Loose Park area and the Battle of Westport Walking or Driving Tour
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Description
This tour is arranged in a way to efficiently reach each of the Battle of Westport markers and monuments around Loose Park.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Confederate Position Tour Stop 5 (Battle of Westport Driving Tour) (Price's Raid)
Historical Marker Inscription: At 8:30 A.M. Sun., Oct. 23, 1864, Gen. Shelby's Division moved north and struck Union troops near the Wornall House. Gen. Blunt's Union cavalrymen were driven across Brush Creek. Shelby stopped to bring up ammunition. About 3,000 Confederate men were behind a stone fence along 51st St. facing a heavily wooded area to the north. Here their line extended from Oak St. to State Line. From 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. they came under heavy artillery fire and were forced eventually to pull back to 55th St.This location is the initial Confederate Position on October 23, 1864, during the Battle of Westport, which was the largest Civil War battle west of the Mississippi River. Some historians have called it “the Gettysburg of the West.” It was also the turning of the tide of Price’s Raid into Missouri. The Confederates lost the battle and retreated back to Texas, with Price’s Army of the Missouri disintegrating along the way. The objective of Price’s Raid was to seize St. Louis and take Missouri for the Confederacy; the Union had been in control of Missouri since early in the war. After the battle, the Union was able to maintain control of most of Missouri for the rest of the war. The marker can be viewed by the stone fence near the intersection of 51st Street and 52nd Street. The marker is a stop on the larger tour of the Battle of Westport and was erected by the Monnett Battle of Westport Fund.
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. 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 WornallBench 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
