The Battle of Westport Monument Tour Stop 5a. (Battle of Westport Driving Tour) (Price's Raid)

Monument Inscription: This is the site of the decisive engagement in the Battle of Westport Oct. 23, 1864.

The Battle of Westport monument's designer is unknown, but was dedicated by the Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City. It was dedicated on October 23, 1953 to make the 89th anniversary of the Battle of Westport. This is the location all those years ago where General Sterling Price’s Confederate raid into Missouri was halted in a three-day battle. This memorial was erected in Loose Park. This marker commemorates the site of that three-day battle, where the Union Army along with several Kansas Militia units were victorious and sent General Sterling Price into retreat. This is also the site where the Union army destroyed Confederate hopes of driving Union forces from Missouri.

In the fall of 1864, Sterling Price’s confederate forces were continuing to push on. They had made good progress and gained a lot of territory; however, they weren’t ready for what they were about to walk into. As Price pushed on towards Kansas City, Kansas militia waited for his arrival near Westport. By October 22 Price's forces had made it to Bram’s Ford near Westport, and the outcome was not good for him. His forces were destroyed, and they were all forced to retreat to the south.

The Battle of Westport was a three-day battle involving around 30,000 men. The casualties numbered around 3,000 total, equally divided between Union and Confederate forces. The Battle of Westport was the largest battle west of the Mississippi River. Price’s goal was to take Missouri for the Confederacy, install a Confederate government in Jefferson City, and hopefully by taking Missouri that would sway Northern public opinion against Abraham Lincoln and stop him from winning reelection. His secondary goals were more materialistic, lots of war loot to steal and people to recruit to the Confederate cause. He initially tried to attack St. Louis then moved toward Jefferson City, but both were too heavily fortified, so he redirected his objectives to Kansas City, Missouri, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After the Confederates pushed back Union forces at Byram’s Ford to the southeast of Westport on October 22, the next day on the 23, Curtis and Blunt formed a line along Brush Creek just to the south of the town of Westport facing south. Confederate forces repulsed Union forces several times but the Union was able to outflank them and eventually forced a retreat, following them in hot pursuit and ultimately chasing them out of Missouri. On October 30, Price’s Army was pushed back into Arkansas with the force disintegrating along the way. They were pushed out of Missouri on October 30. Union pursuit continued until November 8. 

On the day of the monument dedication the Kansas City Star reported: “Among the persons attending the ceremony was William McKinley Young, 63 years old… whose father fought with Union forces in the battle. The Father, Samuel Young [sic] was a Private assigned to the honor guard of Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, commander of Fort Leavenworth, Kas., and the Union forces in the engagement. Young said his father was with the general when an elderly man (George Thoman) guided Union forces on a little known path up the bluffs overlooking Brush Creek, enabling a decisive flanking movement which won the battle.” (Mark Site of Battle 1953)

The citizens of Kansas City had not preserved the site of the Battle of Westport.

Eventually, different departments within the city of Kansas City decided that the area of land that was the site of the battle of Westport should be documented in some way to preserve the area and the history. Eventually, there was a monument erected in Swope Park with a basic description of the battle that happened there and the significance of it to Kansas City‘s history. There was a development plan put in place that detailed several different monuments and walking trails most of which have now been constructed. The significance of these battles is not limited to Kansas City, but the entire state of Missouri.

It is now one of the most visited battle sites in the Kansas City, Missouri area. Most of the monuments that were erected to commemorate the battle of Westport were constructed in the early 2000s and continue to be maintained today.

There are a series of markers around Loose Park and throughout Kansas City that commemorate the various actions related to the battle. There is a Walking Tour around Loose Park on Clio, a Battle of Westport Walking Tour on the Civil War Muse, and A Battle of Westport Driving Tour on Clio which is a website which has entries about history around you with entries all over the country. This Tour covers 32 miles and has 23 tour stops. Most of the Tour Markers were set up by the Monnett Battle of Westport Fund. The organization is working on updating the markers. The Clio Battle of Westport Tour aims to provide historical information to supplement the existing markers and to create the possibility of taking the tour both in person and digitally.

Astor, A. (2016). The last hurrah: Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition of 1864 - LSU. Civil War Book Review. https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2514&context=cwbr

“Battle of Westport Monument.” Kansas City Parks & Recreation, September 5, 2024. https://kcparks.org/places/loose-park/battle-of-westportmonument-2/. 

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

Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri), October 23, 1953: 34. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.kclibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A1126152C152E4978%40EANX-158E491259BB109E%402434674-1584F9D95E7AC0C4%4033-1584F9D95E7AC0C4%40.

Smith, D. (2005, May). Plan interpretive and development plan May 2005 version. Interpretive and Development Plan for Byram’s Ford Big Blue Battlefield Monnett Battle of Westport Fund. http://m.battleofwestport.org/Plan%20Interpretive%20and%20Development%20Plan%20May%202005%20version%20.pdf