McGhee's Charge Historical Marker Tour Stop 7 (Battle of Westport Driving Tour) (Price's Raid)

Marker Inscription: On Oct. 23, 1864 near noon Col. McGhee's mounted Arkansans charged north on Wornall Lane to capture McLain's Colorado Battery. Capt. Johnson of the 15th Kas. Cavalry attacked, saving the guns. McGhee was killed in a hand-to-hand fight with the captain who was wounded. Troops of the 2nd Colo. Cavalry came up capturing the Confederates and driving back the rest who left 25 dead and wounded on the field. Union artillery fire destroyed the Simpson Home which stood on the S.E. corner of 53rd Terr. and Wornall.

This marker is located at this spot, but there is also a new one on a bench further down the street.

The Battle of Westport, Oct 23, 1864 located at 52nd and Wornall

Bench Marker Inscription: No misdeed goes unpunished. On this once cobblestoned road the encampment of the Confederate Colorado Cavalry during the Battle of Westport in 1864. History records that it was the strength of the Union Army that finally prevailed but local legend tells a better story: a farmer named George Thoman revealed to the Union Army’s high command an easier path for attack along Swan Creek and overpowered the surprised Confederates. Why did George Thoman provide such valuable intelligence, when he had originally been- at best– neutral to the Union’s cause? It’s because Confederate soldiers had just stolen his cherished, sterling gray mare.

This historical marker designates the approximate location of McGhee's Charge on October 23, 1864. This battle maneuver marked a critical turning point in the Battle of Westport, the largest Civil War battle fought west of the Mississippi River. The marker is at the location where Confederate Colonel J. H. McGhee led his Arkansas Cavalry Regiment in an attack of Union Captain William D. McLain's Battery, resulting in a Union victory. The battle included a one-on-one fight between two commanding officers, McGhee and Union Captain Curtis Johnson, a rare scene that demonstrates the nature of warfare in smaller skirmishes where commanders were sometimes also combatants. The marker incorrectly states that McGhee was killed as he was only wounded and lived until 1870. United States troops turned back the Confederate offensive, forcing a retreat that continued in the days ahead and effectively ended Confederate hopes for controlling western Missouri and other areas west of the Mississippi River.

Union General Blunt established a strong position at the Wornall House with three of his brigades occupying positions behind a stone wall, roughly three hundred yards removed from a sizable Confederate line. The gun section of McLain's Colorado Battery sat on a road on top of a hill near Blunt's stronghold; they used thirty guns to fire into the Confederate troops located at the bottom of the hill. Confederate Major General Fagan proposed to Brigadier General Jo Shelby that a Confederate battery supported by the cavalry charge up the line to attack McClain's Colorado Battery gun section.

Colonel James H. McGhee, who commanded the 44th Arkansas, comprised of roughly 300 soldiers, led the charge. The Union Army responded by sending the 16th Kansas Cavalry, 2nd Colorado, and 2nd Colorado Cavalry to meet McGhee. During the battle, a rare occurrence transpired: two commanders engaged in individual combat. Colonel McGhee clashed with Captain Curtis Johnson, commander of Company E of the 15th Kansas Cavalry. Both men charged each other and drew their revolvers, leaving both wounded. 

Although the marker states that Colonel McGhee had been killed, that is incorrect. McGhee is known to have been wounded a second time two days later at the Battle of Mine Creek and consequently had to relinquish his command as a result of his numerous injuries. Still, McGhee survived the war, living out the rest of his life in Arkansas until he died in 1870.

McGhee's attack resulted in the loss to the Confederates of 35 prisoners (some accounts note as many as 100 prisoners), 19 dead and 37 wounded. Thwarting McGhee's charge saved McLain's Battery and ultimately ended a larger Confederate charge northward known as Price's Raid. Confederate Major General Sterling Price led his cavalry forces into Missouri with hopes of installing secessionist Thomas Reynolds as state governor in Jefferson City, thus establishing the Confederate state government’s legitimacy. He felt that if Missouri transitioned from a border state to a Confederate state, it would result in President Lincoln losing his reelection bid in 1864, giving the Confederacy an opportunity to win the war via a peaceful settlement. He also hoped to recruit new Confederate soldiers and collect much needed supplies for his army. Instead, not only did Union forces repel Price's advances, they forced Price's troops to retreat and, in the end, ended the Confederate's hopes of winning the war west of the Mississippi River.

"Battle of Westport: McGhee's Charge." The Civil War Muse. Accessed August 26, 2022. http://www.thecivilwarmuse.com/index.php?page=the-battle-of-westport-stop07.

"Battle of Westport Monument." Kansas City Parks and Recreation. KCParks.org. Accessed August 26, 2022. https://kcparks.org/places/battle-of-westportmonument-2/.

Beckenbaugh, Terry. "Battle of Westport." Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict,1855-1865. Accessed August 26, 2022. https://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.

Onions, Thomas. "McGhee's Charge." The Historical Marker Database. HMdb.org. May 25, 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=29658.

Phillips, Christopher. "Price’s Missouri Expedition (or Price’s Raid)." Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1855-1865. Accessed August 26, 2022. https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/price-missouri-expedition-or-price-raid.