Battle of LaFourche Crossing

The Battle of LaFourche Crossing (also spelled Lafourche Crossing) took place at Lafourche Crossing, Louisiana, on June 20–21, 1863, during the American Civil War. In order to support the besieged garrisons of Port Hudson, Louisiana, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department went on the offensive. Major General John George Walker and his Texas Division were unsuccessful at supporting Vicksburg in northeast Louisiana, while Brigadier General Alfred Mouton led troops into the Lafourche region of southern Louisiana in support of Port Hudson. Both strikes were under the supervision of Major General Richard Taylor. One prong of the Lafourche offensive was made by Colonel James P. Major's brigade of Texas cavalry. Major's men raided Plaquemine and Bayou Goula before bypassing Fort Butler at Donaldsonville.

In response, the Union garrison at Lafourche Crossing was reinforced by troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Albert Stickney. Advance elements of Major's force captured Thibodaux on June 20 and cut the telegraph at Terrebonne Station, before probing the Lafourche Crossing defenses that afternoon. The Confederates waited for the rest of Major's brigade to arrive; Stickney also received additional reinforcements that night. Heavy rain hampered Confederate movements on June 21, and in the evening Colonel Charles L. Pyron led his 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment in an unsupported assault on the Union line. Pyron's men were driven back with heavy losses. Major's men moved on from Lafourche Crossing and blocked the escape of Union troops retreating after the Capture of Brashear City, which led to their surrender on June 24. The Union garrison at Lafourche Crossing withdrew to New Orleans afterwards. The fall of Port Hudson on July 9 freed up additional Union troops for operations against the Confederates in the Lafourche region, and the Confederates withdrew to Franklin.