The Battle of Westport, Missouri (today, part of Kansas City) was the largest Civil War battle west of the Mississippi. Troops from as far away as New Jersey and Pennsylvania (as well as Texas, Arkansas, Colorado and Iowa) took part in the hostilities. The battle was the climax of a desperate Confederate raid led by General Sterling Price proceeding from Arkansas across the State of Missouri to the Kansas border. The Union victory at Westport marked the end of major military operations in Missouri and secured Kansas and the trails, rails, and communication lines to the western states. Participants included future governors of both Kansas and Missouri, notorious post-war outlaws and many notable characters that would shape the growth and image of the western states. This project will tell the story of the place, the engagement, the people, and the importance of the Missouri/Kansas border war's greatest battle. The aftermath and legacy of the Battle of Westport will be presented in the broader context of westward expansion and give the reader a greater appreciation of how far-reaching the effects were of those few days in October, 1864.

Paul Kirkman is an author, historian and speaker who lives in Independence, Missouri, with his wife, Shawn, and daughter, Shannon. Paul has his BA in history from Columbia College and has worked as an archival assistant in the Archives of the Kansas City Department of Parks, Recreation & Boulevards and as a speaker for the State Historical Society of Missouri Speakers' Bureau. Paul coauthored Lockdown: Outlaws, Lawmen & Frontier Justice in Jackson County, Missouri with archivist David W. Jackson of the Jackson County, Missouri Historical Society.