Stand of Colors — Kansas City 2008

May 16th,, 17th and 18th
Jerry Smith Park & Lands near Kansas City, Missouri

This event will be a re-enactment of the area border battles and campaigns in 1864, including the Battle of Westport, a western theater Civil War battle that is termed the “Gettysburg of Missouri” and was a turning point not only in the Civil War but in the history of our country.

Battle and event scenarios will focus on the Kansas-Missouri campaign of 1864, with small skirmishes and engagements that lead into larger scale battles.

The event is being presented by the Downtown Kansas City Missouri Rotary Club, and all proceeds will go to their Rotary Camp, which serves the needs of over 1,500 handicapped and developmentally-disabled youths through a variety of summer programs at their camp facility.

Stand of Colors/(At High Tide) is a recognized event for the North South Alliance and the First Federal Division for attendance purposes.

The Event Experience — Creating Something Different!

Stand of Colors promises to be a first-rate event, with much that will attract both field campaigners and camping soldiers alike.

With the cooperation of the Event hosts, the schedule for Stand of Colors will be a hybrid mix of living history, non-scripted military and living history opportunities, and public battles.

The layout of the military, civilian, and forward-deployed camps also allows for an experience that is rare at public Civil War events.

“The opportunity to be a soldier non-stop throughout the weekend makes this a great event for living historians” For the first time in event history, the campaigners have the opportunity to be forward deployed and camped, instead of in the rear in some “remote” forgotten area. The forward units of each Army (US/CS) will be across a tactical area from each other, with the “main tent camps” behind them and actually buffering them from the modern world. They will camp with picket posts/outposts set out across from the picket posts of their counterparts, and will be able to “sleep on arms” all weekend in a military tactical experience. There will be no modern public access to these areas; only military and civilian living historian access!

The main camps are on good, high ground, and also have a good shield from the modern sutlers, etc. The US and CS camps are separated by the Public field so camp police guard will be in force as well in these areas.

For those engaged in the “tactical area” the scene will be set for 1864 throughout the weekend. It will be “on” from the start of the event until the end, with proper military organization, tactical considerations, internal and external force security (pickets/ reserves/police guards, etc). It will afford an excellent opportunity for living history, including interaction with opposing forces!

If your unit/organization is in the tactical area, you will be “on duty” as a soldier in 1864 basically the whole time, so get your trips to the sutlers and the funnel cakes taken care of on Friday!

The Battle scenarios and exercises for Stand of Colors will be handled in a unique way this time.

There will of course be the standard public battles, held on the public battlefield for the enjoyment of the public (who pay the entrance fees which support the event and the charity).

There will also be ongoing evolutions and engagements throughout the event for those who choose to participate, especially for those choosing to be “forward -deployed.” These non-public actions will involve generally scripted scenarios with rules of engagements and proper parameters with scheduled windows. The units involved with the non-public engagements, which will not become “cowboy-free-for-alls,” will be the campaigners and those units who don't wish to sit in camp and merely wait for the 2 o'clock battle for the public. The non-public enemy contact will be picket-on-picket, scouts, probing exercises, and battalion strength maneuvers. These evolutions will build up to the pre-scheduled main public battles. The units involved will then pull back, regroup with the reserve, and move into the specifically scripted battles which spill from the non-public area onto the public field where the entire armies will come into view with all branches engaged together.

This is just as a typical Civil War battle was developed and as such is a rather unique opportunity for everyone. All branches of service will be utilized as desired and required to make the entire event weekend a campaign success!

About the Site: Jerry Smith Park and Adjacent Lands

The land being used for “Stand of Colors” is well suited for an event like this. There are over 400 acres of natural, rolling hills, tree lines, fields, streams, and even an 1850’s building! In addition, separate areas for modern vendors, participant and spectator parking, and site services have been obtained that are not on the actual 400-acres, but adjacent and out of the sight lines from the camps.

The bulk of the land includes Jerry Smith Park, a well-kept secret in KC. The former farm has 320 acres and contains the only remaining remnant prairie in the Metro KC area.

The General Land Office Survey notes from 1826 describe a section line just east of the Smith farm as a "smooth rich prairie fit for cultivation the remainder of the line broken and stony . . ."

First Federal Division Commander, General Steven Dunfee, has called the land “some of the best terrain I have seen for an event in my 40+ years of reenacting” and looks forward to being able to use the land tactically and it allows excellent opportunities for living history and “in the field” camping in addition to housing the Main troop camps.

