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The Battle of Westport
October 23, 1864
One of the most important Civil War battles to take place west of the
Mississippi, the Battle of Westport marked the beginning of the end for
the Confederate threat in the West.
Sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West", The Battle of
Westport took place in current-day
Kansas City, Missouri with over 30,000
troops engaged and cost about 1,500 casualties on each side.
 On a mission to break the Union resolve in Missouri, Confederate
Maj. Gen.
Sterling Price and his outnumbered
Army of Missouri
faced Union
Maj. Gen.
Samuel Curtis�s
Army of the Border blocking his advance at Westport. In
addition, Union
Maj. Gen. Alfred
Pleasonton�s cavalry division was closing
on Price�s rear.
Fighting erupted along Brush Creek and at
Byram's
Ford on the
Big
Blue River as Price sought passage for his entourage including nearly 500
wagons. Union
Maj. Gen. James
Blunt�s division, however, held a defensive
position on the Big Blue River�s west bank.
Confederate forces under
Maj. Gen. James F. Fagan and
Brig. Gen. Joseph O.
Shelby attacked Blunt�s defensive positions allowing Price�s wagon train
and about 5,000 head of cattle to cross the river at Byram�s ford.
Then, with
Brig. Gen John S.
Marmaduke�s Rebel division holding the west
bank of the Big Blue, Pleasonton�s forces were prevented from attacking
Price�s rear. Soon after, however, Union troops were converging on Price
from two directions.
Renewed Union attacks with superior forces turn the tide of battle in the
Union�s favor. Blunt pounds Confederate forces with artillery leaving
Price no alternative but to retreat south.
Price�s retreating column would again be viciously attacked just two days
later at the
Battle of Mine Creek after being relentlessly pursued by
Union forces under Pleasonton, Blunt and Curtis,. This final attack nearly
destroys Price�s army and marks the end of Confederate activity in the
Trans-Mississippi.
Today, the Battle of Westport is marked with a
self-guided auto tour.
Battle of Westport sites are preserved near present-day
Loose Park and at Byram's Ford. Extensive battlefield preservation efforts are sponsored by
the
Monnett Battle of Westport Fund. |
