October 23, 1864 Battle of Westport, the "Gettysburg of the West."
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- čas přidán 26. 10. 2023
- When in the late summer of 1864 a force of some twelve thousand soldiers under the command of Confederate major general Sterling Price were sent to capture the state of Missouri for the Confederacy, it represented a real threat to the Union.
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Script by THG
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I lived near Wilson Creek and visited it often. I actually used to run the park road and stop and visit many of the sites including Bloody Hill. I ran the road at almost the same day that the battle took place. As I approached Bloody Hill, I tried to imagine running up that hill in a wool uniform, carrying a 10lbs+ rifle, with 50 caliber bullets wizzing by me, and on a hot, humid day. It was unimaginable. Great park and worth the visit if in the area.
Now try that after a 10 mile march.
I work just down the road from Wilson’s Creek. I used to be a Civil War reenactor. I never got to go to Wilson’s Creek for an event, but I went to quite a few others. I have run up a hill in the summer wearing the full wool uniform. No, it isn’t the same as a real battle. But I’ve gotten so caught up in a reenactment before that I have forgotten, momentarily, that it wasn’t a real battle. Gives a different perspective for sure.
Ever see any ghosts? Allegedly, a lot of these battlefields are haunted.
@@1977Yakkoyou don't see them, you feel them.
@@joshpulliamso you had the "flash" the coveted moment good for you.
The most important Gen. Sterling Price in history has to be John Wayne’s cat in True Grit. The cat deserves to be remembered…
Corn dodgers are history that deserves to be remembered.
@@mikebrase5161go to cowboy Kent Rollins. Or just hot water cornbread.
One of my favorite characters in that movie, besides the guy that says cock-a-doodle-doo!
My dad was a Confederate Civil War re-enactor from Texas and participated in many 'battles' with Trans Mississippi 9th and 12th Texas Infantries. He participated in Chickamauga and many other battles for more than 10 yrs.
He also was an Honor Guard for the disenterrment, relocation and reburial of Genl. Joseph Johnson in Fairfield, Texas in about 2005. Re-enacting was his passion and my mother and I also attended many events as participants dressed in period garb. It was a wonderful hobby!
When l first started reenacting, l was in in the 12th.Texas lnfantry.That was in '98, my first event was at Mansfield,La. I stayed in the 12th.Texas for a couple of years, then joined the 15th.Texas.
It was the actual numbered designated unit of my Great grandfather, my mom happened to be at that event. And talked me into jumping ship so to speak.
I made one national event, and that was Gettysburg for the 145 th. anniversary in '08. Used to have a lot of fun burning powder and shooting at bluebellies.
I never galvanized either! DEO VINDICE GOD Save The South!!!
My grandmother used to tell the story that her mother told her, about Prices Missouri raid. My great grandparents had a farm about six miles east of Union, Missouri and when they heard that Prices army would be coming through their area they took as much of their foodstuffs and livestock that they could and hid in the woods. The foraging army was known to liberate all the food and belongings of farms they encountered. It was good to hear your report of Prices raid and ultimate defete at Westport.
Here in Kansas City, once upon a time, I worked with an older man who lived in Lexington, Mo. He occasionally liked to comment about the Battle of Lexington, "Where we beat back those Yankees." Sometimes, when I as a native Kansan feeling a little ornery, would reply, "Yes, but when you came to Westport, we chased you Rebs all the way back to Texas!" I miss that old gentleman.
As a Kansas City resident, thanks for doing our forgotten battle. The 160th anniversary is this year.
Never heard of the Battle of Westport. Looking forward to watching this episode!
Suggestions for Civil War Battles that need to be remembered:
Battle of Mine Creek - Oct 25, 1864
Battle of Columbus, GA - April 18, 1865
My ancestors (Lyman Rowley, George Rowley, James Rowley, Amos Rowley, Volney Rowley and Napoleon B. Thorman) were troopers in the 4th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry
As a native of Missouri, I found this episode very interesting.
