Celebrating the ArkLaTex: Admiral Porter's fleet on the Red River
SHREVEPORT, La. - More than 160 years after Union ironclads rumbled up the Red River in a bid to seize Southern cotton and capture Shreveport, a new video project is using artificial intelligence to bring the massive, forgotten naval campaign back to life.
SHREVEPORT, La. - More than 160 years after Union ironclads rumbled up the Red River in a bid to seize Southern cotton and capture Shreveport, a new video project is using artificial intelligence to bring the massive, forgotten naval campaign back to life.
Brothers Mike and Mark Mangham, creators of the local history project Twin Blends, partnered with local historian Gary Joiner to digitally reconstruct Admiral David Dixon Porter’s 108-ship fleet.
The finished short film will make its world premiere Aug. 22, at 10 a.m. at the Mansfield State Historic Site.
The project visualizes the mid-March 1864 campaign, when Union forces mounted a major campaign up the Red River.
At the time, the sight of heavy steamships and armored ironclads belching black smoke would have stunned local residents along the banks - an encounter historians compare to seeing modern battleships and aircraft carriers floating down an inland waterway.
Beyond strategic territorial goals, the push was heavily driven by economic interests. Union forces loaded their vessels with valuable cotton seized from local fields along the river path to help supply Northern mills and fund the war effort.
However, the campaign stalled in April 1864 when Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks suffered defeats at the Battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill.
Cut off from Army support and facing obstacles by Confederate forces, Admiral Porter was forced to turn his fleet back downriver. It was a tactic Porter himself later praised as one of the smartest maneuvers executed by the Rebels.
By animating static historic photographs using artificial intelligence, the Mangham brothers aimed to convey the true scale and power of the ironclads.
The animated reconstruction features spinning paddlewheels, rising steam, and active deck crews, showcasing the heavy firepower that defined the river fleet.
The Twin Blends Brothers expect attendance from across the region, including visitors traveling from Jefferson and Marshall, Texas, for Saturday's debut.