 |
 |
 |
Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price had invaded Missouri on September 19, 1864, to capture St. Louis and Jefferson City with the intention of reestablishing Confederate control in the state. But Price had failed to achieve these objectives. By late October Price was only concerned with returning safely to Arkansas with his 500 wagons full of supplies and several thousand men, newly recruited to fight for the Confederacy.
For three days, Union forces battled Price’s cavalry forces over an area covering 35 square miles in west central Missouri. There were two separate Union forces engaged during the Battle of Westport. From the Department of Kansas, Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis had marshaled an army of 15 to 20 thousand men, made up of Federal cavalry volunteers and Kansas State Militia. From the Department of the Missouri, Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton commanded a cavalry force of about 6,500 troopers which had been pursuing Price’s army since it had bypassed Jefferson City.
It wasn’t until early afternoon on October 23, when after three days of fighting, these Union commands made contact with one another. After Pleasonton’s forces broke through at Byram’s Ford, Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt’s forces had launched a counterattack south of Brush Creek. The Federals joined together to press the retreating Confederates a couple of miles south of Brush Creek on the plains of southern Jackson County.
But men from Brig. Gen. Jo Shelby’s division made a desperate stand and held off the Union pursuit. Now the Confederate wagon train was safely past New Santa Fe, and Price ordered his forces to disengage and fall back to protect the wagon train. Price set up camp on the middle fork of the Grand River about 24 miles southwest of Independence, Missouri.
Confederate Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson recalled that first night after their defeat at the Battle of Westport.
We moved slowly to the middle fork of Grand River, reaching there after night fall to find the trains camped in the greatest confusion. I at last found a portion of our wagons, and we here passed rather a gloomy night, but from the fatigue occasioned by the constant fighting for the three past days, I slept as soundly as if there were not a foeman in a thousand miles ... On the morning of the 24th, we lost several hours in getting the train untangled and forming the Brigade, for in the confusion of the night before, men and wagons—artillery and refugees, were so mixed that it was nearly impossible to unravel them.
Maj. Gen. Sterling Price
Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis
Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton
Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt
Brig. Gen. Jo Shelby
Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson
|
 |
|