Loose Park Area and the Battle of Westport Walking or Driving Tour

1. Seth Ward House Historical Marker

This expansive Greek Revival mansion was constructed around 1871 for the family of Seth Ward, a frontier trader who arrived in Independence in 1837 and joined a fur trading expedition. Over the next three decades, Ward earned a fortune by providing supplies to frontier military units and later outfitting explorers and settlers at Fort Laramie. After several decades on the frontier, Ward returned to the Kansas City area in 1871. He and his second wife, Mary Ward, daughter of Westport hotelier John Harris, purchased this land from William Bent, another influential and successful trader and land owner in Kansas City history. At that time, Ward's property extended from 51st to 55th Street and Wornall Road to the Kansas-Missouri state line. The property enjoys a rich history that goes beyond Ward and Bent, entailing Mormons, Native Americans, western expansionism, Kansas City's first elected Mayor, and the bloody Battle of Westport during the Civil War in 1864, which took place on the historic property.

2. Collins' Battery Battle of Westport Action on the Third Day Historical Marker Tour Stop 9 (Battle of Westport Driving Tour) (Price's Raid)

Marker Inscription: Near this point on the morning of October 23, 1864, Capt. Richard A. Collins' Confederate battery of Shelby's Brigade went into action, supported by two cavalry battalions. for two hours this battery dueled with the 9th Wisconsin battery, covering the approaches to Westport. So hot was Collins' fire that he burst one of his guns.This historical marker commemorates a key moment in the three-day series of Civil War battles that are collectively known as the Battle of Westport. Near this marker on October 23rd, 1864, a Confederate artillery battery returned fire from the 9th Independent Battery Wisconsin Light Artillery in a two-hour engagement that was followed by a Confederate retreat. The Wisconsin battery was led by Captain Cyrus Johnson, and the men in this Union battery had fought the previous day in the Battle of the Big Blue, which also resulted in a victory for the Union.

3. Replica Canon at Loose Park Historical Markers Tour Stop 8 (Battle of Westport Driving Tour) (Price's Raid)

These historical markers share information about the Battle of Westport, the most consequential battle fought west of the Mississippi River during the Civil War. The battle raged over two days throughout this part of what is now Kansas City, and while the precise location of all troop movements and engagements are not known, some of the most critical locations of the battle can be identified because of topography. For example, the land that is now home to the Pembroke Hill School was the high ground initially occupied by Confederates but captured by Union forces. The land that is now home to Loose Park was near the center of several known engagements and may have likely been used as an encampment and staging ground by Confederate troops in the early stages of the battle. Given the popularity of the park and its walking path, local historians chose this location for the replica cannon and a variety of detailed historical markers that were installed as part of an Eagle Scout project. For those who want to learn more about the Battle of Westport, there are many other historical markers connected to the 25-stop Battle of Westport tour.

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

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.

5. Union Artillery Tour Stop 6 (Battle of Westport Driving Tour) (Price's Raid)

Marker Inscription: When Gen. Curtis moved up the hill to the west Gen. Blunt moved south from Brush Creek through the woods to Loose Park. He drove the Confederates from a stone fence along 51st St. and formed a line there at 11:00 a.m., Oct. 23, 1864. running east and west from Oak St. to the Bent House and south 500 yds. McLain's Colo. Battery of parrott guns was in Wornall Lane. The 9th Wisc. Battery was 100 ft to the west. Thirty Union guns were in line. Attacks were made until noon when the Confederates were pushed south to the Wornall House.This Marker notes how effective Union Artillery was in helping the Union forces push back the Confederates. Union Artillery took out three Confederate artillery pieces. Of note is Douglas’s Independent Kansas Colored Battery (a section was attached to the 9th Wisconsin), which at the Battle of Westport is the first time an African-American unit was officially led by an African-American officer, 2nd Lieutenant Patrick H. Minor, in combat. This is part of the three-day Battle of Westport

