Thank you for your response. The skirmish is recorded (beyond oral history.) I didn't mention that the skirmish is listed in the "Official Records" as taking place on April 16, 1864. However, there are no further reports.

Because Harley Bozeman, a reputable Winn Parish historian, is no longer living I have not been able to retrace all of the sources in his newspaper series in which "The Battle of Salisbury Bridge" appeared. However, he indicates that the salt works were guarded by a Texas cavalry troop.

I am not an authority on this, but it does seem as though Texas cav were in the area. For example, Winter's "The Civil War in Louisiana" states: "Proceeding to Natchitoches on Mar 30, Taylor received his first reinforcements from Texas, the Fifth Texas Cavalry numbering 250 men, under Colonel A. J. McNeill. The next day the Seventh Texas Cavalry, led by Lieutenant Colonel P. O. Herbert and numbering 350 men, arrived(p. 336)" The Drake Salt Works were about 15-20 miles north east of Grand Ecore(which is near Natchitoches.)

The importance of the salt works is discussed in Lonn's "Salt as a Factor in the Confederacy." Salt was extracted using the evaporation process. Possibly, after the victory at Mansfield, Feds wished to demoralize the opposition.

You are right that the skirmish exists in local oral history. However, physical evidence also exists in the form of physical features or items found by locals.

Thank you for your stimulating note.

Marcy Frantom