Pratt’s Artillery Tour Stop 17a. (battle of Westport Driving tour) (Price's Raid)

Marker Inscription: On the morning of Oct. 23, 1864 Clarke's Confederate Brigade of Marmaduke's Div. was in line on this hill from 63rd St. Trafficway north across 59th St. facing east to stop Pleasonton's Cavalry. Pratt's two Batteries, Harris' Mo. and Hynson's Tx. each with two 10 pounder Parrotts and one small gun were in the line. Two Parrotts were here firing on the ford, the road and Union Artillery on the hill across the river. Pratt's Artillery was withdrawn before the final Union charge. The entire line was forced back at 11 A.M.

This Marker notes approximately where Confederate Maj Joseph H. Pratt’s two Artillery batteries were firing at Union forces under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton in support of the Confederate dismounted cavalry to hold Pleasonton off as long as possible. This is part of the Second battle of Byram’s Ford, Which is part of the larger three day Battle of Westport. 

The Battle of Westport took place on October 23, 1864. It was the largest battle of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River. It turned the tide of Price’s Raid into Missouri from one of mediocre success, to one of abysmal failure. Once defeated at Westport, Price's Army of the Missouri retreated into Arkansas. The Union controlled Missouri for the rest of the war. The Second Battle of Byram’s Ford on October 23, 1864, allowed Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton’s Union Cavalry to finally link up with Gen. Samuel R. Curtis at Westport causing the Confederates to retreat southward.

On the morning of October 23, while Union Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis and James G. Blunt was fighting Confederate General Sterling Price’s main force of the Army of the Missouri at Westport about three miles to the west, Confederate Maj. Gen. John S. Marmaduke and his forces defended Byram’s Ford with Confederate Brig. Gen. John Bullock Clark’s brigade deployed on the high ground of Potato Hill and Col. Thomas R. Freeman’s Brigade in a forward position on the west bank of the river. The Confederates at Byram’s Ford were in position to try to stop Union Cavalry under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton from breaking through the Confederate lines and linking up with Curtis and Blunt at Westport. If Pleasonton had broken through, Union forces might have crushed Price’s Army of the Missouri – as if they were stuck between a hammer and anvil – as long as Pleasonton blocked the lines of escape. Confederate Maj. Joseph H. Pratt’s Artillery as well as the other artillery units and Marmaduke’s forces did not make it easy for Pleasonton to break through their line. The rocky slopes of the river and fortifications made by the Union for the First Battle of Byram's Ford were no help either, making it very hard for the Union cavalry to cross while mounted. Pratt’s Battery was 3 artillery pieces reported as either a 6-pounder smoothbore cannon and 2 Parrott rifled artillery guns, or composed of a 6-pounder cannon and 2 12- pounder smoothbore Napoleons. Smoothbore means there is no rifling in the cannon, and the gun fires a typical cannonball. A rifled artillery piece has spiral grooves down the bore, which give the projectile spin, causing them to be much more accurate. From about 9:00 AM-11:00 AM, Pratt’s Artillery Battery shelled Pleasonton’s troops, causing quite a large amount of damage.Making already rough terrain, coupled with fortifications, as well as Confederate dismounted cavalry firing at Union forces, made getting up Bloody Hill an incredibly difficult task for Union troops. Pratt’s battery also dueled with Union artillery. Eventually Marmaduke and the Rest of the Confederates were pushed back, and union forces took the hill by about 12:00 PM, allowing Pleasonton to link up with Curtis and Blunt at Westport. The artillery piece that remains on the site today is not a Parrott gun. Parrott guns have a distinctive iron band wrapped around the breech, such as those seen on the replica cannon at Loose Park.

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