Battle of Westport order of battle: Union explained

The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Westport of the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately.

Command disputes

By order of MG Blunt (General Field Orders No. 2) the militia regiments of William H. M. Fishbeck, Brigadier General of Militia, were placed under the command of Charles W. Blair, Colonel of Volunteers; Fishbeck was infuriated that his command had been subordinated to a volunteer officer. Because Kansas law stated that militia should be kept under the command of militia officers, Fishbeck disregarded Blunt's order. Blunt had Fishbeck arrested and held until released by order of MG Curtis. Upon his release, Fishbeck resumed command of the Kansas Militia regiments, with orders to obey directives that came from MG Blunt. This rather cumbersome arrangement had BG Fishbeck in direct command of the militia units attached to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, and Col Charles Blair in overall command of the brigade. Howard N. Monnett describes the arrangement as a "brigade within a brigade". Blair and Fishbeck led the militia into action at Westport (accompanied onto the field by MG George W. Dietzler), and then in the subsequent pursuit of Price until MG Curtis ordered the militia to return home.^[1]

Abbreviations used

Military rank

MG = Major General
BG = Brigadier General
Col = Colonel
Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel
Maj = Major
Cpt = Captain
Lt = 1st Lieutenant
2Lt = 2nd Lieutenant

Other

w = wounded

Army of the Border

See main article: Army of the Border. MG Samuel R. Curtis
Escort:

11th Kansas Cavalry, Company G (with 2-gun battery): Lt Edward Gill

width=25%	Division	width=25%	Brigade	Regiments and others
Provisional Cavalry Division MG James G. Blunt	1st Brigade Col Charles R. Jennison	Foster's Missouri Cavalry Battalion: Cpt George S. Grover 15th Kansas Cavalry: Ltc George H. Hoyt 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry (detachment): Cpt Robert Carpenter Battery (5 guns) [manned by 15th Kansas Cavalry]: 2Lt Henry L. Barker
	2nd Brigade Col Thomas Moonlight	5th Kansas Cavalry, Companies L and M: Cpt James H. Young 11th Kansas Cavalry: Ltc Preston B. Plumb 16th Kansas Cavalry, Companies A and D: Ltc Samuel Walker Battery (4 guns) [manned by Company E, 11th Kansas Cavalry]
	3rd Brigade Col Charles W. Blair	4th Kansas Militia: Col W. D. McCain 5th Kansas Militia: Col G. A. Colton 6th Kansas Militia: Col James D. Snoddy (arrested Oct. 16); Col James Montgomery 10th Kansas Militia: Col William Pennock 19th Kansas Militia: Col A. C. Hogan 24th Kansas Militia Battalion: Ltc George Eaves 14th Kansas Cavalry, Company E: Lt William B. Clark 2nd Kansas State Artillery (2 guns): Lt Daniel C. Knowles 9th Wisconsin Battery (6 guns): Cpt James H. Dodge
	4th Brigade Col James Hobart Ford	2nd Colorado Cavalry: Maj Jesse L. Pritchard 16th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry (detachment): Maj James Ketner McLain's Independent Colorado Battery (6 guns): Cpt William D. McLain
Kansas State Militia Division^[2] ^[3] ^[4] MG George W. Deitzler, Kansas State Adjutant General	Brigade field commanders BG Melvin S. Grant^[5] BG William H. M. Fishback^[6]	(not brigaded) 1st Kansas Militia: Col Charles H. Robinson 2nd Kansas Militia: Col George W. Veale 2nd Kansas Colored Militia: Cpt James L. Rafferty, Cpt Richard J. Hinton 7th Kansas Militia: Col Peter McFarland 9th Kansas Militia: Col Frank M. Tracy 12th Kansas Militia: Col L. S. Treat 13th Kansas Militia: Col Alexander S. Johnson 14th Kansas Militia: Col William Gordon 18th Kansas Militia: Col Matthew Quigg 20th Kansas Militia: Col J. B. Hubbell 21st Kansas Militia: Col Sandy Lowe 22nd Kansas Militia: Col William Weer Artillery Independent Colored Battery (6 guns): Cpt H. Ford Douglas Topeka Battery of 2nd Kansas Militia (1 gun): Cpt Ross Burnes Unattached unit Kansas City Home Guards: Col Kersey Coates

