Battle of Wilson ' s Creek The Battle of Wilson ' s Creek , also known as the Battle of Oak Hills , was the first major battle of the Western Theater of the American Civil War . Fought on August 10 , 1861 , near Springfield , Missouri between Union forces and the Missouri State Guard , it is sometimes called the " Bull Run of the West . " Despite Missouri ' s neutral status at the beginning of the war , tensions escalated between Federal forces and state forces in the months leading up to the battle . In early August 1861 , Confederate troops under the command of Brig . Gen . Benjamin McCulloch approached Brig . Gen . Nathaniel Lyon ' s Army of the West , which was camped at Springfield . On August 9 , both sides formulated plans to attack the other . At about 5 : 00 a . m . on August 10 , Lyon , in two columns commanded by himself and Col . Franz Sigel , attacked the Confederates on Wilson ' s Creek about southwest of Springfield . Confederate cavalry received the first blow and retreated from the high ground , later referred to as " Bloody Hill " , and infantry soon rushed up to stabilize their positions . The Confederates attacked the Union forces three times during the day , but failed to break through the Union line . When General Lyon was killed during the battle and General Thomas William Sweeny wounded , Major Samuel D . Sturgis assumed command of the Union forces . Meanwhile , the Confederates had routed Sigel ' s column south of Skegg ' s Branch . Following the third Confederate attack , which ended at 11 : 00 a . m . , the Union withdrew . When Sturgis realized that his men were exhausted and lacking ammunition , he ordered a retreat to Springfield . The Confederates were too disorganized and ill - equipped to pursue . The Confederate victory buoyed southern sympathizers in Missouri and served as a springboard for a bold thrust north that carried Sterling Price and his Missouri State Guard as far as Lexington . In late October , a convention organized by Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson met in Neosho and passed out an ordinance of secession . Although the state remained in the Union for the remainder of the war , the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek effectively gave the Confederates control of southwestern Missouri . Today , the National Park Service operates Wilson ' s Creek National Battlefield on the site of the original conflict . Background and opposing forces . At the beginning of the American Civil War , Missouri declared that it would be an " armed neutral " in the conflict and not send materials or men to either side . On April 20 , 1861 , a secessionist mob seized the Liberty Arsenal , increasing Union concerns in the state . The neutrality was put to a major test on May 10 , 1861 , in what became known as the Camp Jackson Affair . Governor Claiborne F . Jackson had called out the state militia to drill on the edge of St . Louis in Lindell Grove . The governor had clandestinely obtained artillery from the Confederacy and smuggled it into the militia encampment – referred to as " Camp Jackson " . Capt . Nathaniel Lyon was aware of this shipment and was concerned the militia would move on the St . Louis Arsenal . Thomas W . Sweeny was put in command of the arsenal ' s defense , and Lyon surrounded the militia camp with Union troops and home guards , forcing the surrender of the militia . When he marched the prisoners through the streets to the arsenal , some angry members of the crowd began to press against the procession . Taunts and jostling eventually led to gunfire and many deaths , mostly civilians but also several soldiers and members of the militia . A day later , the Missouri General Assembly created the Missouri State Guard to defend the state from attacks from perceived enemies from either side of the war . The governor appointed Sterling Price as its commander with the rank of Major General . The State Guard was divided into divisions , with each division consisting of units raised from a military district of Missouri and command by a brigadier general . Because much of their recruiting areas were behind Union lines , many divisions were the size of a brigade , consisting of only a few regiments . Fearing Missouri ' s tilt to the South , William S . Harney , the Federal commander in Missouri struck the Price - Harney Truce on May 12 , 1861 , which affirmed Missouri ' s neutrality in the conflict . Governor Jackson declared his support for the Union . However , Harney was replaced by Lyon ( who was promoted to general ) , and when Abraham Lincoln made a specific request for Missouri troops to enter Federal service , Jackson withdrew his support . On June 12 , 1861 , Lyon and Jackson met in St . Louis