From previous marker, continue on Park Drive, right turn on Wornall Rd to intersection of 53rd St. This marker is located on the eastern edge of the park along Wornall about half way between 53rd Terrace and 54th Street. |
McGhee's Charge Historical Marker
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McGhee's Charge Historical Marker Inscription "On October 23, 1864, near noon, Colonel McGhee's mounted Arkansans charged north on Wornall Lane to capture McLain's Colorado Battery. Captain Johnson of the 15th Kansas Cavalry attacked saving the guns. McGhee was killed in a hand-to-hand fight with Captain Johnson who was wounded. Troops of the 2nd Colorado 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 southeast corner of 53rd Terrace and Wornall." |
You are standing in the area where McLain’s Battery was attacked by Colonel J. H. McGehee’s Arkansas Cavalry Regiment. It was nearing 11:00 a.m. when the Federals advanced up the hill from Brush Creek. Once again, McLain’s Battery deployed astride Wornall Lane, but this time further south near present day 53rd Terrace. Brig. Gen. Jo Shelby’s position was becoming more and more tenuous. He was receiving artillery fire from the north and west. The artillery fire from McLain’s Battery was taking its toll on Shelby’s men. And he had just received a courier from Price ordering him to pull out and withdraw south. Shelby makes no mention of McGehee’s charge in his official report. But then McGehee’s regiment was assigned to Dobbin’s Brigade in Fagan’s Division. Still, Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson remembered getting orders to support the charge.
Regardless, Colonel McGehee led a charge down Wornall Lane towards the battery. The stone walls lining either side of the road severely limited his cavalry’s maneuverability. Upon reaching the battery, McGehee discovered it was not the lightly defended battery he was expecting. Federal Colonel Charles R. Jennison, commanding the First Brigade, saw the charge and yelled to Captain Curtis Johnson, Company E, 15th Kansas Cavalry, to support the exposed battery. Johnson and Company E arrived just as McGehee’ troops began to attack. Legend has it Captain Johnson and Colonel McGehee met each other with pistols drawn. Both Johnson and McGehee were wounded and the Confederates repulsed. McLain’s Battery was safe. In his official report, Colonel Jennison wrote that Colonel McGehee was killed, but in fact the Confederate was only wounded.
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