Hill, William T. Shaw, and William F. Lynch, and the 3rd Indiana and 9th Indiana Batteries, plus one cavalry brigade. Banks asked Mower to hold off the Confederates until the soldiers of the XIII Corps and XIX Corps at Simmesport could cross the Atchafalaya. Mower's force advanced west across Yellow Bayou and drove back the Confederate skirmishers for about . After struggling through a tangled thicket of woods, the Federals found themselves confronted by 5,000 Confederates in line of battle. According to William Riley Brooksher, the Confederate right wing was made up of Colonels Arthur P. Bagby Jr.'s and Debray's brigades, both from Brigadier General Hamilton P. Bee's cavalry division, and on the extreme right, Brigadier General William Steele's cavalry division which had only Colonel William H. Parsons' brigade. The Confederate left wing consisted of the 12th Texas Cavalry Regiment (detached from Parsons' brigade) on the extreme left, and Colonels William Polk Hardeman and George W. Baylor's brigades, both belonging to Brigadier General James Patrick Major's cavalry division. Wharton was in tactical command. Brigadier General Camille de Polignac's infantry division was placed on the left in reserve, from which Lieutenant Colonel Robert D. Stone's brigade was later committed to support the front line. In John D. Winters' account, Polignac's infantry division was on the left in the front line while Major's dismounted cavalry division was on the right. At first, the 12 Confederate artillery pieces dueled with the two Indiana batteries. Though they were positioned in an open field, at least some of the Confederates were protected by taking cover in a drainage ditch. As the cannonade tapered off, Wharton ordered an assault. Parsons warned him that it would result in serious loss of life and questioned the need, since the Union army was in retreat. Wharton ordered the attack to be made at once or Parsons would face a court-martial. Parsons' men charged on foot, but their attack faltered when threatened by Federal cavalry. Wharton's general attack began to force back the brigades of Hill on the Union right and Lynch on the left, so that Mower had to call on Shaw's brigade for support. The Union batteries began firing double canister shot. At this time, Hill's and Lynch's troops, flanked by Union cavalry, mounted a counterattack that drove Wharton's men back into the open field. When the Confederates threatened the Union left flank, Mower pushed them back by