My hometown was about 80 miles northeast of Kansas City. My parents had family in and around the Kansas City area. If we went to visit someone, often times my mother would convince my dad that she needed to go shopping on the Plaza. It was on these shopping trips that I began to learn about the Battle of Westport.
The Plaza shopping area, rich in Harry Truman and Tom Pendergast history, was just a few blocks east of where some of the heaviest fighting took place. While there are several sites of the battle that still exist, some were destroyed as Kansas City and the Plaza area grew.
One of the first mentioned accounts of the battle in a movie that I remember, was in the 1969 version of “True Grit”. Rooster ( John Wayne) is telling Mattie (Kim Darby) how he lost his eye. He mentions the Battle of Westport and a skirmish at Lone Jack, which is just east of Kansas City. Rooster’s cat is named General Stirling Price. This knowledge prompted me to do more research on the battle.
Thanks for a great episode about a battle that is too often overlooked.
Thank you for covering the war in my home state! I am a lifelong Missourian, and yes, the Civil War in Missouri needs to be remembered. It would be awesome to see more Missouri battles covered. Like the Battle of Lexington, Missouri. Which was won with bales of hemp!
Also, General Order Number 11 needs its own video. My direct ancestors had their house burned to the ground, along with the entire town of Dayton, Missouri. My Great, great, great grandfather had to move the family to Texas until the war ended. Once the war was over they came back to Missouri and settled on the land that is still in our family to this day. The order created what was known as the “Burnt District”. Entire counties of people were forced out of their homes at gunpoint, the houses, barns and sheds burned. And often if the men were of fighting age and deemed to be southern sympathizers they were shot on the spot.
Based Order Number 11
Missourians that sided with the Southland caught nine kinds of hell in The War Between the States. Glad your people were able to reclaim the land that belonged to them. And not some scheming carpetbaggers rooking them out of it. DEO VINDICE
Huzzah! You did one about the battle in my neck of the woods! A few key notes here from a local;
-Westport is now considered a sub-division of Kansas City. Much of the old battlefields have been built over but some of the battlefield has been preserved at Jacob Loose Park, just south of what has become Country Club Plaza, near the intersection of 51st St. and Wornall Road.
-One of the justifications for Price's raid, that it would divert troops from Sherman's army west, was undone not four days after Price stepped off from Camden, AR. On Sept. 2 Sherman captured Atlanta, thus dashing any hope that the raid would divert any troops from the east.
-It should be noted that on the same day that Price fought the battle of Pilot Knob (the hill which Fort Davidson was positioned on), infamous Confederate guerilla "Bloody" Bill Anderson perpetrated the Centralia Massacre, in which he killed 24 unarmed Union prisoners. Anderson has a local connection; his sister was housed in an informal "women's prison" in Kansas City along with other bushwhacker relations when the rickety building collapsed in 1863, injuring Anderson's sister and killing four others. This was the justification for the infamous Lawrence raid by William Quantrill later that same year. The location of the jail was built over in later years and is now the site of the T-Mobile Arena, though a historical marker stands nearby.
-Brush Creek was a reedy, half-frozen marshland in 1864. But it has been built up and encased with cement, due in large part to Democratic party boss (and infamous bootlegger with ties to the Kansas City mafia) Tom Pendergast. According to the local story, Pendergast wanted access to a country club where all the "old money" families entertained. He was denied membership and, out of spite, "awarded" a contract to a cement company he owned to pave over Brush Creek, making the same marshy creek that Curtis' men charged over into what has essentially become a drainage culvert.
-Finally, the John Wornall house stands a few blocks away from Loose Park. This house was finished in 1855, and served as both Price's headquarters and as a field hospital. Marmaduke led a desperate rear-guard action near the house as the Confederate Army was pushed back down Wornall Road, but was forced to retreat by Pleasanton's overwhelming cavalry force. The house then passed into Union control and continued as a field hospital for the next few days. It is now a museum that gives tours and is also supposedly haunted, having been featured in the series "My Ghost Story" in the episode "History Never Dies".
I live two blocks south of Loose Park, directly south of the former location of the General's Tree, where Price allegedly observed some of the batter. I believe he was fat and in a carriage at that point, not on a horse. Pendergast was a Democratic Machine boss. He was Irish. No mafia in KC at that point (about 1920 to 1940). Pendergast was the mob boss/political boss.
@@brianfinucane7114 My wife's grandfather helped build bootlegging tunnels under the North End in the 1920's for the mob, so they were active in the city even if people didn't know about it then.
My 3rd Great Grandfather was in the 3rd WI Cavalry and served in the Trans-Mississippi theater. I'm headed to the Honey Springs Battlefield the first weekend in November for some special events there.
Honey Springs is a great site. An amazing museum for such a small site off the beaten paths of Civil War battlefields.
@@aaronfleming9426 there are special events going on next weekend.
Always awesome to see coverage of historical events I've reenacted!
Another great video! I always send your Civil War uploads to my Father, a real mid-western Civil War buff if there ever was one. He has a good story about working for a pipeline in the 60s digging a trench and coming upon unmarked civil war era graves. How spooky it was seeing those barely shoulder width hundred year old pine boxes, one that had boot soles poking out of the muddy bottom. Happy Halloween 💀🎃🕸️
Wow, did he say how many there were ?
@@marvmattison5248 he only saw 3-4 I think, once they found them they stopped digging there and circumvented the site after the local historic specialists, either from a museum or from a nearby university, had come in and marked it off.
@@SHAd0Eheart ok thanks 👍
Westport is now part of Kansas City, generally around Broadway and Westport Road about 4 miles south of downtown. There are all sorts of historical plaques around in Westport and even down to Loose Park and beyond. It would be quite a hike if anyone is interested in marching the route.
Thank you History Guy for once again shining light on the Trans-Mississippi. Many of Price's men were executed after the battle because since they did not have Confederate uniforms, they were either dressed in civilian clothing or wearing Union blue uniforms and shot on the spot as spies.
I have been studying Jo Shelby's Expedition into Mexico and the Confederate colony there which would be a great subject for a miniseries. Another interesting story from the Trans-Mississippi is that of Union soldiers court-martialed for freeing slaves in Missouri as told in Incident at the Otterville Station: A Civil War Story of Slavery and Rescue by John Christgau.
Never heard of any executions. I would be surprised. I live on battlefield and have read a lot about the battle.
Actually, they did have uniforms on both sides often times the Confederate uniforms were of unbleached wool.
11:27 The 15th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry's own Captain Curtis Johnson showing his salt by having duel with a fellow officer in the middle of a battle. That is badass.
Thank You for this fantastic video.
Another battle that was not taught to us in school.
Good Friday morning History Guy and everyone watching. Have a great weekend....
I lived and worked in this area my first 33 years and never really understood the battle of Westport and its significance. Thanks for a clear and concise explanation.
Thank you for your hard work in these episodes! This one is particularly fun because I was driving by one of the sites described on my way into work while listening to this episode!
I lived in Kansas city Missouri for 20 years. I've been to Westport many times. I lived in Independence for a while. I had completely forgotten about that history. It's there if you look for it. I remember John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn saying he lost his eye in the battle of Lone Jack. I used to go fishing there.
The irony of a farmer searching for a stolen horse contributing to a decisive Confederate defeat is wonderful.
As a native of Missouri I thank you history guy
I'm from Kansas City, it's truly bizarre how bad we are at remembering it. Nothing is named after it, any monuments standing to the brave Union men who defended the city are tucked away and out of view. For what they did, saving our city, there should be Monuments to Generals Curtis and Blunt all over the city. Every citizen of the town should know their name. But it's been forgotten, and that's a tragedy.
"military riffraff" sounds like a band....
This was fascinating to me! Firstly because as much as I thought that I knew about the civil war, I’d never heard of this battle. What’s more is that Jeremiah Johnson is my all time favorite movie and I never knew that it was based on a real man and true events.
