Irish Bend
Nerson's Woods, Franklin
Civil War Louisiana

American Civil War
April 14, 1863

While the other two Union XIX Army Corps divisions comprising the expedition into West Louisiana moved across Berwick Bay towards Fort Bisland, Brigadier General Cuvier Grover's division went up the Atchafalaya River into Grand Lake, intending to intercept a Confederate retreat from Fort Bisland or turn the enemy's position.

On the morning of April 13, the division landed in the vicinity of Franklin and scattered Rebel troops attempting to stop them from disembarking. That night, Grover ordered the division to cross Bayou Teche and prepare for an attack towards Franklin at dawn.

In the meantime, Confederate Major General Richard Taylor had sent some men to meet Grover's threat.

On the morning of the 14th, Taylor and his men were at Nerson's Woods, around a mile and a half above Franklin. As Grover's lead brigade marched out a few miles, it encountered Rebels on its right and began skirmishing with them.

The fighting became intense; the Rebels attacked, forcing the Yankees to fall back. The gunboat Diana arrived and anchored the Confederate right flank. The Confederates were outnumbered, however, and, as Grover began making dispositions for an attack, they retreated leaving the field to the Union.

This victory, along with the one at Fort Bisland, two days earlier, assured the success of the expedition into West Louisiana.

Result(s): Union victory

Location: St. Mary Parish

Campaign: Operations in West Louisiana (1863)

Date(s): April 14, 1863

Principal Commanders: Brigadier General Cuvier Grover [US]; Major General Richard Taylor [CS]

Forces Engaged: 4th Division, XIX Army Corps [US]; 28th Louisiana Infantry, 2nd Louisiana Cavalry, 12th Louisiana Infantry Battalion, 4th Texas Cavalry, and Cornay's Louisiana Battery [CS]

Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 353; CS unknown)


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Louisiana Civil War Reading Titles

Twenty-Seventh Louisiana Volunteer Infantry
The Twenty-seventh Louisiana Volunteer Infantry was the first infantry regiment assigned to the defense of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The author, inspired by his great-grandfather, Burlin Moore Scriber, who served as a corporal in the Louisiana Infantry's Company B, celebrates the undaunting courage of this regiment during the forty-seven-day siege by Union soldiers before the surrender of Vicksburg.
This valuable historical and genealogical resource includes details about the Louisiana Secession Convention in 1861, the creation of Camp Moore, and the battles of Champion Hill, Grand Gulf, and Black River Bridge. A wealth of archival information and photographs, "The Twenty-seventh Louisiana Volunteer Infantry" also includes a register of soldiers, including rank, promotions, service records, captures and paroles, medical history, and personal information.
The Defense of Vicksburg:
A Louisiana Chronicle: Texas A & M University Military History Series
Dark and Bloody Ground:
The Battle of Mansfield and the Forgotten Civil War in Louisiana
This book chronicles not only the remarkable military victory at Mansfield but the subsequent engagements that forced Union forces into an ignominious withdrawal.
A Maryland Bride in the Deep South: The Civil War Diary of Priscilla Bond
In this diary of a Confederate soldier's young wife in Louisiana during the Civil War, Bond writes of courtship, religious faith, and her battle with tuberculosis. Harrison includes Bond's diaries from 1858 to 1865 in full, illustrating Bond's maturation from a 19-year-old leaving her family for the first time to an adult facing the desperate reality of war. In her 60 pages of introductory material, Harrison attempts to justify the inclusion of every "Oh! How my poor heart ached" by folding it into cultural theory and history, with section titles like "Love, Friendship, and Power: The War's Impact on Relationships" and "Functions of Literacy and the Diary." Bond's writing speaks for itself at times, like when she writes of autumn, "On everything seems to be written 'passing away.' It reminds us of our own bodys,"

Web AmericanCivilWar.com
Volcano-Pictures.INFO

This DuPont Columbia Award-winning series explains the role Louisiana had in the expansion of the United States.

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles

American Civil War visitors top DVD picks

Civil War Combat:
America's Bloodiest Battles
With beautifully shot footage of reenactors, Civil War Combat illustrates aspects of four particular Civil War battles that are rightfully considered legendary. Filmed on location, the reenactors depict the violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor. Produced by the History Channel, the episodes all benefit from insightful appearances by historians as well as rangers from the National Park Service.

The Civil War -
A Film by Ken Burns
The most successful public television miniseries in American history, the 11-hour Civil War didn't just captivate a nation, reteaching to us our history in narrative terms; it actually also invented a new film language taken from its creator. The Civil War evokes atmosphere and resurrects an event that many knew only from stale history books


Civil War Journal -
The Conflict Begins
The battles have been documented, the generals lionized. We have seen the turning points and the sacrifices. Now let Civil War Journal take you deeper, into the personal stories. Join host Danny Glover as he takes you through diaries, photographs, and factual re-enactments. Finally, a Civil War program that makes you feel the private and intimate side of the great conflict.


Civil War Minutes
Volumn 1
In Civil War Minutes - Union Volume 1, you will learn about the lives of soldiers through their handwritten letters to home. Also find out what life was like from the perspective of the average foot soldier through never-before-seen photographs, artifacts and rare paintings and engravings. Find out what is the General Beauregard Pipe; what is the Report of Samuel Weaver and how it was related to Gettysburg; what is a musket and much more!


Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.