Battle of Westport The Battle of Westport , sometimes referred to as the " Gettysburg of the West , " was fought on October 23 , 1864 , in modern Kansas City , Missouri , during the American Civil War . Union forces under Major General Samuel R . Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General Sterling Price . This engagement was the turning point of Price ' s Missouri Expedition , forcing his army to retreat and ending the last significant Confederate operation west of the Mississippi River . This battle was one of the largest to be fought west of the Mississippi River , with over 30 , 000 men engaged . Westport . Westport ( now a part of Kansas City , Missouri ) had already established its place in history by the time Union and Confederate forces clashed there in 1864 . John Calvin McCoy , known as the " Father of Kansas City " , had laid out the town , and pioneers traveling along the Oregon , California and Santa Fe Trails all passed through it on their way West . Westport gradually replaced nearby Independence as the " jumping - off point " for the Westward trails , contributing to the growth of the town . During the Civil War , nearby Kansas City ( known then as the Town of Kansas ) served as headquarters for the Federal " District of the Border " and was garrisoned by a sizable contingent of Union troops . While its own municipal star was beginning to fade in favor of its northern neighbor , Westport was still of some importance in the region . As it turned out , however , the decision to fight here would be the result of a chain of events that had little to do with any strategic importance attached to the town itself . Price ' s Raid begins . In September 1864 , Sterling Price led his Army of Missouri into Missouri , with the hope of capturing the state for the South and turning the Northern people against Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election of 1864 . Major General William S . Rosecrans , commanding the Federal Department of the Missouri , began assembling troops to repel the invasion . Rosecrans ' s cavalry under Major General Alfred Pleasonton set out in pursuit of Price ' s force , accompanied by a large detachment of infantry from the Army of the Tennessee under Andrew J . Smith . After his defeat at the Battle of Ft . Davidson , Price realized that St . Louis was far too heavily fortified for his rather small force ( 12 , 000 men ) , so he turned west to threaten Jefferson City . After light skirmishing there , Price again decided that this target was also too heavily fortified and moved further west towards Fort Leavenworth . As he marched on , disease and desertion coupled with battlefield losses to whittle Price ' s force down to 8 , 500 men . The Union responds . Major General Samuel R . Curtis , commander of the Federal Department of Kansas , now faced the threat of Price ' s army moving into his department after learning of Confederate movements from spies including Wild Bill Hickok . Curtis accordingly assembled his troops into a force that he named the Army of the Border . James G . Blunt was recalled from Indian campaigns to lead its 1st Division , composed mostly of volunteer regiments and some Kansas militia . Curtis was only initially able to muster about 4 , 000 volunteers ; he asked Kansas governor Thomas Carney to call out the state militia to bolster his forces . Governor Carney immediately suspected Curtis of attempting to draw the militia away from their voting districts , as election time was nearing . Carney was unconcerned with Price ' s force far away in Missouri , and felt it posed no threat to Kansas . However , once Price had turned west toward Jefferson City , Carney relented and Maj . Gen . George Dietzler took command of a division of Kansas Militia that now joined Curtis ' s Army of the Border . Command disputes . By order of Maj . Gen . Blunt ( General Field Orders No . 2 ) the militia regiments of William H . M . Fishbeck , Brigadier General of Militia , were placed under the command of Charles W . Blair , Colonel of Volunteers ; Fishbeck was infuriated that his command had been subordinated to a volunteer officer . Since Kansas law stated that militia should be kept under the command of militia officers , Fishbeck disregarded Blunt ' s order . Blunt had Fishbeck arrested and held until he was released by order of Maj . Gen . Curtis . Upon release , Fishbeck resumed command of the Kansas Militia regiments , with orders to obey directives that came from Maj . Gen . Blunt . This rather cumbersome arrangement had Brig . Gen . Fishbeck in direct command of the militia units attached to the 3rd Brigade , 1st Division , and Col . Charles Blair in overall command of the brigade . Howard N . Monnett describes the arrangement as a " brigade within a brigade " . Blair and Fishbeck led the militia into action at Westport ( accompanied onto the field by Maj . Gen . George W . Dietzler ) , and then in the subsequent pursuit of Price until Maj . Gen . Curtis ordered the militia to return home . The battle . Prelude . General Curtis sent the bulk of his 1st Division under Gen . James Blunt to confront the Confederates at Lexington , approximately forty miles east of Kansas City , on October 19 . Blunt was unable to stop Price , but did slow his progress and gathered information on the Confederate forces . Again , at the Little Blue River on October 21 , Blunt was forced to retire – but not without slowing Price enough for a pursuing Federal cavalry division under Alfred Pleasonton to close the gap between himself and the Rebels . Additional fighting occurred the next day at Independence , with Price emerging victorious yet again . Curtis was nearly sixty years old , and age had taken a toll on his desire for combat ; however , thanks to his aggressive subordinate Gen . Blunt , Curtis decided to make another stand south of Westport . Blunt personally oversaw the construction of a defensive line south of the town along Brush Creek , perpendicular to the Kansas state line . Price was aware of the forces to his front and rear , which together outnumbered him nearly three - to - one , so he determined to deal with them one at a time . He decided to attack Curtis ' s army first , at Westport . Almost as old as his adversary , Price left direction of the engagement to his subordinate , General Jo Shelby . With about 500 wagon s and 5 , 000 head of cattle , Price first needed a ford for his supply trains to cross the Blue River near Westport . One of Price ' s divisions under John S . Marmaduke accordingly forced a crossing at Byram ' s Ford on the 22nd , then took up positions on the west bank to hold off Pleasonton ' s Federal Cavalry , which now threatened Price ' s rear . Two other Confederate divisions , under Shelby and James Fagan , were poised to assault Blunt along Brush Creek the next day , hoping to defeat him before Pleasanton could arrive on the field in force . Action at Brush Creek . Anticipating Price ' s impending attack , Blunt had positioned his three available brigades along Brush Creek , while a fourth under Col . Charles Blair was " en route " from Kansas City . East of Wornall Lane ( present - day Wornall Road ) was the brigade of J . Hobart Ford . West of Wornall was the brigade of Charles " Doc " Jennison , with an artillery battery in support . Two regiments of cavalry filled the gap to the west between Jennison and the Kansas / Missouri state line . At a right angle to Jennison was the brigade of Thomas Moonlight , running parallel to the state line . Moonlight was positioned to either support Jennison or move against the Confederate flank . At daybreak on the 23rd , Blunt opened the battle by sending Jennison and Ford over an icy Brush Creek with their skirmishers . Advancing up a ridge , the Union forces engaged the Confederates in an open field to the south . The rebel divisions of Joseph O . Shelby and James Fagan had meanwhile received orders from Price to hold Curtis in front of Westport . Shelby counterattacked with the famed Iron Brigade under M . Jeff Thompson in the lead . This attack drove the outflanked Federals back across the creek . Moonlight ' s brigade was hit so hard that it was forced to fall back to the high ground on Brush Creek ' s west bluff , into what is now Westwood , Kansas , while Jennison ' s brigade retreated almost to the streets of Westport . It appeared at this point that the Confederates might carry the day . But this was not to be . Shelby ' s force was out of ammunition , and remained on the heights south of Brush Creek . Also at this crucial hour , Col . Blair ' s brigade arrived and Curtis heard Pleasonton ' s guns engaging the Confederates at nearby Byram ' s Ford . His spirits lifted , the Union commander rode to the front lines and personally directed Blair ' s troops into battle west of Jennison . The reinforced Federals charged across the creek once more , with Blair in the lead , but were again repulsed and retreated to the north bank . Needing another option besides frontal assaults , Curtis decided to search for a weak point elsewhere in the Rebel lines . His scouts found a local farmer named George Thoman , who was eager to help the Federals as the Confederates had absconded with his horse the previous night . Thoman showed Curtis a gulch , cut by Swan Creek , running up to a rise along Shelby ' s left flank . Curtis personally directed his headquarters escort and the 9th Wisconsin Battery through this gully . Meanwhile , Blunt continued to push Jennison and Ford up the rise across Brush Creek , making slow progress until the 9th Wisconsin opened fire upon the Confederate flank and rear . Encouraged , Blunt ' s men now poured over the ridge , but Shelby ' s men fought back stubbornly and a see - saw battle ensued in the open prairie . The Union army gradually gained the upper hand , slowly pushing Shelby ' s brigades back to the Wornall House . Fight for the fords . As disaster was befalling Shelby and Fagan , a similar fate was happening to Price ' s rearguard , under Marmaduke , at