Major General Nathaniel Banks, Commander of the Department of the Gulf, was a 'political general' in the Union army during the US Civil War. He was assigned to the South, where he governed New Orleans from 186264. In the Red River Campaign, from March to May 1864, he sought glory which he hoped would propel him to the US Presidency, but was defeated by Confederate General, Richard Taylor. His post war political career took him to the US Senate, but not to the presidency (BSLOC_2018_10_94)