to resolve the matter . The meeting ended with Lyon saying : This means war . In an hour one of my officers will call for you and conduct you out of my lines . Lyon sent a force under General Sweeny to Springfield while his own forces quickly captured the capital and pursued Jackson , Price , and the now - exiled state government across Missouri . Skirmishes followed , including the Battle of Boonville on June 17 and the Battle of Carthage on July 5 . In light of the crisis , the delegates of the Missouri Constitutional Convention that had rejected secession in February reconvened . On July 27 , the convention declared the governor ' s office vacant and selected Hamilton Rowan Gamble to be the new provisional governor . By July 13 , 1861 , Lyon ' s army of approximately 6 , 000 men was encamped at Springfield . His force was composed of the 1st , 2nd , 3rd , and 5th Missouri Infantry , the 1st Iowa Infantry , the 1st Kansas and 2nd Kansas Infantry , several companies of Regular Army infantry and cavalry , and three batteries of artillery . He divided the units into four brigades commanded by Major Samuel D . Sturgis , Colonel Franz Sigel , Lieutenant Colonel George Andrews , and Colonel George Dietzler . By the end of July 1861 , the Missouri State Guard was camped about southwest of Springfield and had been reinforced by Confederate Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch and Arkansas state militia Brigadier General N . Bart Pearce , making the mixed Missouri / Arkansas / Confederate force over 12 , 000 strong . They developed plans to attack Springfield , but General Lyon marched out of the city on August 1 in an attempt to surprise the Southern forces . The armies ' vanguards skirmished at Dug Springs , Missouri on August 2 . The Union force emerged as the victor , but Lyon learned he was outnumbered more than two - to - one and retreated back to Springfield . McCulloch , now in command of the Missourian army , gave chase . By August 6 , his force was encamped at Wilson ' s Creek , southwest of the city . Price favored an immediate attack on Springfield but McCulloch , doubtful about the quality of the Missouri State Guard , preferred to remain in place . After Price threatened to launch an attack without his support , McCulloch agreed to an attack at dawn on the 10th but when a rainstorm started during the evening of the 9th , he cancelled his plans and ordered his troops back to camp . Outnumbered , Lyon planned to withdraw northeast to Rolla to reinforce and resupply , but not before launching a surprise attack on the Missourian camp to delay pursuit . Union Colonel Franz Sigel proposed striking McCullough in a pincer movement , which would split the already outnumbered Union force , and Lyon concurred . He planned to lead 1 , 200 men in a flanking maneuver while the main body under Lyon struck from the north . In accord with Sigel ' s plan , the Union army marched out of Springfield on the rainy night of August 9 , 1861 , leaving about 1 , 000 men to protect supplies and cover the retreat . Battle . At first light on the morning of August 10 , the Union began a surprise attack on the opposing forces . Lyon ' s force overran the enemy camps and took the high ground at the crest of a ridge , which would become known as " Bloody Hill " . Early Union hopes for a rout were dashed , however , when the artillery of the Pulaski Arkansas Battery unlimbered and checked the advance , which gave Price ' s infantry time and cover to organize lines on the south slope of the hill . Lyon organized a line on the southern slope of Bloody Hill , from which he launched an unsuccessful counterattack . Price launched a series of frontal and flank attacks but was also unsuccessful ; a shortage of ammunition in the Confederate army was a factor in the Confederate defeats . The two Union forces lost contact with each other , with no means of communicating with or supporting each other if anything went wrong . Sigel ' s attack was successful at first ; the brigade arrived in the Confederate rear soon after dawn . Artillery fire routed the Confederate cavalry units , which were encamped at the Sharp ' s farm . Sigel began a pursuit , but stopped along Skeeg ' s Branch . During the break , he failed to post skirmishers , leaving his left flank open for an attack . Meanwhile , McCulloch rallied several Confederate units , including the 3rd Louisiana Infantry and the 3rd Division from the Missouri State Guard , to lead a counterattack . Sigel ' s men mistook the 3rd Louisiana for the 3rd Iowa Infantry ( which also wore gray uniforms ) and withheld their fire until the Confederates were nearly upon them . His flank was consequently devastated by the counterattack , and his brigade