In late 1864, Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army began a raid into Missouri in hopes of diverting Union troops away from more important theaters of the American Civil War.

[3] Originally, Price and his Army of Missouri had hoped to capture St. Louis, but a defeat at the Battle of Pilot Knob in late September dissuaded the Confederates from assaulting that city.

By October 23, Union Major General Samuel R. Curtis and the Army of the Border caught up with Price near Kansas City and badly defeated him in the Battle of Westport.

The Army of Missouri then began retreating through Kansas, but was forced to fight three battles–Marais des Cygnes, Mine Creek, and Marmiton River.

The Confederates were caught by surprise, but Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby deployed his cavalrymen dismounted to meet Blunt's threat.

While fire from the mountain howitzers allowed the Union right to hold, part of the Confederate line outflanked Blunt's left.

One of the Union batteries was repositioned to a supporting role northwest of the town; meanwhile, Shelby's men reorganized and prepared for another attack.

With his ammunition running low, Blunt was considering ordering a withdrawal from the field when he was reinforced by the command of Brigadier General John B.

A small detachment from Major General James F. Fagan's division arrived during the retreat to support Shelby, but by then, the battle was already lost.

While the roads used at the time of the battle are no longer in use and some small stone walls present in 1864 have disappeared, the site's NRHP application form noted that landscape appearance was similar to what it was during the battlefield.

Most of the primary fighting area of the battle is included in this property, which encompasses .87 square miles (2.3 km2), the majority of which is in private hands.

Some isolated fringes of the fighting occurred south of the modern-day location of Stark City, although the ground there is not well preserved and is not part of the NRHP site.

North of Route 86 and the main battle site is a contributing property preserving the Union artillery position on the ridge.

[16] In addition to the contributing properties; a bakery, a machine shop, a silo, and 17 houses and outbuildings are located within the site, mainly on its edges.