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Black Union Soldiers and the Fight for Freedom

The Battle of Westport was the largest Civil War battle west of the Mississippi River. Approximately 15% of participating Union forces were African American, including the first battlefield command by Black officers. This group continues to be undercelebrated and underrecognized, though its 1000 members played a major role in winning the battle that ultimately helped emancipate enslaved people in Missouri. The Union victory also marked the end of major military operations in Missouri and secured Kansas and the trails, rails, and communication lines to the western states. Daniel Smith, a local attorney and chairman of the Monnett Battle of Westport Fund, draws on archival material, military records, and newly examined firsthand accounts to tell the story of the soldiers’ agency, courage, and leadership, rooted in our own landscape and civic memory. Smith is a past president of the Linn County Kansas Historical Society and a lifetime member of the Kansas State Historical Society. This is his third appearance at the Library.