New Santa Fe Road Tour Stop 21 (Battle of Westport Driving Tour) (Price's Raid)

Marker Inscription: In 1864, the New Santa Fe Road joined the Harrisonville Road (now Grandview Road) here and went south across present I-435, then to the southwest. McNeil's Union Brigade had been ordered by General Pleasonton to be here by daylight on October 23, 1864 and block General Price's retreat. He was several miles to the east by 10:00 A.M. Cabell's Brigade and 5,000 unarmed recruits were guarding Price's wagon train. About noon McNeil attacked Cabell but was driven back across present Hwy. 71 to the northeast. Price's army escaped.

This marker denotes that Union Brig. Gen. John McMeil was supposed to block Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s escape. McNeil failed to do so and Price escaped, with Union forces in pursuit. This was part of the large three-day Battle of Westport.

The Battle of Westport took place on October 21-23, 1864, with the majority of the fighting on the 23rd. It was the largest Civil War battle west of the Mississippi River. The Battle of Westport was the turning point in Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Raid into Missouri, after which Price’s Army of the Missouri was chased by Union forces back into Arkansas. The Union maintained control of Missouri for the remainder of the war.

On October 23, 1864, Union Maj. Gen. McNeil was ordered by Union Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton to be at Hickman Mills by daylight, in order to block Price’s avenues of retreat. He failed to get there before late morning, so he then proceeded to follow Price’s wagon train as it retreated around 12:00 PM. McNeil correctly gathered that his force was outnumbered, but incorrectly overestimated the wagon train’s combat power. It was guarded by a relatively small escort, and many inadequately armed new recruits who rather than rifles had shotguns, which have a short range, and old flintlocks, which are less reliable and less effective, than military issue rifles of the day. This ragtag force was accompanied by unarmed refugees – who Price also picked up on his march across Missouri. Historian Paul Jenkins notes: “Price practically forced into his ranks all the male citizens of military age encountered in his march, and notices still exist which were posted in Lexington on his arrival there, ordering all such to ‘report for duty’ to officers appointed for the purpose of assigning them. This policy resulted in there being accumulated among his force a large number of unarmed men and boys.” (Jenkins, 53) Presumably the refugees included Confederate sympathizing civilians – women, children, and elderly men, who traveled with the troops as “camp followers.”

McNeil cautiously skirmished with the escort of the wagon train throughout the morning. At about 1:00 PM he decided to actually attack the wagon train, but it was too late. Maj. Gen. Price had arrived and organized the defense of the wagon train, deploying Confederate Brig. Gen. William L. Cabell’s Brigade as skirmishers and Col. Charles H. Tyler’s brigade in support. The Confederates also lit the prairie on fire to mask their withdrawl. Thus, the wagon train of about 500 wagons full of supplies and war loot, and about 5,000 heads of cattle, escaped. The rest of Price’s remaining forces gradually followed, with Confederate Maj. Gen. Shelby’s Brigade was the last to pass by the Santa Fe Road at about 3:00 PM. Union command gathered at the Thomas House to decide the next course of action around 4:00 PM. The pursuit of Price’s Army of the Missouri out of Missouri commenced the next day. 

“Battle of Westport Old Price Defeated.” Kansas City Journal. October 24, 1864.

“Battle of Westport Signal Rout of Price!” St. Louis Globe- Democrat. October 31, 1864.

“Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865.” Battle of Westport | Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865. Accessed December 6, 2024. http://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/battle-westport

Collins, Charles D. Battlefield Atlas of Price’s Missouri Expedition of 1864. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, US Army Combined Arms Center, 2016.

“The Fighting in Missouri.” St. Louis Globe- Democrat. October 25, 1864.

Gerteis, Louis S. The Civil War in Missouri: A military history. Columbia, Mo: University of Missouri Press, 2015.

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

JENKINS, PAUL. Battle of westport. S.l.: FORGOTTEN BOOKS, 2018.

LAUSE, MARK A. Collapse of price’s raid: The beginning of the end in Civil War missouri. S.l.: UNIV OF MISSOURI PRESS, 2016.

Lause, Mark A. Price’s Lost Campaign: The 1864 invasion of Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2014.

Lee, Fred L. The battle of westport, October 21-23, 1864. Kansas City, MO: Westport Historical Society, 1982.

Monnett, Howard N., and John H. Monnett. Action before Westport, 1864. Niwot, Colo: University Press of Colorado, 1995.

“Price’s Disasters Battles in Jackson County.” Daily Missouri Republican. October 29, 1864.

“Price’s Invasion Battle of Westport.” Daily Missouri Republican. October 31, 1864.

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 

Scott, Robert N., H. M. Lazelle, George B. Davis, Leslie J. Perry, Joseph W. Kirkley, Fred C. Ainsworth, John S. Moodey, and Calvin D. Cowles. The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880.

Sinisi, Kyle S. The last hurrah: Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition of 1864. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020.

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.