Civil War History
The Battle of Wilson's Creek

The Battle of Wilson's Creek

Battle Prelude

At the beginning of the War, Missouri declared that it would be an "armed neutral" in the conflict not sending materials or men to either side. The neutrality was put to its first test on May 10, 1861, when Union troops and home guards under Capt. Nathaniel Lyon fired on a crowd of rioting bystanders when he paraded captured Missouri militia who he feared were trying to capture the St. Louis Arsenal. The incident became known as the "St. Louis Massacre." A day later, the Missouri General Assembly created the Missouri State Guard to defend the state from attacks from perceived enemies, either from the North or South. Governor Claiborne F. Jackson (who privately favored joining the Southern cause, but officially remained neutral) appointed Sterling Price to be its general.

Fearing Missouri's tilt to the South, William S. Harney, the Federal commander in Missouri, on May 12, 1861, struck the Price-Harney Truce, which affirmed Missouri's neutrality in the conflict and Governor Jackson declared his support for the Union. However, Harney was to be replaced by Lyon (who was promoted to general) and Abraham Lincoln made a specific request for Missouri troops to enter Federal service. Jackson withdrew his support. On June 12, 1861, Lyon and Jackson met in St. Louis to resolve the matter. The meeting ended with Lyon saying:

"This means war. In an hour one of my officers will call for you and conduct you out of my lines." 

Lyon pursued Jackson and Price (and the official state government) across Missouri in skirmishes such as Battle of Boonville on June 17 followed by the Battle of Carthage on July 5, 1861. After Lyon captured the state capital at Jefferson City, a special convention was called to decide on secession, a meeting that ended with Missouri staying in the Union. On July 27, the convention declared the governor's office vacant and then selected Hamilton Rowan Gamble to be the new governor.

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The armies meet

By July 13, 1861, Lyon's army was encamped at the city of Springfield, Missouri, and consisted of approximately 6,000 men. His force was composed of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Missouri Infantry, the 1st Iowa Infantry, the 1st and 2nd Kansas Infantry, several companies of Regular Army infantry and cavalry, and three batteries of artillery.

By the end of July 1861, the Missouri State Guard was camped about 75 miles southwest of Springfield and had been reinforced by Confederate Brigadier Generals Benjamin McCulloch N. Bart Pearce, making the Missourian force over 12,000 strong. They developed plans to attack Springfield, but General Lyon marched out of the city, on August 1, in an attempt to surprise the Southern forces. The armies' vanguards skirmished at Dug Springs on August 2. The Union force emerged as the victor, but Lyon learned he was outnumbered more than 2 to 1 and retreated back to Springfield. McCulloch, now in command of the Missourian army, gave chase. By August 6, his force was encamped at Wilson's Creek, ten miles (16 km) southwest of the city.

Outnumbered, Lyon planned to withdraw to Rolla in the north to reinforce and resupply, but not before launching a surprise attack on the Missourian camp to delay pursuit. Colonel Franz Sigel, Lyon's second-in-command, developed an aggressive strategy to split the Union force and strike McCullough in a pincer movement. He proposed to lead 1,200 men in a flanking maneuver while the main body under Lyon struck from the north. Lyon approved, and the Union army marched out of Springfield on the rainy night of August 9, leaving about 1,000 men to protect supplies and cover the retreat. The success of the stratagem was dependent on the element of surprise. Ironically enough, McCulloch was also planning a surprise attack on the city, but the rain caused him to cancel his plan.

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The Battle of Wilson's Creek

At about 5:00 a.m., at first light on the morning of August 10, the Union force attacked. The Missourians were initially caught completely by surprise. Lyon's force overran the enemy camps and took the high ground at the crest of a ridge which would become known as "Bloody Hill." Early Union hopes for a rout were dashed, however, when the artillery of the Pulaski Arkansas Battery unlimbered and checked the advance, which gave Price's infantry time and cover to organize lines on the south slope of the hill.

Sigel's plan was initially successful and his flank routed the Missouri cavalry, but collapsed when McCulloch's force counterattacked at the Sharp farm. Uniforms had not yet been standardized so early in the war, and McCulloch's men were wearing uniforms similar to Sigel's. The Union soldiers believed McCulloch's approaching lines were Union reinforcements and did not recognize them as the enemy until it was too late. The flank was utterly devastated by the counterattack, and Sigel and his men fled the field. Legend has it that Sigel himself ran all the way back to Springfield.

With the rout of Sigel's flank, the momentum of the battle shifted in the Missourians' favor. Lyon, already shot twice, became the first Union general to be killed in the war; he was shot in the heart on Bloody Hill, at about 9:30 a.m., while dramatically rallying his men for a countercharge. Major Samuel D. Sturgis assumed command of the Union army. While still in a defensible position atop the hill, Union supplies were low and morale was worsening. By 11:00 a.m., the Union forces had already repulsed three separate Confederate charges. Ammunition and men were nearly exhausted, and Sturgis retreated rather than risk a fourth Confederate attack.

Aftermath

The casualties were about equal on both sides - 1,317 Union and 1,222 Missourian. Though the Missourians won the field, they were unable to pursue the retreating Union forces to Rolla. With the victory, Price's Missouri Guard began an invasion of northern Missouri that culminated in the Battle of Liberty on September 17, 1861.

On October 28, 1861, the Missourians under Price and Jackson formally joined the Confederate cause in Neosho, Missouri. Officials passed the resolutions for Missouri secession and Jackson was named the Governor of Confederate Missouri. However, the new government never earned the favor of most of the population of Missouri, and the state remained in the Union throughout the war. What little control Price and Jackson did have was diminished in the Battle of Fredericktown, on October 21, and the Battle of Springfield I on October 25.

Although Price was to enjoy Missouri victories, he did not have the popular support to hold the field. After 1861, he was a Confederate general and led his forces in battles in Arkansas and Mississippi. There were to be smaller skirmishes in Missouri until the fall of 1864 when Price returned to Missouri. However, Missouri was to suffer the guerrilla warfare of bushwhackers such as Quantrill's Raiders and Bloody Bill Anderson throughout the war.