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Location: Greene and Christian Counties, August 10, 1861
By Richard W. Hatcher III
Missouri was strategically important to the western half of the nation because the major trails to the West Coast—the California, Oregon, Santa Fe, and Pony Express trails—all began on its western edge. In addition, the three major shipping rivers of the United States—the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Ohio—flow through or next to Missouri.
On August 6 CS Brigadier General Ben McCulloch’s 12,000- to 13,000-man army camped twelve miles southeast of Springfield where Telegraph Road crossed Wilson’s Creek. On the night of the ninth McCulloch canceled his dawn attack on the Federals in Springfield when rain threatened to soak the paper cartridges his men carried in their pockets or in cloth bags, effectively disarming them. The regular Confederate troops under McCulloch were somewhat better equipped than Major General Sterling Price’s pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard, but many who had firearms had only short-range 1812-style flintlocks and muzzle-loading fowling pieces. The troops settled back into camp, but the pickets did not return to their posts.
The Union soldiers in Springfield, commanded by US Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, were in a precarious situation. The newly appointed commander of the Western Department, US Major General John C. Frémont in St. Louis, had denied Lyon reinforcements. Lyon had additional concerns. Many of his men had not been paid, others were poorly clothed and fed, and a large proportion of them were ninety-day enlistees whose term of service would soon end.
Lyon decided to attack and divided his army into three units. One stayed in Springfield to guard the city and the army’s supply wagons. The other two marched out on the night of August 9 for a dawn attack. US Colonel Franz Sigel led one column of 1,200 men of the 3rd and 5th Missouri Volunteer Infantry Regiments, and Lyon led the other with 4,200 men. At 5:00 a.m. on August 10 Lyon’s column launched its surprise attack down the west side of Wilson’s Creek, driving a small Confederate cavalry force back onto “Bloody Hill” and into a retreat down the hill’s south slope. By 6:00 a.m. the Federals had reached the crest of the hill. As they moved across its north face, CS Captain William E. Woodruff’s Pulaski Artillery, located on a ridge on the east side of the creek, roared into action. It enfiladed Lyon’s line, slowing the Union advance and giving Price the time he needed to form his infantry into battle lines to counterattack.
On hearing Lyon’s attack, Sigel, positioned on a ridge east of Wilson’s Creek and about two miles south of the Confederate cavalry camps, opened fire on the main camp with four of his six cannons. Taken by surprise, the Confederates abandoned their camp and fled to the north and west. Sigel crossed the creek, turned north, and moved into position on a knoll, blocking Telegraph Road.
By 6:30 a.m. the battle lines on Bloody Hill had been established, and the level of fighting had increased dramatically. To guard the Union left flank, Lyon sent US Captain Joseph B. Plummer’s infantry column to the east side of Wilson’s Creek. This force witnessed the effect of the Pulaski Artillery on the main column and advanced toward the battery. McCulloch countered this attack by sending CS Colonel James McIntosh with two regiments against the Federals. After a brief fight in John Ray’s cornfield, the Union column was defeated and retreated back across Wilson’s Creek. This action secured the east side of the battlefield for the Confederates and permitted them to concentrate their forces against Lyon and Sigel.
McCulloch sent elements of three regiments to drive Sigel off the field. As the Confederates advanced in line of battle, Sigel, assuming that the advancing 3rd Louisiana troops were the gray clad 1st Iowa Infantry sent by Lyon as reinforcements, ordered his men to hold their fire. At forty yards the Confederates stopped and fired a crashing volley into the Union position. Unprepared for this attack by what they thought were friendly forces, the Union troops broke into a rout and lost five of their six cannons. By 9:00 a.m. the Confederates had secured the southern end of the battlefield and began concentrating all their efforts on Bloody Hill.
At 7:30 a.m. 600 Missouri State Guardsmen launched an attack on Lyon’s right flank—the first of three Confederate counterattacks on Bloody Hill. This assault was beaten off after a half hour of fighting. At 9:00 Price launched his second attack. The Union line was hard-pressed, but it held. An hour later CS Colonel Elkanah Greer’s Texas cavalry regiment, attempting to go around the Union right flank and rear, launched the only mounted assault of the battle. This action diverted the Federals’ attention, which gave Price time to disengage his men and regroup for another attack. Union artillery and musketry fire broke up the mounted assault, effectively ending the Confederates’ second attack. During the fighting Lyon was slightly wounded by artillery. Later, while rallying his troops, he became the first Union general to die during combat, killed by a musket ball.
During a short lull the Confederates readied an estimated 6,000 men in battle lines a thousand yards long for the third and largest attack of the battle. As the Confederates began their advance, the Federals placed every available Union soldier except a small reserve force in the front line. The determined Confederates pressed their advance in spite of concentrated artillery and small-arms fire. In some areas they moved to within twenty feet of the Union line. The smoke of battle from both lines combined into one huge cloud that blanketed the south slope of Bloody Hill. The Confederates were unable to break the Union line and were forced back at all points.
At 11:00 a.m. the Confederates disengaged and regrouped down the hill. The Federals were exhausted and low on ammunition, their general was dead, and Sigel had been defeated. Bloody Hill had earned its name. They retreated to Springfield and then to Rolla, the nearest railhead. The Confederates were not able to follow up their victory. The battle of Wilson’s Creek, the first major battle of the war west of the Mississippi River, was over. After six hours of fighting on a hot and humid August day in Missouri, 1,317 Union, 758 Missouri State Guard, and 464 Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing.
Estimated Casualties: 1,317 US, 464 CS, 758 MSG
