day. A prolonged siege followed, ending only when the garrison capitulated on July 9.

Background

By the spring of 1863, with the Civil War well underway, the Confederacy still held two fortified points, Port Hudson in Louisiana and Vicksburg in Mississippi, and together these strongholds kept the Mississippi River open for Confederate use between them, letting supplies pass from one side of the Confederacy to the other. That arrangement came under threat when Union forces laid siege to Vicksburg starting in May 1863. Meanwhile, Major General Nathaniel Banks had been leading a separate Union column toward Shreveport, Louisiana, but he changed course and directed his men toward Port Hudson instead, intending to seize it. His plan was to overcome the Confederate garrison there, commanded by Major General Franklin Gardner, and then push northward to assist in the effort against Vicksburg. To back up this movement, a division under Major General Christopher C. Augur set out from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 20, heading north toward Port Hudson with 3,500 soldiers. Much like the rest of Banks's command, Augur's men were largely untested, and the fighting at Plains Store would mark their first real experience of combat.

Aftermath

Casualty figures for the engagement vary depending on the source. According to historian John D. Winters, the Confederates counted 89 men killed, wounded, or missing, while Union losses reached 100. Miles's own official account listed 89 casualties across all categories, though he admitted the precise split between killed and wounded remained uncertain. A different tally comes from historian Russell W. Blount, who puts Confederate deaths at 12 against 15 for the Union, with combined wounded on both sides exceeding 100, most of them Union soldiers. Yet another figure appears in an official Union document written after the fight, which claimed Augur's losses from all causes stood near 150. Blount offered a blunt assessment of the clash, writing that it achieved "nothing" beyond being the opening bloodshed of the Port Hudson campaign.

While the fighting unfolded, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston directed Gardner to pull out of Port Hudson entirely. Gardner chose instead to follow the instructions of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, staying put and asking for additional troops. On May 22, word reached Banks that Augur had run into opposition, prompting him to land forces at Bayou Sara and advance. Reinforcements soon poured in from New Orleans, Louisiana, and by that evening Port Hudson found itself nearly encircled. Johnston repeated his withdrawal order to Gardner the following day, but the window had already closed, leaving the Confederate garrison trapped. What followed was the Siege of Port Hudson, a grueling stretch during which defenders were forced to survive on rats and mules. Gardner ultimately surrendered on July 9, just five days after the fall of Vicksburg.