Battle of Monett's Ferry

Battle of Monett's Ferry
	Part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the; American Civil War
	; Map shows Monett's Ferry Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program.
Date	23 April 1864
Location	Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Result	Union victory
Belligerents
United States	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Nathaniel P. Banks; William H. Emory; Henry Warner Birge	Richard Taylor; Hamilton P. Bee; George W. Baylor
Units involved
Department of the Gulf; XIII Corps and XIX Corps	Dept. of West Louisiana; Bee's Cavalry Corps:; 4 cavalry brigades,; 4 artillery batteries
Strength
Banks: 25,000; Emory: 15,000	Taylor: 5,200; Bee: 2,000
Casualties and losses
300	50

The Battle of Monett's Ferry or Monett's Bluff (April 23, 1864) saw a Confederate States Army force led by Brigadier General Hamilton P. Bee attempt to block a numerically superior Union Army column that was commanded by Brigadier General William H. Emory during the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate commander Major General Richard Taylor set a trap for the retreating army of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks near the junction of the Cane River with the Red River. Taylor assigned Bee's troops to plug up the only outlet from the trap while Taylor's other forces closed in from the rear and sides.

Emory responded by sending a brigade to cross the river upstream and turn Bee's right flank. During the battle, Bee ordered a retreat, fearing that his troops were about to be surrounded. This allowed Banks' army to escape the trap and reach temporary safety at Alexandria, Louisiana. Taylor was so disappointed that he relieved Bee from command, despite the fact that Bee's subordinates agreed with his decision to withdraw.

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