Battle of Mansfield or Sabine Cross Roads (Confederate Battle Line at 4:00 P.M.)

By four o'clock on April 8, 1864, the Confederate line stood along the east side of the clearing: Mouton's division in position first, Walker's Texans formed on its right, and Green's cavalry on the flanks. Not everyone made it. An Arkansas division reached the field about 3:30 but was sent to watch a road to the east, and a Missouri division did not arrive until around six, after the shooting stopped. Roughly 9,000 men started the attack, against a Union column that had been strung out along a single road and was fighting piecemeal.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mansfield State Historic Site — 0.4 mi
  A 1957 museum and three-quarter-mile trail on the ground where Confederate troops broke a Union line on April 8, 1864, in a park begun by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
• Los Adaes State Historic Site — 30 mi
  The Spanish presidio that was the capital of Texas from 1729 to 1770, some 15 miles from French Natchitoches, now an archaeological site where Native pottery is the most abundant find.

More markers nearby

• Battle of Mansfield or Sabine Cross Roads (Area of Third Confederate Charge) — 0.2 mi
• Battle of Mansfield or Sabine Cross Roads (Area of Second Confederate Charge) — 0.2 mi
• Battle of Mansfield or Sabine Cross Roads (Rail Fence Used as Barricade) — 0.3 mi
• Mansfield Battle Park — 0.3 mi