Thank you very much!
9:56 My grandparents lived in a house on the south side of Brush Creek. A cannonball had been found in the backyard, and you could still see the scars made by the rifle bullets on the big oak tree in the front yard from this battle. That tree has some lead in it! Still alive. I wonder if someone was using it for cover.
Yes you don't hear much about the tran-Mississippi theater in the Civil War but you did have some pretty bloody engagements that took on a more personal nature. And of course there were white, black and Native American combatants.
There's a great film, "Ride With the Devil", where there's a line the line, " army's are back east. In Missouri, there is only the people to fight you."
Great video. We lived in Lee's Summit, near Kansas City, for about 10 years. There was also a battle at Lone Jack, just east of Lee's Summit. It includes a small museum.
I grew up in Jackson County Missouri and was thrilled to see you cover this event. I lived for a time within walking distance of the area the battle was fought on. Lots of lessons from that time that we'd do well to learn today.
Westport is one battlefield that looks very different now than it did in 1864, being today an urbanized part of Kansas City.
Once again, you find an interesting topic that I had never heard about.
You never disappoint. I give my thanks to you and your assistants. Hope you have a peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving.
One of the ironies is Pleasonton was the Union commander of the two largest Cavalry Battles in North America getting sent West was a form of punishment. Im sure most southerners will disagree but Sheridan was a competent replacement.
Back in the Saddle Again Naturally
Thanks for the shout out for the Battle of Pilot Knob State Historic Site.
Honey Creek, Westport, Franklin TN, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove are all called "Gettysburg of the West"... Probably Westport and the Missouri campaign quality best as that .
Love all your videos, being a history buff I totally enjoy watching them.
Thank you
Thanks!
Thank you!
New Mexico's Battle of Glorieta Pass of 1862 is also known as the Gettysburg of the West. That battle essentially stopped Confederate forays into the southwest.
Another absolutely superb Video. At the closing you made several valid points THG. Thanks as always
The bulk of the battlefield is now the Country Club Plaza. A very picturesque upscale shopping area
i live in missouri and love the hidden history left behind by the war in the east - proud jackson county background - family came from kentucky to settle - many battles fought lost to time - do a video on island mound ' fort africa in bates co mo first colored combat under yankee colors or battle of mine creek the last bloodbath west and the end of gen price - jesse and frank james very famous around these parts
There is a good auto/bicycle tour following a series of historical markers that begins at Kelly’s Westport Inn and travels through the Plaza, Loose Park, Swope Park and Forest Hill cemetery.
That last part especially the last sentence is typical of the reasons I love The History Guy.
It's nice to know about the Civil War and some of things that our teachers didn't cover
Always learn something new!
The fort was named after Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson, commander of the Southeast Missouri District, and was manned by local Union militia and volunteer infantry.
I grew up in Kansas City and there was a lot about the Battle of Westport in our history classes, but almost no one else knows about it. Of particular interest was the story of John Wornall, who owned a large house that both sides used as a hospital as it kept changing hands. The Confederates kept trying to hang him as a traitor only for the Union to push them back and save him.
I work just a mile from Westport, steeped in history. Also, east of Westport, is Lexington, MO, where the, “Battle of the Hemp Bales,” took place.
The location of that battle, along Brush Creek is smack in the middle of Kansas City now and is now the site of the Country Club Plaza. That's why there is no National Battlefield of Westport. You're right about the Trans Mississippi theater being neglected. I have a Master's in the Civil War and I didn't study the war in that area.
A good job on a very complicated battle.
I used to work in a store on the battlefield from which you could see Bents House.
Thanks for coming back to this subject. Sterling Price is buried in north St. Louis, & beside it is the grave site of Governor Gamble. Something of interest. But what i would like to see is what you could do for Henry Clay Dean.
A battle that should get far more notice but probably gets passed over for the larger battles of the main armies.
Okay, don't steal the farmer's horse. Thanks History Guy. I appreciate the great story telling.
"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"
I grew up on the eastern edge of "Bloody Kansas," and in my youth during the 1970's there were still plenty of families on both sides of the border still bitter about events that occurred between 1854-1865, as well as some after. Harrisonville, MO still celebrates 'Younger Days' each year in celebration of the Younger brothers, members of Bloody Bill Andersons guerilla raiders (Bushwhackers) and later of the "James Gang."
So Many battles have been lost by soldiers looting instead of fighting! It certainly can play a role in outcomes. Nothing does more damage to both sides than a hungry soldier.
Nearly 1.3 million subs and I am 59 to hit like. An honor. Love your hard work. Thank you.
I have heard of the battle of Glorietta Pass as the key in the far west, so it's nice to get a clearer picture of the theater further east
There's a book I don't know if it's still in print called glorietta the Gettysburg of West
Another excellent episode. Fantastic research.
Excellent and accurate account. I live on the battlefield, about a half mile southeast of the Bent house, in what was then a cornfield on the map, although my home is close to the structure on the map. in the cornfield. A confederate battery was about a half block from my house.
What a nice summary of the final Confederate campaign in the Trans Mississippi during ACW.
Westport is now a name of an area in Kansas City MO, It is a busy area north of the Country Club Plaza and south of downtown.
I appreciate you and thank you for making content.
thank you for sharing ❤
Brilliant.
Stayed at the Old Greenville campground in Southern Missouri, the original cemetery has union and confederate dead buried there after a skirmish on the St. Francis River.
I had the understanding that the Battle of Pea Ridge was the largest battle fought west of the Mississippi river.
There were more confederates at Pea Ridge, but fewer federals. Overall Westport included a few thousand more combatants.
It is easy to forget the Continental scale of the Civil War. It battles stretching all the way to Arizona. Price earlier in the year had fought a series of battles in AR against General Steele in the disastrous Camden expedition which was part of the misbegotton Red River campaign in which Steele hoped to hook up with Gen Banks .Both Steele and Banks failed miserably. Steele retreated and Price harried him but could not quite finish him. However ,Effective Union control in AR was diminished to a few strong points such as Little Rock and Fort Smith.
Funny how time heals, I grew up in Kansas City, and today Westport is considered the Bourbon Street of KC!
A trip to Bellefonte cemetery is worth the trip to pay your respects to General Price.
thanks
I like the short History Guy , Episodes , 👍👍👍
You've done the good folks of Helper proud,; good on ya' The last time I was in Helper, Utah it was the early 1970s and there was still some life to the town, but not much. It does my heart good to see people breathing life back into the place. If it's ghost towns and ghosts you're after check out the town of Winter Quarters just outside of Schofield, Utah. The worst mining disaster in the state happened in the early 1900s trapping 250 miners and destroying a good part of the town. They're still there!
I'm from Missouri, and own a farm adjacent to the Butterfield Overland Stage route. The Confederacy and Federal forces both camped on the creek that runs through my farm. I would like to take my metal detector and search for artifacts, but a high voltage transmission power line that bisects my farm and negates any metal detecting. I have found a few artifacts while turning soil for a garden, but I'm sure much remains 4-8" below the soil surface.
Love your vids. You should explore this topic more with an episode on the 'General Order 11'
Samuel Bass, responsible for the freeing of Solomon Northup, deserves to be remembered. (Brad PItt played him in the 2013 movie, 12 Years a Slave). Bass died knowing he did right and most likely hoped his efforts would be a small drop in the bucket of ending slavery in the USA.
Looks like we're still making more history out there. Stay frosty & keep your pencils sharp, sir.
Shedding light upon the Past…
Lost opportunity for THG’s final comment - Just add the following to the end of his last remark: “….but that is a horse of a different color.” 😁
Never heard of the battle but when the answer comes up on Jeopardy regarding the battle I will have the question.
