Brig. Gen. Joseph Bailey

Brig. Gen. Joseph Bailey, born May 6, 1825 in Ohio, is considered the saviour of the Union Army under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks, who commanded during the ill-fated Red River Campaign. After Banks' tepid leadership led to the near-destruction of his army at the Battle of Sabine Crossroads (April 8-9, 1864), also called by the Confederates the Battle of Mansfield (April 7, 1864) and the Battle of Pleasant Hill (April 8, 1864), he and his army retreated to Alexandria. There, they reunited with the United States naval armada commanded by Admiral David D. Porter. His Mississippi flotilla consisted of ten ironclads, three monitors, eleven tinclads, one timberclad, one ram and numerous support vessels. Their progress downriver had been stymied by low water on the Red River, unusual following the spring melt of winter snows in southern Arkansas, which had left other rivers in high-water or flood stages. This was likely due to the Confederate forces at Shreveport destroying a dam at Tones Bayou, which diverted the waters of the Red River into Bayou Pierre, a tributary west of the Red. The falling waters had left the Red River impassable at Alexandria, where rocks and ancient geological upliftings created rapids that gave the area, Rapides Parish, its name.

Bailey, then a colonel and an engineer by trade, was Acting Engineer of the 19th Corps, and convinced Banks and Porter that a wing dam would allow the water to pool and allow the fleet to escape. Using sailors and the idle soldiers to fell trees and build the dam, the fleet - the bulk of the Union Navy not employed blockading Confederate ports - was saved. Troops who would prove invaluable in the capture of Atlanta and actions in other Southern states later in 1864 and 1865, lived to fight another day.

Bailey earned the official Thanks of Congress and was elevated to Brigadier General by President Abraham Lincoln. He was dubbed by the press "the Hero of the Red River."

He ended his federal service in June 1865 and moved with his family to Vernon County in southwest Missouri. There, he was elected sheriff. In 1867, while pursuing livestock thieves, Bailey was shot and killed. His murder has never been solved.

A biography of Brig. Gen. Bailey is available for purchase. It may be purchased used on Amazon.com or new through the author at GeneralJosephBailey.com.