page_title: Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
section_title: Battle at Wilson's Creek
hierarchical_section_title: Wilson's Creek National Battlefield / Battle at Wilson's Creek
caption_attribution_description: Battle of Wilson's Creek--Aug. 10, 1861--Union (Gen. Lyon) ... Conf. (Gen. McCulloch) ...
context_page_description: Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, located near Republic, Missouri, preserves the site of the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Fought on August 10, 1861, the battle was the first major American Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River. In the battle, a Confederate army commanded by Benjamin McCulloch and Sterling Price defeated a smaller Union army commanded by Nathaniel Lyon. However, the Confederates were unable to hold much of Missouri, and a Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge effectively solidified Union control of the state. Major features include a five-mile automobile tour loop, the restored 1852 Ray House, and "Bloody Hill," the site of the final stage of the battle. The site is located near Republic in southwestern Missouri just southwest of the city of Springfield. It has been a unit of the National Park Service since 1960, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
context_section_description: In early 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for the state of Missouri to enlist four regiments to fight against the Confederate States of America.  However, then-Missouri governor Claiborne F. Jackson refused to call and prepared to use the Missouri State Guard to seize a United States government arsenal in St. Louis, Missouri.  In response, Union general Nathaniel Lyon moved aggressively against the pro-Confederate Guard, driving the force away from St. Louis and removing Jackson from official government leadership.  The Missouri State Guard, now commanded by Sterling Price, fell back towards the city of Springfield in southwestern Missouri, followed by Lyon and his Union army.
  Meanwhile, Price had been reinforced by a small Confederate army under the command of Benjamin McCulloch.  On August 10, Lyon decided to attack Price and McCulloch's combined forces while the Confederate were encamped along the banks of Wilson's Creek.  Lyon split his outnumbered forces into wings commanded by himself and Col. Franz Sigel in order to attack the Confederate camp from both the front and the rear.  Sigel's force was soon driven from the field, allowing Price and McCulloch to combine their forces against Lyon's column, which had taken position on Bloody Hill. Lyon was killed, and the Union forces retreated from the field. It was the first major military engagement in the American Civil War to take place west of the Mississippi river.
  After the battle, Price and McCulloch strongly disagreed over command issues.  Price would move towards Kansas, fearing a counterstroke from Union troops there, leaving McCulloch with an army that soon dwindled after terms of enlistments expired and some of the remaining troops were reassigned elsewhere.   Price followed up Wilson's Creek with a strike northwards towards the Missouri River, and was victorious at the Siege of Lexington.  However, news that Union troops were marching to intercept his army led Price to retreat back towards Springfield.  In March of the next year, Price and McCulloch would command wings of a Confederate army under the command of Earl Van Dorn at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas.  The Confederate army was defeated and McCulloch was killed.  The defeat at Pea Ridge ended any serious Confederate chance of holding a position in Missouri.
caption: Battle of Wilson's Creek, by Kurz and Allison, 1893.
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