was routed , losing four cannons . Sigel and his men fled the field , leaving the force under Lyon , Sweeny , and Sturgis holding out alone . With the rout of Sigel ' s flank , the momentum of the battle shifted in the South ' s favor . Lyon was wounded twice , and his horse was killed during the fighting . He returned to Union lines on foot and commandeered a bay horse ridden by Maj . E . L . McElhaney of the Missouri Infantry . Lyon became the first Union general to be killed in the war ; he was shot in the heart on Bloody Hill at about 9 : 30 a . m . while leading the 2nd Kansas Infantry in a countercharge . General Sweeny was shot in the leg , and Major Sturgis , as the highest ranking Regular Army officer , assumed command of the Union army . While still in a defensible position atop the hill , Union supplies were low and morale was worsening . By 11 : 00 a . m . , the Union forces had already repulsed three separate Confederate charges . Ammunition and men were nearly exhausted , and Sturgis retreated rather than risk a fourth Confederate attack . Aftermath . The casualties were about equal on both sides – around 1 , 317 Union and 1 , 230 Confederate / Missourian / Arkansan soldiers were either killed , wounded , or captured . Though the Confederate force won the field , they were unable to pursue the retreating Union forces to Rolla . Price wanted to start a pursuit of the Union force immediately , but McCulloch refused , worried about the quality of the Missouri State Guard and the length of his supply line back to Arkansas . With the victory , Price ' s Missouri Guard began an invasion of northern Missouri that culminated in the First Battle of Lexington on September 20 , 1861 . The Confederate and Arkansas forces withdrew from the state . After falling back to Springfield , Sturgis handed command of the army over to Sigel . At a council of war that evening , it was agreed that the Union army had to fall back to Rolla , beginning at 3 a . m . the next morning . However , Sigel failed to get his brigade ready at that time , forcing a delay of several hours . Along the retreat route , Sigel ' s men took several lengthly delays to prepare meals ; this caused the other officers to force Sigel to turn command back over to Sturgis . On October 30 , 1861 , the Missourians under Price and Jackson formally joined the Confederate cause in Neosho , Missouri . Officials passed the resolutions for Missouri secession and Jackson was named the Governor of Confederate Missouri . However , the new government never earned the favor of most of the population of Missouri , and the state remained in the Union throughout the war . What little control Price and Jackson did have was diminished in the Battle of Fredericktown on October 21 and the Battle of Springfield I on October 25 . The Confederate state government was soon forced to leave the state . Although Price enjoyed Missouri victories , he did not have the popular support to hold the field . After 1861 , he was a Confederate general and led his forces in battles in Arkansas and Mississippi . There were smaller skirmishes in Missouri until the fall of 1864 when Price returned to Missouri . However , Missouri suffered the guerrilla warfare of bushwhacker s such as Quantrill ' s Raiders and Bloody Bill Anderson throughout the war . By early 1862 , Federal forces had effectively pushed Price out of Missouri . An army under Union general Samuel Ryan Curtis pursued Price into Arkansas , where General Earl Van Dorn assumed command of combined forces led by Price and General Ben McCulloch . Outnumbered , Curtis nonetheless defeated Van Dorn at the Battle of Pea Ridge , thus ending Confederate hopes of occupying Missouri . National battlefield . The site of the battle in Missouri has been protected as Wilson ' s Creek National Battlefield . The National Park Service operates a visitor center featuring a museum , a 26 minute film , a nine minute fiber optic battle map presentation , and a Civil War research library open to the public . Living history programs depicting soldier life , cavalry drills , musket firing , artillery demonstrations , period medicine , and period clothing are generally held on Sunday afternoons Memorial Day through Labor Day . With the exception of the vegetation and the addition of interpretive hiking trails and a self - guided auto tour route , the battlefield has changed little from its historic setting , allowing visitors to experience the battlefield in nearly pristine condition . The home of the Ray family , which served as a Confederate field hospital during the battle , has been preserved and restored and is open periodically throughout the summer , with Park Service interpreters dressed in period clothing .