Log House and Defensive Line Tour Stop 17b. (Battle of Westport Driving Tour) (Price's Raid)

Marker is Missing

Marker Inscription: This log house hiding Confederate snipers was in front of the defensive line 250 yards to the south. Heavy fighting took place there on Oct. 23, 1864 between Marmaduke's Confederates and Pleasonton's Cavalrymen. Clarke's Confederate Brigade was in line here, fortified with fence rails. It ran south to 63rd from the cliff which is a few rods to the north. Pleasonton drove them to the west at 11 A.M.

This marker notes a log cabin used to stand around this location, and was used by Confederate forces as cover while they were fighting Union forces at Byram’s Ford. 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 west of the Mississippi River during the Civil War. The battle was the decisive turning point in Sterling Price’s Raid into Missouri. turned from a mediocre Confederate success to a Union victory when the Union army forced Price’s Army of the Missouri south into Arkansas. The Union maintained control of Missouri for the rest of the Civil War.

This marker explains actions at the Second Battle of Byram’s Ford (also known as the Second Battle of the Big Blue River) on October 23, 1864. It was a smaller rear guard engagement by Maj. Gen. John S. Marmaduke’s Confederate forces to delay Union Cavalry under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, who had been pursuing Price across most of Missouri. [See Byram's Ford and Big Blue Battlefield Clio entries.]

The Confederates now occupied the Union position during the First Battle of Byram’s Ford the day before on the west side of the ford  [see Battle of Big Blue Clio entry]. Confederate Maj. Gen. Marmaduke positioned Col. Thomas R. Freeman’s Brigade in a forward position on the Big Blue River’s west bank. He also positioned Brig. Gen. John Bullock Clark’s Brigade on the high ground west of the ford known as Potato Hill with sharpshooters in a log cabin and some in trees. The Confederates did not have much time to prepare fortifications, and thus improved the abattis (usually rows of felled trees with branches facing the enemy to entangle and be a general nuisance) that belonged to Union forces the day before. They hastily erected “piles of rails” up near the log cabin. 

Dealing with heavy fire and difficult terrain, Maj. Gen. Pleasanton’s  Cavalry twice failed to break the Confederate line but eventually they were able to break through the  line and push the Confederates back around 11 AM. This action allowed the Union forces under Maj. Gen. Pleasanton to link up with Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt and Samuel R. Curtis at Westport and forced the Confederates out of Missouri.

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The Historical Marker Database. Accessed December 7, 2024. https://www.hmdb.org/. 

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Roe, Jason. “Gettysburg of the West.” KC History. Accessed December 6, 2024. http://kchistory.org/week-kansas-city-history/gettysburg-west#:~:text=Curtis%20set%20up%20a%20new,to%20more%20than%2020%2C000%20soldiers

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Titterington, Dick. “The Civil War Muse.” The Civil War Muse - Tour: The Battle of Westport. Accessed December 7, 2024. http://www.thecivilwarmuse.com/index.php?page=the-battle-of-westport. 

“The Rebel Invasion Price Routed and Retreating.” The St. Joseph Herald. October 25, 1864.