Skirmis after skirmish, then victory

They knew there would be battle come daylight. After all, that is the reason they were there

Some 400 Union soldiers were strung out east of Independence along the west bank of the Little Blue River near present-day U.S. 24.

The Union regiment was well outnumbered and knew they had no chance of winning this battle. The soldiers of Col. Thomas Moonlight were under orders to simply slow down the onslaught of the approaching Confederate Army. When they could no longer hold the line against the much larger rebel force, the boys in blue were supposed to fall back to the west, and join a much larger regiment lined up on the other side of Independence, along the “Big” Blue River, where they expected to halt the enemy for sure. This little exercise would become part of the Battle of Westport.

On Oct. 19, 1864, former Missouri governor, Confederate Gen. Sterling Price, rode out of Arkansas and moved up through central Missouri with about 9,000 tired, ragged troops reaching as far north as the Missouri River. He was under orders to launch a siege on Kansas City and then move on to destroy the Union garrison at Leavenworth. Upon arriving at Lexington, before they were really ready for a battle, they encountered Federal troops detached from Leavenworth and from St. Louis to stop them. As the battle began, the Union forces found out in a hurry that the Confederate troops were to be reckoned with.

Price’s army pushed the Union troops back westward toward Kansas City until encountering those 400 soldiers dug in along the Little Blue River. In an attempt to slow the rebels, Moonlight’s men rolled a wagon load of hay onto the bridge and set it on fire. However, that had little effect because the river was not hard to ford without a bridge. Price pushed through the line and continued along the old Santa Fe Trail westward across the Independence Square. When they encountered the much larger Union line at the Big Blue, the rebels simply rode southward around the line toward Byram’s Ford near present-day Swope Park, and then on toward the town of Westport.

It was there that the Union forces finally stopped them and dug in for a three-day stand off. The Union troops were holding on the north side of Brush Creek facing the Confederate forces that were entrenched on a wooded ridge known today as Loose Park. Repeated attacks on Price’s army failed to dislodge them from their position until a local farmer showed Union Gen. Samuel R. Curtis a concealed gulch that led up into the Confederate flanks. Curtis took a crack team of Kansas soldiers up the gulch and caught Price’s men off guard and proceeded to roust the Rebels in a hard fought retreat southward down the state line.

The Union army continued to push them south into Miami County, Kan. A final battle on Mine Creek pretty well brought an end to the Confederate army in the west as Price’s defeated rebels forces retreated into Arkansas.

The Battle of Westport, which is sometimes known as the Gettysburg of the West, was fought between Oct. 21 and 23, 1864. That hard fought battle will be re-enacted May 17 and 18 at the Jerry Smith Park, 135th Street and Holmes Road. For tickets and information go to www.standofcolors.org.

Reference: “River’s Bend,” Schirmer & McKenzie.

The Civil War Roundtable of Western Missouri will host a bus tour Saturday,, May 10 leaving at 9 a.m. from the Old Blake Museum, 106 E. Walnut St., two blocks south of the Independence Square. They will tour the battle sights at Little Blue, Byram’s Ford and Westport. The tour price is $30 and reservations should be made by calling 816-478-7648.