Department of the Missouri

MG William S. Rosecrans

width=25%	Division	width=25%	Brigade	Regiments and others
Provisional Cavalry Division MG Alfred Pleasonton	1st Brigade BG Egbert B. Brown (arrested Oct. 23) Col John F. Philips	1st Missouri Militia Cavalry: Col James McFerran (arrested Oct. 23), Ltc Bazel F. Lazear 4th Missouri Militia Cavalry: Maj George W. Kelly 7th Missouri Militia Cavalry: Col John F. Philips, Ltc Thomas Theodore Crittenden Detachment 1st Iowa Cavalry: Maj John McDermott
	2nd Brigade BG John McNeil	17th Illinois Cavalry: Col John Lourie Beveridge 13th Missouri Cavalry: Col Edwin C. Catherwood 5th Missouri Militia Cavalry: Ltc Joseph Eppstein Detachments from: 7th Kansas Cavalry: Maj Francis Malone 2nd Missouri Cavalry: Cpt George M. Houston 3rd Missouri Militia Cavalry: Ltc Henry M. Matthews 9th Missouri Militia Cavalry: Ltc Daniel M. Draper
	3rd Brigade BG John B. Sanborn	2nd Arkansas Cavalry: Col John E. Phelps 8th Missouri Militia Cavalry: Col Joseph J. Gravely Detachments 6th Enrolled Missouri Militia Cavalry: Ltc John F. McMahan 7th Enrolled Missouri Militia Cavalry: Maj W. B. Mitchell 6th Missouri Militia Cavalry: Maj William Plumb
	4th Brigade Col Edward F. Winslow (w Oct. 23) Ltc Frederick W. Benteen	3rd Iowa Cavalry: Maj Benjamin S. Jones 4th Iowa Cavalry: Maj Abial Richmond Pierce 10th Missouri Cavalry: Ltc Frederic W. Benteen, Maj William H. Lusk Detachments 7th Indiana Cavalry: Maj Samuel E. W. Simonson 4th Missouri Cavalry: Cpt George D. Knispel
	Artillery Col Nelson D. Cole	Battery H, 2nd Missouri Light Artillery (4 guns): Cpt William C. F. Montgomery [2 guns commanded by Lt Philip Smiley] Battery L, 2nd Missouri Light Artillery (4 guns): Cpt Charles H. Thurber Battery of 5th Missouri Militia Cavalry (2 guns): Lt Adam Hillerich
	Unassigned	2nd New Jersey Cavalry (detachment): Cpt Michael Gallagher 19th Pennsylvania Cavalry (1 company)

XVI Corps

See main article: XVI Corps (Union Army). (detachment of First and Third Divisions; in pursuit, not present at the battle)
MG Andrew Jackson Smith

width=25%	Division	width=25%	Brigade	Regiments and others
First Division Col Joseph J. Woods	2nd BrigadeCol Lucius Frederick Hubbard	47th Illinois 12th Iowa 5th Minnesota 7th Minnesota 9th Minnesota 10th Minnesota 8th Wisconsin Battery G, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery
First Division Col Joseph J. Woods	3rd BrigadeCol Sylvester G. Hill	35th Iowa 33rd Missouri
Third Division Col David Moore	1st BrigadeCol Thomas J. Kinney	58th Illinois 119th Illinois 89th Indiana
	2nd BrigadeCol James Isham Gilbert	14th Iowa 27th Iowa 32nd Iowa 24th Missouri
	3rd BrigadeCol Edward H. Wolfe	49th Illinois 117th Illinois 52nd Indiana 178th New York 3rd Indiana Battery 9th Indiana Battery

References

Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001,
Jenkins, Paul B. The Battle of Westport (Kansas City, MO: Franklin Hudson Publishing Co.), 1906.
Monnett, Howard N. Action Before Westport: 1864 (Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado), 1995. [revised edition]

Notes and References

Monnett p.44-45
http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;idno=waro0083;q1=Army%20of%20the%20Border;q2=Deitzler;frm=frameset;view=image;seq=638;page=root;size=100 Deitzler's Official Report
Monnett p.47, 143
Eicher p. 205
Formed a brigade of the 2nd, 3rd, 13th and 23rd Kansas State Militia regiments to fight at Byram's Ford on October 22 (Monett p.77). On October 23 Grant was in command of another provisional brigade guarding Russell's Ford on the Big Blue River https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA428656.pdf
attached to Blair's brigade in command of the 5th, 6th and 10th Kansas Militia regiments