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- Jul 29, 2013
The Battle of Wilson's Creek
August 10, 1861
Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon’s Army of the West was camped at Springfield, Missouri, with Confederate troops under the commands of Brig. Gen. Ben McCulloch approaching. On August 9, both sides formulated plans to attack the other. About 5:00 am on the 10th, Lyon, in two columns commanded by himself and Col. Franz Sigel, attacked the Confederates on Wilson’s Creek about 12 miles southwest of Springfield. Rebel cavalry received the first blow and fell back away from Bloody Hill. Confederate forces soon rushed up and stabilized their positions. The Confederates attacked the Union forces three times that day but failed to break through the Union line. Lyon was killed during the battle and Maj. Samuel D. Sturgis replaced him. Meanwhile, the Confederates had routed Sigel’s column, south of Skegg’s Branch. Following the third Confederate attack, which ended at 11:00 am, the Confederates withdrew. Sturgis realized, however, that his men were exhausted and his ammunition was low, so he ordered a retreat to Springfield. The Confederates were too disorganized and ill-equipped to pursue. This Confederate victory buoyed southern sympathizers in Missouri and served as a springboard for a bold thrust north that carried Price and his Missouri State Guard as far as Lexington. In late October, a rump convention, convened by Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson, met in Neosho and passed an ordinance of secession. Wilson’s Creek, the most significant 1861 battle in Missouri, gave the Confederates control of southwestern Missouri.
* The Battle of Wilson's Creek Civil War Trust Map.
* The Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Visitor Center.
* Wilson's Creek.
* Tour Stop : 1 (Gibson House Site, Mill Site and Oatfield).
* The Ray Cornfield.
* Tour Stop : 2 (The Ray House, Springhouse and Orchard).
* Tour Stop : 3 (East Battlefield Overlook).
* The Edward's Cabin (Confederate General Sterling Price's HQ).
* Tour Stop : 4 (Sigel's Second Position).
* Tour Stop : 5 (Sigel's Final Position - Backoff's Battery)
* Tour Stop : 6 (Guibor's Battery).
* Tour Stop : 7 (The Bloody Hill - Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon Death Site).
* Tour Stop : 8 (Route of Union Advance and Withdrawal).
* Missouri State Monument (The Battle of Oak Hills - Wilson's Creek).
* Photos Courtesy of William Bechmann (2011)
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