Battle of Westport

After the fall of Vicksburg, the Transmissippi, Confederate states west of the Mississippi, were cut off from the rest of the Confederacy. However, campaigns still continued there. Kirby Smith, Confederate commander of the theater, came up with a plan for an offensive campaign. He ordered Stirling Price to lead an army into Missouri, and capture St. Louis or Jefferson City, the capitol. He was then to move into Kansas and the Indian Territory, rounding up supplies that would be of use to the south. Price had 12,000 men in three divisions. They were mostly cavalry, but he hoped that Missourians would flock to join his army.

Price

Price began his expedition in September, 1864. Cavalry set out to pursue him, along with A. J. Smith's corps of infantry. He skirmished around St. Louis and Jefferson city, but determined that they were too heavily fortified for his men to capture. Instead he turned west, and headed for Kansas. Samuel Curtis, the Federal commander in Kansas, was hurrying to gather troops to meet him. The Federals were not not prepared to meet this attack, but Curtis was able to gather 22,000 men into his Army of the Border, most of whom were militia. By this time Price's forces numbered less than 9,000, depleted by the marching and fighting.

As Price advanced toward Westport, Missouri, modern day Kansas City, he knew he was in trouble. Curtis was making a stand at Westport, but Price was also being pursued by Union cavalry under Alfred Pleasonton. He would try to deal with the Union armies one at a time, first attacking Curtis at Westport. The battle was fought on October 23^rd, 150 years ago today.

Fighting at Brush Creek

The fighting began when Union skirmishers advanced across Brush Creek. The Confederate divisions of Joe Shelby and James Fagan attacked, and drove back the Federal brigades. Curtis arrived on the field, and sent reinforcements in to counterattack. They were driven back, so he looked for another way to strike Price's army. A local farmer named George Thoman pointed the Union troops to a gulch which led to Shelby's left flank. Curtis sent his escort and the 9^th Wisconsin Battery to move up this ravine to the Confederate flank. This gave the Yankees the edge they needed, and they began to make progress in their attacks, slowly pushing the Confederates back.

Byram's Ford. Source. 

Price's rear was also in danger. Pleasonton's pursuing Union cavalry drove the Confederate rearguard away from Byram's Ford. The Confederates soon realized their danger, and Price ordered a retreat to escape from the encircling Federal forces. Disengaging from Curtis' forces was difficult, and at several points Confederate brigades in the rear were broken. The retreat was hasty, and many rebels threw away gear which they could no longer carry. To cover the retreat, the Confederates set the prairie on fire, so they would be shielded by a smoke screen.

Confederate cemetery. Source. 

Price headed south, with the Union forces still in pursuit. He was able to reach Confederate territory after several skirmishes, but with about half the men he had set out with. The Battle of Westport was one of the most important in the Transmississippi Theater. It has been called the Gettysburg of the West, because it cemented Union control of Missouri and generally ended further Confederate campaigning.

Preparations for Elkhorn Tavern

During 1861 and the first months of 1862, the Northern armies had driven the Southern sympathizing Missouri militia out of their state. Samuel Curtis continued on with 10,250 men and 50 cannon into Arkansas. The Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department was Major General Earl Van Dorn. To resist Curtis, Van Dorn had gathered 16,000 men. This would be one of the few times during the Civil War where the Southerners would have more men than their Union opponents.

Curtis picked the best defensive position he could find and waited for Van Dorn to attack. Van Dorn did not want to attack the Federal entrenchments frontally, so he planned to march around Curtis' position and strike his army in the flank and rear.

The Confederates undertook a night march to the Union flank 150 years ago today. Like many Civil War Van Dorn's men were much slower than expected. The roads had been obstructed by Curtis, and Van Dorn had no engineer corps to handle clearing the roads. It was a terrible march for the men, with one third of them falling out of the ranks before arriving at their destination. However, they were able to get in a wonderful position. On the morning of March 7th, they would be directly in the Federal rear. It seemed all but certain that victory was at hand for the Confederates in Arkansas.