Monett's Ferry LA021

supportedunresolved Irwin says Banks's move brought Bee and Major across his path by chance, that Bailey and E. J. Davis searched the morass below the ferry in vain for a ford, and that Bee changed front once he made out Birge's movement. Taylor says communication with Bee required a 56-mile detour, and on April 24 reported Emory believed to have fallen in Wharton's fight near Cloutierville (a rear-guard action recorded as context, not this record), although Irwin says Emory directed the forcing of the crossing.

Attributed knowledge from a history and interested dispatches; Taylor's report about Emory illustrates uncertain news, not a finding about Emory.

supportedunresolved Irwin says Birge led the column thirty-eight or forty miles in twenty-six hours to seize the crossing and that a pontoon bridge was laid after the ferry was cleared. Taylor says the enemy burned immense stores at Grand Ecore and destroyed many wagons on the night of the 22nd.

March and destruction reports from a history and interested dispatches; no transport return.

supportedunresolved Taylor says he and Wharton impressed on Bee the importance of holding the position to the last extremity. Irwin says Franklin turned his command over to Emory with orders to dislodge the enemy and open the way, and that Emory's frontal demonstration was meant to draw attention from Birge.

Stated aims from interested dispatches and a history.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Union victory and the live result Union Victory. Irwin and Taylor both say Bee retired some thirty miles to Beasley's; Taylor's first dispatch says Bee repulsed the enemy's efforts until midday. NPS says the Confederates missed an opportunity to destroy or capture Banks's army.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. NPS's missed-opportunity statement is a counterfactual judgment, not a measured outcome.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 600 total (US 200; CS 400), and the live field agrees. Irwin says Birge's loss was about 200, 153 in Fessenden's brigade and 86 of these in the 30th Maine. Taylor says the enemy suffered very heavy loss in forcing the ferry. No inspected passage gives a Confederate figure.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. Birge's loss is one column's, not the army's.

supportedunresolved Irwin says Banks turned over direction of the march to Franklin, who, disabled by his wound, handed command to Emory; Birge led the flanking column and gave Fessenden the task of carrying the hill. NPS names Emory as commanding the advance. Taylor says Bee let the enemy outmaneuver him and showed great personal gallantry but no generalship. The frozen commanders are Brigadier General Hamilton P. Bee and Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, as on the live page.

Command roles from a history, a summary and an interested dispatch that blames a subordinate; the listed commanders do not receive automatic sole credit.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads Red River Expeditionary Force (Banks's Department of the Gulf) [US] and Bee's Cavalry Division [CS]; the live field reads zero. Taylor's April 24 dispatches say Banks had some 15,000 with him and that Bee held the ferry with four brigades and three batteries, then name four brigades and four batteries in position on the 21st, and fault Bee for sending Terrell's brigade back to Beasley's. Irwin says Bee and Major had four brigades and four batteries, naming Debray's, Terrell's, Baylor's and Bagby's brigades and twenty-four guns, and that Taylor had only Polignac's 2,000 muskets besides the cavalry. Birge's flanking column combined his temporary division with Cameron's.

Unit identifications and army-level estimates that disagree on Terrell's presence and the batteries; no count of either force at the crossing. None is adopted as a matched opening strength. The live zero is not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Irwin says Bee held high ground at Monett's bluff commanding the ford and ferry, with his right on a deep ravine and his left on a marsh and small lake, while the Union side was low, flat and covered with cane and willow; Birge's men forded Cane River waist-deep. NPS says natural features covered both of Bee's flanks, and Taylor that his flanks rested on lakes.

Ground described by a history, a summary and an interested dispatch; no map verification. Bee's choice of position means the ground is not tagged inherited.