Byram ' s Ford . A division of Price ' s army under General Shelby had forced a crossing at the ford on the 22nd ( the day prior to the battle ) , forcing Federal defenders there to retire to Westport . Shelby ' s colleague General Marmaduke had subsequently established his own defensive line on the west bank of the river to hold off Pleasanton ' s cavalry , which was pressing them hard from the east . If Pleasanton could now force " his " way across the Blue River , he would be in position to threaten Price ' s army as well as his supplies . Marmaduke ' s division was attacked by three of Pleasonton ' s brigades starting at 8 : 00 on the morning of the 23rd ; the Confederates initially managed to hold their own . One of the Union brigade commanders , Brig . Gen . Egbert B . Brown stalled his attack and was placed under arrest by Pleasonton for disobeying orders . Another of Pleasonton ' s brigade commanders , Col . Edward F . Winslow , was wounded and succeeded by Lt . Col . Frederick Benteen , who would later ride to fame at Little Bighorn . Despite these setbacks , Federal troopers gained the west bank by 11 : 00 and Marmaduke retired . As Brown ' s brigade ( now led by Col . John F . Philips ) forded the river , they came under heavy fire from Marmaduke ' s artillery . Once they had crossed , they charged Marmaduke across an open field ; during this charge , Union troops from Missouri and Arkansas battled Confederates from these same two states . Marmaduke was forced back , rejoining Shelby and Fagan , and Blunt pounded the now - consolidated Confederate remnants with his own cannon . While the main Confederate army was now being hit hard on two sides , Pleasonton ' s fourth brigade under Brig . Gen . John McNeil moved against a Rebel brigade under William Lewis Cabell guarding a second ford near Hickman Mills . McNeil ' s brigade was able to drive the Confederates from the ford and cross the river . Federal columns were now converging on Price from three different directions . Confederate retreat . The Confederates pulled back to their last line of defense , along the road south of Forest Hill ( present day Gregory Blvd ) , with Colonel Jennison leading the pursuit . By now thirty Union guns had been brought to bear against the lone remaining Confederate cannon . One Federal battery had just unlimbered when Colonel James H . McGhee ' s Arkansas Cavalry charged down Wornall ' s Lane in an attempt to capture it . Captain Curtis Johnson of the 15th Kansas Cavalry saw the Confederate attack forming and immediately moved to intercept . Johnson and McGhee personally engaged each other with their revolvers ; both commanders were badly wounded , but survived . The fight continued to rage until Union reinforcements secured the battery . Shelby sent a brigade under Colonel Sidney D . Jackman to secure his wagon trains , but these had already been removed by order of General Price . Jackman was instead intercepted by General Fagan , who alerted him to the massed Union cavalry ( Pleasonton ' s ) which had just crossed the Big Blue River to the east . Seeing Pleasanton ' s close proximity to the Confederate flank and rear , General Curtis had ordered a general advance of the entire Union line , with Blair ' s and Jennison ' s brigades leading the charge . Shelby , meanwhile , had only Thompson ' s Iron Brigade to hold off this massive assault . When one of Pleasonton ' s batteries arrived in support of Curtis ' s men , Thompson ' s Confederates finally broke and fled . Price ' s men set fire to prairie grass in the area to create a smoke screen to cover their withdrawal . Witnesses reported that the road was strewn with debris from the fleeing Rebel army . The following day , Blunt and Pleasonton took up their pursuit of Price ' s remaining forces . They would chase Price through Kansas and southern Missouri into Arkansas , engaging him at the Marais des Cygnes , Mine Creek , the Marmiton River , and finally at Newtonia , ultimately leaving the Confederate leader with less than 6 , 000 survivors from his initial force of 12 , 000 when his campaign officially ended on November 1 , 1864 . Aftermath . The Battle of Westport was one of the largest battles west of the Mississippi River , with over 30 , 000 troops involved and roughly 1 , 500 casualties on each side . The Union victory put an end to Price ' s campaign for Missouri , and the battle has accordingly been referred to as " The Gettysburg of the West " . Curtis wrote to Henry W . Halleck after the battle that " the victory at Westport was most decisive " . This greatly contested border state was now firmly under Union control , and would remain so until the end of the war . Although never capturing Price or the tattered remnants of his army , Federal forces did manage to render the Army of Missouri incapable of any future significant operations . Indeed , Price ' s campaign would prove the last in the Trans - Mississippi Theater , and the last major Confederate threat to any northern state . Noteworthy Participants . Several participants in the battle later went on to gain national fame in other ways , many of them in the American Old West . Buffalo Bill Cody served as a private in the 7th Kansas Cavalry ( " Jennison ' s Jayhawker s " ) . Wild Bill Hickock served as scout for General Curtis . Frederick Benteen , who assumed command of a brigade at Byram ' s Ford , would subsequently fight with George Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn . Mountain man John " Liver Eating " Johnson ( popularly known as Jeremiah Johnson ) enlisted in the U . S . Navy before the war and on February 24 , 1864 joined Company A , 3rd Regiment , Colorado Cavalry Volunteers " from depot in St . Louis . " With that regiment , he fought for the Union at the Battle of Westport . Three Union officers at Westport later served as post - war state governors : Samuel J . Crawford served as governor of Kansas , while John Lourie Beveridge became governor of Illinois . Thomas Theodore Crittenden served as governor of Missouri and was later buried in Forest Hill Cemetery , scene of fighting during Price ' s retreat from Westport . Senators Jim Lane and Samuel C . Pomeroy served on Curtis ' s staff while future U . S . Senators Preston B . Plumb and Edmund G . Ross served as Federal officers . Former lieutenant governor Thomas C . Reynolds joined Gen . Price ' s staff , in hopes that Price ' s army might capture Jefferson City and install him as governor of a Confederate regime in Missouri . Price had served as a prewar governor , while Marmaduke later served as a post - war governor of Missouri . Memorials . Although many signs and placards commemorating some aspect of the Battle of Westport are present throughout Kansas City today , the main battle monument is located in the Sunset Hill neighborhood just south of the Country Club Plaza . Because the center of the main battlefield comprises present - day Loose Park and a portion of the lower ( Wornall ) campus of The Pembroke Hill School , the memorial is at the southern end of Loose Park , along West 55th Street . A " Battle of Westport Driving Tour " starts in Westport at Kelly ' s Westport Inn , the oldest standing building in Kansas City , Missouri . It consists of a series of placards , one at each stop , giving both a detailed history of what occurred there and directions to the next stop . Stops along the self - guided tour include the Wornall House , which served as a hospital during the battle , and Forest Hill Cemetery , the final resting place of many men and officers of General Joseph Shelby ' s " Iron Brigade " , including General Shelby himself . The Trailside Center museum in Kansas City has several exhibits and research material related to the battle . Battlefield preservation . The first steps toward memorializing the Battle of Westport came early in the twentieth century . In 1906 , local historian Paul Jenkins published his " Battle of Westport , " while the Byram ' s Ford engagement was reenacted in Swope Park in 1912 . During the 1920s , civic leaders under H . H . Crittenden of the Missouri Valley Historical Society conceived a plan to save the Westport battle sites near present - day Loose Park and Byram ' s Ford . Crittenden ' s father was Col . Thomas Crittenden , who led one of the Union cavalry brigades at the Byram ' s Ford battle , and later served as governor of Missouri . The mayor and council of Kansas City passed ordinances recognizing these sites ; this was followed by the introduction of a bill in 1924 in the United States Congress to create a National Military Park . This endeavor proved unsuccessful , and memorial efforts ceased for several years . During the 1950s , much of the battlefield was disturbed by commercial and industrial construction , though the developer of one industrial complex did erect a memorial near the historic route of the Byram ' s Ford Road . On the eve of the Civil War centennial in 1958 , the " Civil War Round Table of Kansas City " was formed with former President Harry S . Truman as a charter member . Dr . Howard N . Monnett , a member of this Round Table , researched , spoke and wrote extensively about what he termed the " action before Westport " . His book of that title was published in 1964 for the battle ' s centennial . Dr . Monnett ' s enthusiasm led to the eventual creation of an automobile tour of the widely - dispersed battle sites . By 1979 , the founders of the Monnett Fund had successfully raised funds to erect permanent markers at 25 sites , and had created a self - guided automobile tour . These markers included a monument located at the meadow site , and several wayside markers on nearby Bloody Hill . The battlefield was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 , after the Fund acquired of the Westport battlefield , including the site of Byram ' s Ford itself . Title was transferred to the Kansas City Parks Department in April 1995 , and archaeological surveys in 1996 revealed artifacts from the battle in and around the Byram ' s Ford area .