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 On
August 9, 1861 Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon’s Union Troops were
camped at Springfield,
Missouri
while a large Confederate force, under the command of Brigadier
General Ben McCulloch, were quickly approaching, making camp at
Wilson’s Creek about 12 miles southwest of Springfield.
Both sides
spent the evening formulating plans to attack the other on the
following day.
The Battle of Wilson's Creek, called Oak Hills by
Confederates, was fought August 10, 1861, was a bitter struggle for
control of Missouri in the Civil War's first year. In fact it was only
the second battle of the war.
About
5:00 am on the 10th, Lyon, in two columns commanded by himself and
Colonel Franz Sigel, attacked the Confederates on Wilson’s Creek and
the Rebel cavalry fell back away from what would become known a Bloody
Hill. However, the Confederate forces soon rushed up and stabilized
their positions, attacking the Union forces three different times, but
failing to break through the Union line.
Lyon was killed
during the battle and Major Samuel D. Sturgis replaced him.
Following the
third Confederate attack, which ended about 11:00 am, the Confederates
withdrew. However, Sturgis realized 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 the
Missouri
State Guard as far as Lexington. Wilson’s Creek, the most significant
1861 battle in
Missouri,
gave the Confederates control of southwestern
Missouri.
However, the loss was substantial with a total estimated casualties at
2,330, of which 1,235 were Union and 1,095 were Confederate.
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Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, after installing a pro-Union
state government, encamped at Springfield with 6,000 soldiers in early
July, including several infantry's from Missouri, Kansas and Iowa, several
companies of regular Army and three artillery batteries. At the same time,
Missouri State Guard commander Major General Sterling Price and his 5000
Confederate troops were building up steam 75 miles to the Southwest of
Springfield, and after being joined by more troops, were 12,000 strong by
the end of July.
With plans to regain control of Missouri from the Federals, Price along
with Generals Ben McCulloch and Nicholas Bart Pearce, marched northeast to
attack and capture Lyon's troops. Lyon, hoping to surprise the
Confederates, marched from Springfield on August 1, but his men were
outnumbered and beaten at Dug Springs the next day. By August 6, the
confederates were near Wilson's Creek.
Despite his inferior numbers, Lyon wasn't ready to give up on stopping
the Confederate advance. Leaving about 1,000 men to guard his supplies in
Springfield, he led 5,400 soldiers out the night of August 9. His plan was
to use Col. Franz Sigel and 1,200 men to move wide to the south in an
effort to flank the Confederate right. Meanwhile he would strike from the
north with is main force, all coordinated as a surprise attack.
The Confederates had similar thoughts of surprise, but the plan was
called off that same night by McCullough because of rain. The next morning
Lyon's attack achieved it's surprise, and the Federals overran several
Confederate camps before occupying the crest of a ridge that would later
be called �Bloody Hill�. A nearby Arkansas Battery opened fire stopping
the Federal advance and gave time for Price's infantry to form a line on
the hill's south slope.
Raging for over five hours, often at close quarters, the tide turned
several times with each charge and countercharge. Sigel's flanking to the
south had at first been successful, but he was defeated in fields of
Sharps farm after McCulloch mounted a counterattack.
At 9:30 that morning, General Lyon was killed on Bloody Hill. Maj.
Samuel Sturgis took over the Federal forces and by 11am, with ammunition
nearly depleted, he withdrew back to Springfield and the battle of
Wilson's Creek was over.
There were heavy losses on both sides, and though the Confederates were
victorious on the field, they couldn't pursue the Federals and Missouri
stayed in Union control.
Price would later return to Missouri with 12,000 men and led a campaign
of destruction, destroying an estimated $10 million in property and
fighting 43 skirmishes or battles. His campaign ended at Westport on
October 23 in the largest battle fought west of the Mississippi, when he
was defeated and forced to retreat south. McCulloch would die in March of
1862 during the battle of Pea Ridge, as Missouri became the third most
fought-over state in the nation.
The
Battle of Wilson's Creek marked the beginning of the Civil War in
Missouri. For the next three
and a half years, the state was the scene of savage and fierce fighting,
mostly guerrilla warfare, with small bands of mounted raiders destroying
anything military or civilian that could aid the enemy. By the time the
conflict ended in the spring of 1865,
Missouri had witnessed so
many battles and skirmishes that it ranks as the third most fought-over
state in the Nation.
Today the restless spirits of war-torn
Missouri
still haunt Bloody Hill. While visiting the site of this old battle
ground, many have reported seeing the ghostly apparitions of these long
ago soldiers, hearing noises that only be described as guns and cannons,
cold spots bearing no earthly explanation and, at night, the sounds of
soldiers walking and talking in the nearby woods. Interestingly,
more Confederate Soldiers are reported as being seen at this site than
their opponent Union troops.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, updated December, 2009.
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