48

LYON PREPARES FOR BATTLE.

low trees and fields of corn and wheat. They encamped on both sides of the creek, and for nearly two days subsisted wholly upon green corn. Their effective force, according to the best estimates, was about fifteen thousand men, of whom six thousand were horsemen. The latter were indifferently armed with flint-lock muskets, rifles, and shot-guns; and there were many mounted men not armed at all. They had fifteen pieces of artillery.' General Price reported the number of Missouri State troops at five thousand two hundred and twenty-one. The entire number of Confederates encamped on Wilson's Creek appears to have been about twenty-three thousand.

General Lyon had now only a little more than five thousand effective men, and prudence seemed to dictate a retreat northward rather than risk a battle under such disadvantages. But he knew that a retreat at that time would ruin the Union cause in Missouri, and he was willing to risk every thing for that cause. He was conscious of the extreme peril by which his little army was surrounded, but he had reason to hope for success, for he was in command of good officers, and brave and well-armed men. Yet, in a council of war, which he called on the 9th, these officers, with great unanimity, favored the evacuation of Springfield, in order to save the troops; but General T. W. Sweeney vehemently opposed it, and urged making a stand where they were, and withdrawing from Springfield only on compulsion. On the same day" each party in the contest prepared to advance upon the other within twenty-four hours.

a August 9, 1861.

Necessity compelled Lyon to go out and meet his foe, for Springfield, situated on an open plain, could not be made defensible by means at his command. Every avenue leading from it would soon be closed by the overwhelming numbers of the Confederates, and the loss of his whole command might be the consequence. Every thing now depended upon secrecy and skill of movement, and he resolved to march out at night, surprise his enemy, and by a bold stroke scatter his forces. Twice already he had appointed the hour for such a movement to begin, but each time prudence compelled him to postpone it. Finally, on Friday, the 9th of August, he prepared to execute his plan that night. He divided his little army into two columns, and made dispositions to strike the Confederate camp at two points simultaneously.3 At the same time, as we have observed, the Confederates were preparing for a similar movement. They were divided into four columns, and ordered to march at nine o'clock on the night of the 9th, so as to sur6 August. round Springfield and attack the National Army at dawn the next morning. On account of a gathering storm and the intense darkness, McCul

1 Pollard's First Year of the War, page 136.

2 Woodruff's Life of Lyon, page 303. General Sweeney had been in Springfield some time, from which place he had issued a proclamation, on the 4th of July, commanding all disloyalists to cease their opposition to the Government and to take an oath of allegiance.

Lyon's column consisted of three brigades, commanded respectively by Major S. D. Sturgis, LieutenantColonel Andrews, and Colonel Deitzler. Major Sturgis's brigade was composed of a battalion of Regular Infantry, under Captain Plummer, Captain Totten's light battery of six pieces, a battalion of Missouri Volunteers, under Major Osterhaus, Captain Wood's company of mounted Kansas Volunteers, and a company of Regular Cavalry, under Lieutenant Canfield. Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews's brigade consisted of Captain Steele's battalion of Regulars, Lieutenant Du Bois' light battery of four pieces, and the First Missouri Volunteers. Deitzler's brigade was composed of the First and Second Kansas and First Iowa Volunteers, and two hundred mounted Missouri Home Guards. Sigel's column consisted of the Third and Fifth Missouri Volunteers, one company of cavalry, under Captain Carr, another of dragoons, under Lieutenant Farrand, of the First Infantry, and a company of recruits, with a light battery of six guns, under Lieutenant Lothrop.

OPENING OF THE BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK

49

fock countermanded the order, and his army, wearied with waiting and watching, was still in camp on Wilson's Creek on the morning of the 10th.' This was a fortunate circumstance for Lyon. He had moved at the appointed hour; and as McCulloch, in anticipation of his march upon Springfield, had withdrawn his advanced pickets, and, feeling no apprehensions of an attack by Lyon with his small force, had not thrown them out again, the Nationals were afforded an opportunity for a complete surprise of their foe.

a August, 1861.

The two columns of the National Army were led respectively by Lyon and Sigel. The former, with Major Sturgis as his second in command, marched from Springfield with the main body, at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 9th," to fall upon the Confederates in front, leaving Sigel, with twelve hundred men and six guns, to gain their rear by their right. Lyon's force arrived within sight of the Confederate guard-fires at one o'clock in the morning, where they lay on their arms until dawn. Sigel in the mean time had left his position a little south of Springfield, and was in the Confederate rear at the appointed time, ready to strike the meditated blow.

Aug. 10.

Lyon formed a line of battle at five o'clock, and moved forward to attack the extreme northern point of the Confederate camp, occupied by General Rains, closely followed by Totten's Battery, which was supported by a strong reserve. The Confederate pickets were driven in by Lyon's skirmishers, and the Nationals were within musketrange of the hostile camp in front of Rains before the latter was aware of their approach. Rains immediately communicated the astounding fact to General Price. He told him truly, that the main body of the National Army was close upon him, and he called earnestly for re-enforcements. McCulloch was at Price's quarters when the alarming news arrived, and he hastened at once to his own, to make dispositions for battle.

General Lyon pushed on with vigor when the Confederate camp pickets were driven in. The mounted Home Guards and Captain Plummer's battalion were thrown across Wilson's Creek, near a sharp bend, and moved on a line with the advance of the main body, for the purpose of preventing the left flank of the Nationals being turned. Steadily onward the main column marched along a ravine, when, on ascending a ridge, it confronted a large force of Confederate foot-soldiers, composed of the infantry and artillery of Price's command, under Generals W. Y. Slack, J. H. McBride, J. B. Clark, and M. M. Parsons. These were all Missouri State Guards. Dispositions for a contest were at once made by both parties. The battalions of Major Osterhaus, and two companies of the First Missouri Volunteers, under Captains Yates and Cavender, of the Nationals, deployed as skirmishers. At the same time the left section of Captain Totten's Battery, under Lieutenant Sokalski, fired upon their foe. A few moments afterward, the remainder of the battery, planted on an eminence more to the right and front, opened with such destructive effect, that the Confederates broke, and were driven by Lyon's infantry to the hills overlooking their camp.

To seize and occupy the crest of the hills from which the Confederates

1 Report of General Price to Governor Jackson, August 12th, 1861. Pollard, in his First Year of the War, page 187, says, that after receiving orders to march, on the evening of the 9th, the troops made preparation, and got up a dance before their camp-fires. This dance was kept up until a late hour.

VOL. II.-42

50

BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK.

had been driven was most desirable, and for that purpose the First Missouri, First Kansas, and First Iowa, with Totten's Battery, pushed forward, Major Osterhaus's battalion being on the extreme right, his own right resting on the side of an abrupt ravine. A line of battle was immediately formed on the hill, with the Missouri troops in front, the Kansas troops sixty yards to the left, on the opposite side of a ravine, and the Iowa troops still farther to the left. Totten's Battery was planted on an eminence, between the Missouri and Kansas troops; and Dubois's Battery, supported by Steele's battalion, was placed about eighty yards to the left and rear of it, in a position to play upon a concealed Confederate battery on the crest of a ridge across the creek, which swept the position of the Nationals. In the mean time, Totten attacked a masked battery on the left bank of the creek, whose position could only be known by the flash and smoke of its guns. Directly in front, under Totten's guns, lay the camp of General Rains, entirely deserted.

The battle now became general. A very severe contest was raging on the right, where the First Missouri was fighting in thick underwood. It was a contest involving a struggle between superior arms well used, and overwhelming numbers. As the ranks of the Confederates were penetrated and gaps were made, they were immediately filled; and in this terrible conflict the line of the Missourians was sadly thinned. Totten was ordered up to their support, and his canister-shot made awful lanes through a large body of Confederates, who, by the trick of carrying a Union flag, approached quite near for the purpose of capturing his cannon. The deception was discovered in time to allow Totten to punish them severely, and full half an hour his and Dubois's Battery made a continual roar. In the mean time, Plummer's battalion, in the bend of the stream, was encountering a large body of infantry in a corn-field. The fight there was terrific for a while, when over two thousand Confederates came pouring into the open field from the woods like a torrent, threatening to overwhelm and annihilate the Nationals in an instant. The latter, perceiving their peril, retreated in good order, while shells from Dubois's Battery, thrown with precision, fell among the pursuers with such fearful effect, that they turned and fled. The Confederates had been struggling vigorously and bravely to turn the left flank of the Nationals; but now, after such fearful loss and demoralization, they abandoned the attempt.

