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Action before Westport, 1864: Revised Edition
The military events surrounding the frontier village of Westport, Missouri, during the autumn of 1864 were part of a Confederate raid that exceeded any Civil War cavalry raid. The climax of a last-ditch Confederate invasion of Missouri, the battle ended forever the bitter fighting that had devastated the Missouri-Kansas border. First published more than thirty years ago and now available with a new introduction and notes that update the text, Action Before Westport presents the only full account of that most unusual and daring Civil War battle.
In addition to incorporating official records, newspaper accounts, letters, diaries, journals, and privately printed records, Monnett consulted several previously undiscovered manuscripts, two of them the work of key Confederate generals in the raid. The result is a classic work that is both immensely readable and impressive in its documentation.
In addition to incorporating official records, newspaper accounts, letters, diaries, journals, and privately printed records, Monnett consulted several previously undiscovered manuscripts, two of them the work of key Confederate generals in the raid. The result is a classic work that is both immensely readable and impressive in its documentation.
217 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 12, 2025
A bit dated now in some aspects (this predates the research that went into Buresh's work on Mine Creek or Sinisi's one-volume summary of the campaign) but still an excellent work for the period from Lexington to Mine Creek.
October 18, 2021
This revised edition (1995) of Howard N Monnett's 1964 classic makes few changes to the original. A useful new introduction is added by the author's son, John H Monnett. A perhaps surprisingly small listing of errata from the original is included, most of which entries are of minor significance. Finally, the order of battle reflects the most recent scholarship of Sterling Price's raid into Missouri during 1864.
This account of actions occurring between Lexington and Westport during the period 21, 22 and 23 October 1864 is, to put it simply, marvelous. Howard Monnett got his facts (mostly) right, documented them very well, laid out his story in a rational manner and told it as succinctly as possible. It's true Monnett's style is old-fashioned, often describing setting and events in a most un-historic manner (e.g., on page 68: "There were the blunt, ugly sounds that bullets make when they strike into human flesh and a horse shrieked in bowel-torn agony and there came a falsetto screech of shattered bone."). This quaint writing might be considered by some readers to add to the book's charm.
Besides putting these events into exceptional focus, I was especially appreciative to learn from this book about some of the political maneuvering going on behind the scenes that shaped the responses to the threat posed by Price, both in Kansas government and within the plans of Major-General Samuel Ryan Curtis. This is not the proper book to examine the various levels of fumbling by William S Rosecrans in St Louis during Price's raid. Suffice it to say that much of the action was a brutal comedy of errors involving more or less incompetent commanders and demoralized rebels and not quite soldiers-of-convenience looking to seize loot as the Confederacy was obviously rapidly collapsing in the East. General Alfred Pleasanton and General Joseph Shelby turn out to be the most competent actors in this drama. Monnett throws some shade on Sam Curtis and I understand what he means, but Curtis does at least maintain his integrity as political concerns are busy dissolving his command in the aftermath of the worst of the fighting.
Price's raid and the action at Westport remains, I daresay, mostly unknown today to locals living in the region and to American Civil War aficionados alike. Even the bloody border wars of Bleeding Kansas and the savage guerrilla warfare that wracked east Kansas and Missouri remain little understood or appreciated today. This book by itself helps to fill in an important gap in our collective historical knowledge , so by all means you should read it. Incidentally, if you'd like helpful guidance while reading this book, I strongly recommend that you spend some time on Dick Titterington's The Civil War Muse website (http://www.thecivilwarmuse.com/). You might want to buy one or more of his books, too.
This account of actions occurring between Lexington and Westport during the period 21, 22 and 23 October 1864 is, to put it simply, marvelous. Howard Monnett got his facts (mostly) right, documented them very well, laid out his story in a rational manner and told it as succinctly as possible. It's true Monnett's style is old-fashioned, often describing setting and events in a most un-historic manner (e.g., on page 68: "There were the blunt, ugly sounds that bullets make when they strike into human flesh and a horse shrieked in bowel-torn agony and there came a falsetto screech of shattered bone."). This quaint writing might be considered by some readers to add to the book's charm.
Besides putting these events into exceptional focus, I was especially appreciative to learn from this book about some of the political maneuvering going on behind the scenes that shaped the responses to the threat posed by Price, both in Kansas government and within the plans of Major-General Samuel Ryan Curtis. This is not the proper book to examine the various levels of fumbling by William S Rosecrans in St Louis during Price's raid. Suffice it to say that much of the action was a brutal comedy of errors involving more or less incompetent commanders and demoralized rebels and not quite soldiers-of-convenience looking to seize loot as the Confederacy was obviously rapidly collapsing in the East. General Alfred Pleasanton and General Joseph Shelby turn out to be the most competent actors in this drama. Monnett throws some shade on Sam Curtis and I understand what he means, but Curtis does at least maintain his integrity as political concerns are busy dissolving his command in the aftermath of the worst of the fighting.
Price's raid and the action at Westport remains, I daresay, mostly unknown today to locals living in the region and to American Civil War aficionados alike. Even the bloody border wars of Bleeding Kansas and the savage guerrilla warfare that wracked east Kansas and Missouri remain little understood or appreciated today. This book by itself helps to fill in an important gap in our collective historical knowledge , so by all means you should read it. Incidentally, if you'd like helpful guidance while reading this book, I strongly recommend that you spend some time on Dick Titterington's The Civil War Muse website (http://www.thecivilwarmuse.com/). You might want to buy one or more of his books, too.
August 10, 2015
A fine book, it covers five days of battle, from Second Lexington on October 19th to the Battle of Westport itself on October 23rd.
December 17, 2016
Fine book on Price's raid.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews