Wilson's Creek
Oak Hills
Civil War Missouri

American Civil War
August 10, 1861

Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon's Army of the West was camped at Springfield, Missouri, with Confederate troops under the commands of Brigadier General 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 Colonel 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 Major 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.

Result(s): Confederate victory

Location: Greene County and Christian County

Campaign: Operations to Control Missouri (1861)

Date(s): August 10, 1861

Principal Commanders: Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon and Major General Samuel D. Sturgis [US]; Major General Sterling Price, Missouri State Guard, and Brigadier General Ben McCulloch [CS]

Forces Engaged: Army of the West [US]; Missouri State Guard and McCulloch's Brigade [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 2,330 total (US 1,235; CS 1,095)


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Civil War Missouri History Book Club Additional Reading Titles


The Devil Knows How to Ride: The True Story of William Clarke Quantrill and His Confederate Raiders
William Clarke Quantrill was quite possibly the most dangerous man to fight in the Civil War. The leader of an almost psychopathic band of guerrilla warriors, Quantrill participated as a Confederate in a deadly border war between Southern sympathizers in Missouri and the Unionist Jayhawks of Kansas. He was largely responsible for the 1863 massacre of nearly 200 unresisting men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as dozens of other brutal acts that today would be called terrorism. Among the notorious men who rode with him were Frank and Jesse James, whose postwar crime careers are briefly reviewed.

The Civil War in Missouri, Day by Day, 1861 to 1865
Follow as events transpire across Missouri within those four long years. From raids and pursuit of the outlaws to the hunting down of Southern sympathizers and the Federal scouting parties across the state. Something for everyone in this book. This book is deemed by many readers as a Missouri classic.

Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border
This aspect of the Civil War is often misunderstood in that the majority of what we know has been passed down to us from the "victors" point of view. In fact, these were very, very hard times and a good case can be made that there were indeed no real winners in this not so isolated, but under reported, part of the war. Horrible, barbaric actions were consummated by both sides of this conflict. If we attempt to place ourselves at that time and place in history, we can well see where both sides had their grievances, and both sides were able to justify their atrocities.

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.