Donald Frazier's Louisiana Quadrille

  Frazier, Donald. Fire in the Cane Field: The Federal Invasion of Louisiana and Texas, January 1861-January 1863. State House Press, 2009.

-        Thunder Across the Swamp: The Fight for the Lower Mississippi, February 1863-May 1863. State House Press, 2011.
-          Blood on the Bayou: Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and the Trans-Mississippi. State House Press, 2015.
-          Tempest over Texas: The Fall and Winter Campaigns of 1863-1864. State House Press, 2020.

 

Those looking for an extensive history of Civil War Louisiana might be interested to know that there is a highly readable four-volume series on the subject. Donald Frazier’s Louisiana Quadrille (he actually chose to expand it to five books so it’s really a Pendadrille) covers the Trans-Mississippi theatre in East Texas and Louisiana from the secession crisis to right before the more widely known and infamous Red River Campaign of spring 1864. Frazier’s work here comes out of Blood & Treasure, the story of the Sibley Brigade’s attempt to conquer the Far West. Looking further into this unit’s history, he came upon a series of little known battles. As a native Texan, Frazier was inspired to dig deeper. He has brought to light a heavily overlooked part of the Civil War. Frazier covers a wide area of the war, but shows a particular interest in the fields and swamps of western Louisiana.

Taken together the books look like heavy reading (Thunder in the Swamp runs well over 500 pages). However the text is not all that thick and there are plenty of illustrations and maps. The latter shows the author’s exhaustive searches for visual sources to enhance his narrative. The one main gripe has nothing to do with Frazier’s investigation and presentation of information. He displays a surprising amount of grammatical errors, moreso in his first volume. I myself am guilty of having typos and errors in my blog posts (even after reading through what I wrote). Still it’s a bit surprising for a professionally published book. Perhaps he attempted to edit the whole thing himself. This is forgivable, however, in light of the value of his research. He really digs into primary sources and many of the figures, especially the soldiers of the rank-and-file, come alive with extensive quotes and references from their letters and journals.

I will briefly summarize the four volumes. Actually, according to the preface of his first book and a couple articles on the internet there’s supposed to be a fifth volume titled Death at the Landing: The Contest for the Red River and the Collapse of Confederate Louisiana, March 1864-June 1865. I’m eager to read it!

Fire in the Cane Field: The Federal Invasion of Louisiana and Texas, January 1861-January 1863 covers the largest span of time. Chapter one is a brief summary of Louisiana’s situation throughout 1861. There was little action in this period so Frazier understandably jumps forward quickly to April 1862 with the fall of New Orleans. He goes over more familiar territory for Civil War buffs, from Benjamin Butler’s controversial military rule over New Orleans to the Battle of Baton Rouge. This is necessary set-up for the arrival of Confederate General Richard Taylor. A veteran of Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley campaign, Taylor effectively challenged Butler’s Union kingdom with a series of raids. This prompted Butler himself to send an invasion force into the Lafourche district and thus turn it into one of the war’s constant battlegrounds. By the end of the volume both sides experience command changes, with Nathaniel P. Banks taking Butler’s place. The climatic battle in Fire in the Cane Field is the Confederate recapture of the Texas port of Galveston. Throughout all this Louisiana’s civilian population suffered as their society and economy was devastated by the actions of the two armies (Federal actions in particular). Fire in the Cane Field is the least likely to present new information, but sets up the next three volumes and also shows how Texas and Louisiana’s fates were intertwined.

Thunder Across the Swamp: The Fight for the Lower Mississippi, February 1863-May 1863 slows down the narrative as Frazier now looks deeply at a series of lesser known but furious battles such as the Confederate capture of the USS Indianola, Bisland, and Irish Bend. For those wanting to know more about what was happening across the Mississippi, this book is full of meaty details. The extensive system of intersecting waterways and the surrounding fields, marshes, and swamps really gave the campaigns of 1863 a unique flavor. Gunboats and improvised water craft are able to lend their support to land battles. The second half of the book sees the emergence of a major narrative thread. General Edmund Kirby-Smith takes command of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi and becomes the obstructive boss for the highly competent but frustrated Richard Taylor. Thunder in the Swamp is where the Louisiana Quadrille really takes off with meticulous detail into the lives and events of the period.

Blood on the Bayou: Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and the Trans-Mississippi is a somewhat misleading title. Frazier does not get into the particulars of the Vicksburg and Port Hudson campaigns but instead looks at their context within the Trans-Mississippi theatre and several Confederate failures to relieve the besieged cities. The first act of the book actually backtracks a little in time with some repeated primary source quotes from Thunder in the Swamp. Frazier had not intended to focus much on slavery and emancipation, but nevertheless found these subjects too intriguing as he conducted his research. He notes that emancipation for Louisiana slaves was complicated and often came with strings attached. Both Confederate and Federal authorities battled over the black population, but less about the moral question of slavery and more about their utilization within their war aims. This is expressed in the military events themselves, such as the black troops’ furious battle at Milliken’s Bend. On military matters, Frazier shows both sides experiencing great frustration. The Confederates’ relief efforts come to naught thanks to poor intelligence while General Banks fails to fully destroy them thanks to bad luck.

Tempest over Texas: The Fall and Winter Campaigns of 1863-1864 sets the stage for the Red River Campaign. The main question Frazier attempts to answer is why this campaign was launched from Louisiana rather than Federal footholds in Texas. One reason is the geopolitical situation. Frazier spends some time explaining the French invasion of Mexico and attempt to install an imperialist government. The Confederacy wished for French aid, but its ruler Napoleon III grew increasingly cautious about meddling in the United States’ affairs. Still, the Lincoln administration feared French intervention and this sparked a desire to see Texas secured. On the more strictly military front, Frazier once again covers lesser known battles and campaigns including a Federal drive along the Rio Grande and nasty partisan warfare among Unionist and Confederate guerillas. A highlight is General Thomas Green, an overlooked Confederate officer who led a series of successful actions that kept the Federals on their toes. Then there is the one-sided Battle of Sabine Pass, considered the “Confederate Thermopylae” and actually well known among even some casual Civil War buffs. Taylor and Banks, the respective main commanders of the two armies, also have to contend with obstructive or unreasonable demands from their political superiors (Kirby Smith and Abraham Lincoln). One final note of interest is General Grant’s drunk horse-riding and resultant injury. In the wake of his success on the Mississippi, Grant was actually considered to lead the invasion of east Texas and this mishap established Banks as the commander instead.

Overall, I highly recommend the Louisiana Quadrille. The number of typos in the earlier entries is a bit alarming, but Frazier does a wonderful job pulling together a clear narrative of the Trans-Mississippi theatre. He really gives people a fresh look at the various figures. For example, General Banks, an unqualified political general, is presented as having some reasonable ideas and concerns. Though most of the battles and other events in western Louisiana and East Texas do not receive much popular attention, they were just as deadly and important to their participants as was Gettysburg and Antietam.

All four books can be found on the author's Amazon page.

 

Rating: Highly Recommend

 

Rating System

Must-Read: Definite read for history in general

Highly Recommend: Definite read within a certain subject

Recommend: Good for further information or into on a certain topic

Adequate: Useful if looking for further information certain topic

Pass: Awful, only useful for examining bad or ideologically-tainted history