There is a “primitive” forested area which will be used as forward-deployed areas for the two armies, with opportunities for pickets, outposts, skirmishes, and “sleeping-on-arms” scenarios for the “campaigner” companies/ battalions. This area will be out of sight from any modern diversions, and will be “live” 1864 all weekend.

All in all, it is rare to be able to have a site like this and have the cooperation of all involved to make this the best possible living history and battle experience for the Re-enactors, soldiers and civilians alike!

The Background: Price’s 1864 Kansas/Missouri Campaign

Price's Missouri Expedition, known popularly as Price's Raid, was an 1864 Confederate raid through the Trans-Mississippi Theater. Major General Sterling Price fought numerous battles in Missouri and Kansas before being defeated by Union forces. It was the last major operation west of the Mississippi River.

Confederate forces were getting desperate as the U.S. presidential election approached in the fall of 1864. They knew that the reelection of President Lincoln would be a disaster for their cause, but events on battlefields across the country were favoring Lincoln.

Confederate General Kirby Smith, inspired in part by preparations to divert Union attention from another proposed border crossing, decided to capture (or recapture, in his view) Missouri for the Confederacy, believing it would be a way to turn Northern public perception against Lincoln.

To accomplish this, he sent Sterling Price on a large raid in the direction of St. Louis. Price's plan was to capture St. Louis and its rich warehouses of military supplies, but if it turned out to be heavily defended, to bypass it and swing west to capture the state capital, Jefferson City. He would then continue to the west, cross into Kansas and head south through Indian Territory, "...sweeping that country of its mules, horses, cattle, and military supplies".

Price departed from Camden, Arkansas, on August 28, 1864. The following day he linked up with two divisions in Princeton, and a third in Pocahontas on September 13. His combined force entered Missouri on September 19, and began almost daily skirmishing with Missouri militia units.

A series of skirmishes and battles continued for over a month, with hastily gathered Union militia and cavalry units trying desperately to stop the Confederate army. Engagements included the Battle of Fort Davidson (September 27), Battle of Glasgow (October 15), Second Battle of Lexington (October 19), Battle of Little Blue River (October 21) and the 2nd Battle of Independence

(October 22). The combined result of these engagements (all of them tactical Confederate victories) was to bolster Price’s resolve in the face of retreating Federals, but at the same time it hindered his plans and greatly slowed down his advance.

All of this came to a head at the Battle of Westport (October 23). Union forces dug in and formed a defensive line along Brush Creek just south of the town. Repeated assaults and counter-assaults left both sides tired and chewed up. When Federal reinforcements arrived and started turning the flank of the Confederates, they knew the fight was lost. Leaving debris, wounded and the prairie on fire as a smoke screen behind them, the battered Confederate troops withdrew in retreat with Federal Cavalry hot on their trail. The Battle of Westport was one of the largest battles west of the Mississippi River, with over 30,000 troops involved and roughly 1,500 casualties on each side. The Union victory put an end to Price's threat to Missouri. The greatly contested border state of Missouri was now firmly in Union control. Price continued to fight mostly rear guard actions on his retreat to Arkansas, where his expedition officially ended November 1, 1864. This was the last campaign in the Trans-Mississippi Theater and the last major Confederate threat to any northern state.   

About the Benefactor: Rotary Camp

In the early 1900’s, the Rotary Club felt there was a continuing need for a place that could provide camp experiences for those in need. They found an ideal location for the camp: 40 acres of virgin soil, heavily wooded, with a stream of clear water and a rocky canyon -in southeast Jackson County, Missouri.

They acquired this land and made it available to Club 13 for use as a Camp. In 1928, the land was placed in a Trust and granted our Club exclusive use of it in perpetuity for activities in service to youth.

This user orientation has continued with today's summer sessions devoted to groups who serve the physically, emotionally, and mentally disabled youth of Greater Kansas City.

One of the unique features of the Camp is the handicap-accessible swimming pool, one of only a few specially designed swimming pools for special-needs children that exist in the Midwest.

Today the Rotary Youth Camp serves almost 1,500 summer campers and 5,000 off-season campers from many area schools, religious groups and scouting organizations each year. During the summer the Camp provides all facilities, meals, and swimming instructors at no charge to the organizations.

Club 13 membership dues and numerous fund raising activities by our members and volunteers help raise the $215,000 needed to support our Camp and keep its usage free for the organizations that use it.

“Stand of Colors” marks the largest single fundraiser available to date for Club 13 to continue that tradition of charit