Wilson's Creek NB

28 July 2013

  On 10 August 1861, Union and Confederate forces met on the battlefield at Wilson's Creek to decide the fate of Missouri.  Missouri was a border state and as such the folks living in this state were just as divided as the rest of the country over succession. 

  At this time, both armies were ill trained, ill armed, and ill prepared for a fight. Many of those on the Confederate side had a variety of weapons and many more did not have weapons at all, these men would have to wait until their comrades fell in battle before they could arm themselves.

 The Union forces were outnumbered by 3 to 1 when they met the Confederate's in the early morning hours. Union General Lyon had earlier divided his forces so as to surround the Confederates, had events gone according to plan  Union forces would have surprised the Confederates and victory would have been theirs. But as often happens in war plans never happen the way they should.

 Union forces under General Sigel met the Confederates around 5:30am by opening up an artillery barrage which scattered and confused them. General Sigel thought he won a major victory, but the Confederates rallied and charged General Sigel's position and routed the Union. General Sigel retreated from the battlefield and left General Lyon alone with approximately 7,000 men to face a Confederate force of about 12,000.

  For several hours General Lyon faced an onslaught on Bloody Hill, but the Confederates would not be denied victory.  Confederate forces over whelmed Union forces but before the end of the day General Lyon would fall in battle, the first Union General to die in the Civil War.

 With Union forces retreating to the supply depot, Confederate Generals could not agree on a strategy to take advnatage of their victory. With Confederate forces exhausted from their victory and a lack of a  plan to attack Union forces again, they moved their forces away from the Union.

 While the battle at Wilson's Creek was Union loss, Confederate forces after being defeated at the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas a short time later, Missouri would remain in the Union for the rest of the war. However,  Missouri remained a battle ground as both military and civilian forces would fight each other for the rest of the war and earned it the third largest state with the most battle engagements of the Civil War.