6. Confederate Position Historical Marker

This historical marker was dedicated in 1979 to designate the initial position held by Confederate troops on October 23, 1864, as they initially repelled Union attacks from the north before retreating during the pivotal day of the Battle of Westport. The Confederate position here reflects Sterling Price's attempt to attack Union forces in the area one at a time before they could surround his forces. At that time, Price's soldiers and wagon train were located between the Blue River crossing five miles to the east and today's Loose Park, where Confederate troops faced a larger army under General Samuel Curtis, who had built a defensive line along Brush Creek, a few blocks to the north, and were defending the town of Westport. Confederate forces clashed here on the morning of the 23rd with General James Blunt's cavalry, which was part of Samuel Curtis's army. The Confederate force here stretched along a stone fence on what is now 51st Street from current-day Oak Street to State Line Road, while a smaller Confederate force formed a defensive line along present-day 55th Street, the southern border of today's Loose Park. After several skirmishes with the Union troops along Brush Creek to the north, Union forces had successfully outflanked Confederate lines to the west. With dwindling ammunition, artillery fire, and more Union troops arriving from the north, east, and west, the Confederate troops here retreated south to the defensive lines along 55th Street before joining a rapid general retreat from the Kansas City area that afternoon. In the following days, Sterling Price’s Army of the Missouri disintegrated as they retreated south through Kansas and towards Arkansas. After the battle, Union control of most of Missouri was secure, and the Confederate defeat bolstered Lincoln's electoral prospects in November. The marker is located next to a stone fence near 51st Street. While this fence was created after the Civil War, it provides a visual marker of the original fence that Confederate troops on their front lines used as they clashed with Union forces to the north before retreating to the south.

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

The Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City dedicated this monument on October 23, 1953, to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the Battle of Westport. If one was here on October 23, 1864, they would be in the center of a battle that lasted three days and decisively ended Confederate General Sterling Price’s attempt to gain control of Missouri. This marker commemorates the site of that three-day battle, where the Union Army and several Kansas militia units were victorious and sent the men under Confederate General Sterling Price into a rapid retreat south to Texas. The battle was significant because it preserved Abraham Lincoln's reelection prospects at a critical moment as the Union army destroyed Confederate hopes of regaining control of Missouri, perhaps the most critical border state at that time.

8. Union Flanking Movement Historical Marker

Marker Inscription: Here just before noon on Sunday, October 23, 1864, Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis, commanding the Federal Army of the Border, began his flanking movement of Brigadier General Joseph Orville Shelby's Division of the Confederate Army of Missouri. While the Union army was engaged in heavy fighting just east of here, General Curtis led the 9th Wisconsin Battery and Company G of the 11th Kansas Cavalry up a twisting, wooded defile to a position on the left and rear of General Shelby's lines, the battery, firing down the Confederate lines, caused Shelby to pull back from the heights south of Brush Creek, severely weakening the Confederate position.George Thoman, a farmer living just south of Westport pointed out the defile to General Curtis and served as guide. Sunset Drive follows the wall of the old defile.This flanking movement took place during the three-day Battle of Westport. It was the largest battle fought west of the Mississippi River. About 30,000 troops fought during this battle, which included approximately 22,000 Union soldiers and 8,500 Confederate soldiers, though the numbers in the records are inconsistent. The Union Line was located along Brush Creek and the Confederate line was located near what is now Loose Park. This flanking movement was pivotal to the Union victory.

9. Union Position Historical Marker

The Union positioning is crucial to understanding the Battle of Westport, which occurred on October 23, 1864. It is notable as being the largest battle west of the Mississippi River and is often referred to as the “Gettysburg of the West.” This significant battle was the final nail in the coffin of Price’s 1864 Raid into Missouri, causing the Confederates to retreat southward, ending the last major Confederate offensive in the Trans-Mississippi theater of the war. The objective of Price’s Raid was to seize St. Louis and take Missouri for the Confederacy. The Union army forced the pro-southern Missouri State Guard and the Confederate Army out of Missouri by early 1862. Although countered by a Confederate guerrilla insurgency, Union forces were able to maintain control over most of the state for the remainder of the war. The Union Position historical marker is located on the triangle divider between Ward Parkway and Sunset Drive on the south side of Brush Creek and is part of a larger tour of the Battle of Westport developed by the Monnett Battle of Westport Fund.

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Loose Park Area and the Battle of Westport Walking or Driving Tour

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