Union Wins Westport: Last Missouri Campaign Decided
The Battle of Westport on October 23, 1864, was the largest Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River, with roughly 30,000 soldiers involved. Confederate General Sterling Price had led a raid into Missouri hoping to capture the state capital and swing the upcoming presidential election against Lincoln. Union forces under Samuel Curtis and Alfred Pleasonton caught Price's army near Kansas City and routed it over two days of fighting along Brush Creek. Price's defeated column retreated south through Kansas, losing men to constant cavalry pursuit. The battle ended the last serious Confederate attempt to reclaim Missouri. Price fled into Mexico after the war. The engagement is sometimes called 'the Gettysburg of the West' for its decisive impact on the Trans-Mississippi theater.
October 23, 1864
162 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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