Other meanings of Battle of Westport
American Civil War
The Battle of Westport, fought on October 23, 1864, in modern-day Kansas City, Missouri, was a decisive Union victory that ended the last major Confederate offensive west of the Mississippi River. Often called the "Gettysburg of the West," it secured Union control of Missouri and shattered Confederate hopes of reclaiming the state.
The battle climaxed Confederate Major General Sterling Price's 1864 Missouri Expedition, a raid intended to seize St. Louis or Jefferson City, divert Union troops from the East, and influence the 1864 presidential election. After defeats at Pilot Knob and Jefferson City, Price turned west, gathering recruits and supplies. Union Major General Samuel R. Curtis, commanding the Department of Kansas, assembled a force of about 22,000 men, including Kansas militia and cavalry, to intercept Price's 8,500-strong army near Westport, then a small town on the Missouri-Kansas border.
On the morning of October 23, Curtis launched a coordinated attack from the north and east, while Brigadier General John B. Sanborn's division struck the Confederate flank near Brush Creek. The fighting raged across the Wornall and Harris farms, with charges and countercharges. By afternoon, Union cavalry under Major General Alfred Pleasonton, who had pursued Price from the east, broke through the Confederate rear at Byram's Ford. Price's army, outflanked and outnumbered, retreated south under cover of darkness, abandoning wagons and artillery.1
The Union victory ended Confederate operations in Missouri. Price's retreat to Arkansas was a running fight, with his army reduced by desertion and Union pursuit. Casualties were relatively light—about 1,500 total—but the strategic impact was immense: Missouri remained in Union hands, and the Confederacy never again mounted a major offensive west of the Mississippi. The battle also solidified the reputation of Curtis and Pleasonton, while Price's career never fully recovered.
Beyond the main narrative, the battle featured the largest cavalry engagement of the war, with over 20,000 horsemen involved. The site includes the Wornall House, used as a field hospital, and the Loose Park area, where the fighting was most intense. Union forces included the First Kansas Colored Infantry, one of the first Black regiments to see combat, though they were not engaged at Westport itself. The battle also saw the use of the "Kansas Jayhawkers," irregulars who blurred the lines between military and guerrilla warfare. The battlefield was not preserved until the 20th century, and today only a fraction of the original ground is protected.2
The battle is commemorated annually in Kansas City with reenactments and tours.
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