Union Brig. Gen. Michael K. Lawler formed his 2nd Brigade, Eugene A. Carr's 14th Division, which surged out of a meander scar, across the front of the Confederate forces, through waist-deep water, and into the enemy's breastworks, held by Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn's East Tennessee Brigade.
Norman L. Richardson, then the state editor of Shreveport Times, questioned the project from an historic perspective: the Sabine Breastworks from the Civil War would yield to the water of the reservoir.
Shivaji conquered it from the Portuguese in 1670 by building breastworks as he advanced.
Later that year, the British sent four ships under the command of Sir George Collier that defeated the local militia, destroyed the breastworks, and burned several buildings.