.
June 20 Stickney's force at Lafourche Crossing consisted of 502 soldiers and four cannons, with the troops drawn from several different units. Augmenting the force were detachments from other points in the area which had gathered at Lafourche Crossing. Roughly 200 men from three companies of the 23rd Connecticut were present, along with over 150 from three companies of the 176th New York. The
42nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment had 46 men present, and a similar number of a mixed command were also available; this mixed command was mostly from the
26th Maine Infantry Regiment but also included soldiers from four others which had been present in the area on an assortment of duties. The cannons were manned by the
1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment. These troops lacked combat experience. The Union position was on the east side of Bayou Lafourche. The west side of the position was covered by the Bayou Lafourche
levee, and the south by the embankment that the tracks of the railroad ran on. When including these features, the position was of rectangular shape, with a front line north of the railroad and a line on the east of the fortification from the bayou. For to from the angle of the front and east lines ran earthworks, which did not exceed in height. Blober's cavalry was held to the right and rear of this position. Of the cannons, a
12-pounder Napoleon was positioned at the east side of the bridge over the bayou, a
6-pounder cannon was positioned to support the left center of the front line, and two
12-pounder howitzers were on the front line near the angle. The men from the 26th Maine supported the cannon at the bridge. One company of the 23rd Connecticut under the command of Major David H. Miller of that regiment was thrown forward or in front of the main line as pickets. Stickney's other infantry held the main Union line. The 1st Texas Partisan Rangers (under the command of Colonel
Walter P. Lane) and the 3rd Texas Cavalry (Arizona Brigade) (under the command of Colonel Joseph Phillips), pushed towards Lafourche Crossing on the afternoon June 20, lacking information regarding the strength of the Union force there. They encountered and drove back Blober's men, who had been sent forward to locate the Confederates. The Confederates came under fire from the cannon near the bridge, and stopped to throw out skirmishers. The skirmishers made contact with the advance company of the 23rd Connecticut. Miller fled, followed by his men, but the pursuing Confederates withdrew after coming under fire from all of the Union artillery. Having determined that the position at Lafourche Crossing could not be taken without the rest of Major's brigade, Lane and Phillips withdrew their men back to Thibodaux, where they were joined by the rest of Major's brigade. That night, many of the Confederate troops at Thibodaux got drunk. Major was aware that the position at Lafourche Crossing was important, but that it was not necessary to take it; instead he could pin the Union troops there in place with a feint while continuing on towards Brashear City if Lafourche Crossing was too strongly-defended to take.
June 21 Overnight, Stickney had buildings in front of his line which had been used as a field hospital evacuated and then burned to deny the Confederates their use as cover. Another building west of the bayou was burned; along with the burning buildings on the east side of the bayou, the light would reveal any Confederate attempts to approach Lafourche Crossing during the night. Overnight, 306 men from the
26th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Josiah A. Sawtell arrived by rail from New Orleans. Sawtell was senior to Stickney, but allowed Stickney to remain in command as he had started the battle. On the morning of June 21, two guns from the
25th New York Battery arrived, bringing the total Union strength to 838 men. Major gathered his forces on the morning of June 21, and in response to reports of Union probes towards Thibodaux, sent Colonel
Charles L. Pyron and his 2nd Texas Cavalry along with part of Semmes's battery and the 2nd Texas Partisan Rangers to scout the Union position. Major sent his remaining troops to Terrebonne Station across the bayou to isolate Lafourche Crossing from Brashear City. Pyron was tasked with estimating the Union strength, which would determine how Major acted next. Heavy rain fell until 5:00 p.m., and ruined much of the Confederate ammunition. Pyron's advance was slow, and the Confederates skirmished with the Union pickets. Visibility was low. The historian Donald S. Frazier estimates that the rain left Pyron's men with an average of 3 dry cartridges per man. After the rain ended, Major gave orders for Pyron to "feel the enemy, find his position, and test his strength". Along with the section of Semmes's battery (which was commanded by
Lieutenant John A. A. West), Pyron advanced with the 206 men of his regiment. The historian Stephen S. Michot describes Pyron's following actions as "loosely interpreting his orders and intending to make a good showing in front of Major and his fellow regimental commanders". Two companies of the 2nd Texas Partisan Rangers advanced in support on the other side of the bayou. At 6:30 or 6:45, the Confederates opened fire with a single cannon, which was the only one of the Confederate pieces with dry ammunition. Union artillery fire soon silenced the Confederate gun. Stickney tried to bait the Confederate into attacking by having Blober's men bluff a charge towards the Confederate line, but this did not work. One gun from the 25th New York Battery was advanced forward to where the men from the 42nd Massachusetts held an advanced line, and the cannon began firing into the Confederate line. At roughly 7:00, Pyron's men charged. The men of the 42nd Massachusetts fell back, and the advanced gun was overrun. It was growing dark, and visibility was low. Pyron was wounded by artillery fire while leading his men, and his second-in-command surrendered after receiving a wound, although he escaped from Union captivity after the battle. Confederate soldiers captured the two cannons positioned at the angle in the Union line, but were driven off after hand-to-hand fighting. Many of the Union soldiers panicked and boarded the cars of a train parked on the tracks at Lafourche Crossing; the train's engineer then drove the train east away from the battle. The commander of the two companies west of the bayou tasked with supporting Pyron did not add his troops to the fighting, although Frazier believes that their employment would have only resulted in additional Confederate casualties. Major had not expected Pyron to launch a full-on attack and was unprepared to support it; the historian Stephen S. Michot describes the assault as "near suicidal". Pyron's troops made three distinct assaults. The Union's superior numbers began to tell, as did
enfilade fire from a Union artillery piece. Despite requests from his subordinates to add more men to the fighting, Major refused to commit any more troops. He believed that the sound of the fleeing train represented Union reinforcements arriving by rail. The fighting broke off at around 8:00. Stickney's losses were 8 men killed and 41 wounded. Exact Confederate losses are unknown, but the historian
John D. Winters notes that "conservative estimates" for Confederate losses were a minimum of 50 men killed, more than 60 wounded, and 16 missing. Union reports claimed Confederate losses of 53 killed, not quite 60 wounded, and 16 captured. Frazier states that almost 60 wounded Confederates were evacuated from the field under a flag of truce the morning after the battle, and that roughly two dozen Confederates were captured. ==Aftermath==