"Of course I was the one who said, "who won the battle?" As valuable as the mules, horses, wagons, etc would have been was the reason I asked since the CSA men would have left with all the loot."

Actually you are exactly right. From the time that the Union Cavalry had come to Pine Bluff (Sept. 14th, 1863) until about two week (the stories vary) before the Battle, Pine Bluff had only been occupied by just the 5th Kansas Cavalry (about 250-300 men). Really a very small outpost force.

Beside the horses and mules, and other supplies and equipment the 5th kansas Cavalry were armed with the best SHarps carbine and Colt pistols which were highly prized by the Confederates. On top of that the Yankees had been confiscating and buying all the Cotton they could and had about 1000 to 1200 bales in Warehouses at the time of the Battle, estimated value in todays dollars, about $600,000.00. According to the reports of Lt "Buck" Walton of the 21st Texas Cavalry, who was operating as a scout for Genr'l Maraduke, they had been sending scout acting as cotton farmers trying to sell their cotton, into Pine Bluff to gather information. These scouts had in fact burglarized Col. Powell Clayton's (5th Kansas) residence and stole his personal papers and records of what was in Pine Bluff.

This tipped Clayton off to a possible attack and he began calling for reinforments which was sent to him in the form of the 1st Indiana Cavalry and the Brigade artillery of six 12 pd Mountain Howitzers and the 1st Indian Battery of three 6pd steel #1 pattern Blakely guns. As we well know it was the artillery and Powell Clayton's planning to use the Contriband to build a cotton bale fort around the Courthouse that made the actually taking of the final redoubt of the Courthouse itself too costly of Maraduke to capture the whole town.

The arrival of the additional reinforcements did not stop Maradukes plans as he was aware of their arrival. It only sweeten the "pot" so to speak. What Maraduke planned was to draw the Yankees out of Pine Bluff with one force and once outside the town to sweep in behind they and capture the whole lot of them with his other two brigades. What Maraduke did not foresee was that Powell Clayton, who normally was an aggressive fighter, and who being aware of a possible attack and adopted a "bunker mentality" of Fortifiing the Courthouse Square as a last stand.

Any way That is just some of it.