Interesting and informative. I have always heard the 1862 Battle of Glorietta Pass in New Mexico referred to as the Gettysburg of the West.
czcams.com/video/_dQzYdFY_w4/video.htmlsi=mOZbDuVbXrtJZym0
I think it was an oversight not to mention William Cody is a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
13:52
Is that the "DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!" robot on the top shelf?
It is. It has a button to make it say the line.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I'm a child of the late '80s, but at least I got the reference!
2:44 Holy Smokes - @TuckerCarlson is from Missouri!
Does look like him…
An important backstory of this offensive is that it was done by the surviving Missourian and Arkansan infantry but most of both states had been lost. These regiments were mostly not destroyed in the fighting around Fayetteville, Little Rock, and Vicksburg but forced into the south of the state where they were so poor they were using jars instead of canteens and carried bullets loosely in their pockets because they had no ammo boxes and many lacked winter clothing in a campaign expected to continue through the winter.
Yes, they were poorly equipped, sent with the hope that the people of Missouri would supply them. Instead of wide support, Price generally found that Missourians wanted nothing to do with the war.
I grew up in Kansas City, I know most of the areas described in the battle.
I knew James Blunt had a military background, but had no idea he was this old. Very interesting.
Lol different guy.
Indeed lol, but I found it amusing and like to comment for the algorithm.
To be fair, Sherman did not "side-step" Hood's army--after Sherman's army entered Atlanta, Hood stepped out of Sherman's way to invade Tennessee. By his command, Hood destroyed his army at Franklin and finally Nashville, at almost the same time that Sherman's forces linked with the U.S. Navy at Savannah. By the end of 1864, the armies in the western Confederacy were broken, and the states of Alabama and Mississippi could have been captured if the U.S. hadn't been focused on the eastern Confederate states.
Maybe you should do a story on the Missouri Tigers during the Civil War.
With only 8500 confederate combatants and 22,000 Union forces the handle of Gettysburg of the West seems a bit grandiose.
The Battle of Franklin, which featured a larger frontal assault than at Gettysburg seems a far more appropriate engagement to wear the mantle of comparison to Gettysburg.
A variation of the proverbial poem line "for want of a horse...the battle was lost"?
I noticed that your Cap and Ball revolver in the background has it's hammer cocked...
It isn’t loaded.
You mentioned a lot of names that would make good short biography videos for you. Have a good day.
It makes me wonder if there were any famous western figures of the time that missed the battle?
Not to mention the hundreds of skirmishes that prefaced these actions between Missourians and Kansas territory occupants. You know Bleeding Kansas. Heck the Battle of Blackjack was a solid decade before the Civil War.
"Kansas Territory occupants"? People lived in Kansas Territory long before the Civil War, some were my ancestors. No wonder we have a bloody distaste for "Occupants of Missouri".
@@vernonsheldon-witter1225 Truly there were. There were native tribes, tribes displaced to this territory to try and find a home only to be displaced again during the mid 1800s again. I've found white settlers graves as early as the 1850s in Kansas, predominantly the Leavenworth area. Just across State line there is a small cemetery with graves back to the 1820s. Settlement existed long before that but most has been lost to time sadly. Was your family native American or early white settlers? Mine goes back to Pennsylvania Dutch around the late 1600s but ended up in Sedalia in the mid-late 1800s.
I am reminded of a Bill Mauldin up front cartoon where Willie exclaims to Joe _"Th'hell this ain't the most important piece 'o ground in the war, I'm in it!"_ (or words to that effect)
Every engagement is a desperate action. Every battle is important and deserves to be remembered. We all share the same fear and uncertainty, and we all have the same hopes and prayers to come out of it okay and victorious. _(extremists, zealots & Fanatics are a likely exception to the rule)
I heard another story about why this battle was so important. As the value of the Confederate dollar collapsed, Texas horse ranchers could drive herds up from Texas and sell them to the US Army for good US dollars. In, William C. Davis' Look Away, Southern famers were happy to sell food to the Union army when they had the chance.