The Battle of Westport traces the history of the area around Kansas City up to the 1864 Civil War battle that took place there and the aftermath of the battle. The invasion of Missouri by confederate troops under Missouri's former governor Sterling Price was part of an effort to disrupt the presidential election, draw federal troops west of the Mississippi, and procure supplies and men for the south. Federal troops caught up with Price just south of Kansas City and with the help of Kansas volunteers defeated Price in the largest battle of the war west of the Mississippi.