On September 11, Herron proposed to send a detachment back to the bridge over the Fordoche to monitor Confederate activity on the west bank of the Atchafalaya, and from Morganza in an attempt to draw out Green's cavalry from the west bank of the Atchafalaya. Lt. Col. Joseph Bloomfield Leake of the 20th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment was to be in command. A small provisional brigade was formed consisting of the 19th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment under Maj. John Bruce, the 26th Indiana Infantry Regiment under Col. A.D. Rose, a section of Battery B, 1st Missouri Light Artillery, and a battalion of the 6th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry under Major Samuel Montgomery. To supplement the cavalry, a company of mounted infantry was created by drawing men from every regiment in the division and was led by Lt. Henry Walton of the 34th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The road from Morganza to the Fordoche crossing followed the east bank of Bayou Fordoche, running west to a point about three miles from Morganza, then following a turn in the bayou, ran south three and a half miles to a loop in the bayou by Norwood's plantation. Just west of Norwoods, the Opelousas Road forked to the northwest, crossed the Fordoche, and ran on to the Atchafalaya across from present day Melville, Louisiana.