Whilst Lyon was thus carrying on the battle on the Confederate front,. Sigel, whose assigned duty was to turn their right, by the rear, had opened fire. With his twelve hundred men, and battery of six cannon, he had reached a position within a mile of their camp at dawn. He had moved with great skill and caution, and his alert little force had cut off several squads of their enemy in such a way that no intelligence of his approach could reach the Confederate Army. Almost the first intimation given them. of his presence was the bursting of his shells over their tents near the middle of their encampment, at the moment when the booming of Lyon's heavy guns was heard in another part of the field. The dismayed Confederates, composed of the regiment of Colonel Churchill, Greer's Texan Rangers, and nearly seven hundred mounted Missourians, commanded by Colonel Brown, fled, leaving every thing behind them; when Sigel's men rushed across the creek, traversed the desolate camp, and formed almost in its center. The

BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK.

51

Confederates immediately reappeared in strong force of infantry and cavalry, when Sigel brought his artillery into a commanding position, and with it drove his foes into the woods.

Hearing the continued roar of Lyon's heavy guns, Sigel now pressed forward to attack the Confederate line of battle in the rear.

He had passed

SPRINGFIELD

LYO

LITTLE YORK

DUBOIS

WHERE LYON FELL

TOTTEN

the same time ASKED BATTERY
large numbers of
the Confederates
moving southward,
he believed that
Lyon had won a
victory; and that
belief was strength-
ened, when it was
reported to him
that National sol- z
diers

were approaching his line. Orders were given not to fire in that direction, and flags

of friendly greeting

BECOND
KANSAS

CONCEALED
BATTERY

MASKED

. MASKED BATTERY

MS CULLOCH'S HT Q

A

FIRST KANSAS
MISSOURI
IOWA

A
AAA
A

A

PLUMMER

CORN VIEED

HAINS HOT

CONCEALED

BATTERY

DERATE

CAMP

SIGEL

SIGELS BATTERY

SIGEL'S BRIGADE

CREEK

WILSON'S

PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK.

SIGEL'S MARCH

UNION

CONFEDERATE..

were waved, when suddenly the advancing troops raised the Confederate banner, and two batteries, directly in front of Sigel's force, opened a heavy and destructive fire upon the Nationals. The Confederates, strong in numbers, and dressed like Sigel's men, had so deceived that commander, that they were allowed to approach within less than musket-shot distance before the trick was discovered. The consternation in his ranks was terrible, and every arm seemed paralyzed for a moment. In the sudden confusion the Confederates rushed forward, killed the artillery horses, and, turning the flanks of the infantry, caused them to fly in the wildest disorder. They rushed into bushes and by-roads, incessantly attacked by large numbers of Arkansas and Texas cavalry. The entire battery was captured; and, in the course of a few minutes, of his twelve hundred men, Sigel had only about three hundred left. He saved these and one of his cannon,' but lost his regimental flag. Such now composed the entire remnant of Lyon's second column.'

1 Captain Flagg fastened ropes to this gun, and made some of the Confederate prisoners draw it off the field. 2 The composition of Sigel's corps was not well fitted for a trying position. The term of service of the Fifth Missouri had expired, and the engagement to remain eight days longer ended on the day before the battle.

LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

52

BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK.

There had been a lull in the tempest of war, when this successful stratagem of the Confederates was performed. Now the storm burst with increased fury, and the fight was terrific all along the line, as we shall observe presently.

We left Lyon's column contending with the Confederates in front, when each party in turn had been compelled to give way, but, equally brave and determined, had renewed the contest with vigor. At length, as we have seen, when Sigel was pushing along the Fayetteville road, to strike the Confederate rear, the firing had ceased along almost the entire line. The excep tion was on the extreme right of the National forces, where the First Missouri, assisted by the First Iowa and Kansas regiments, were valiantly beating back the foe, in their attempts to turn that flank. They were patiently carrying on an unequal contest with a superior force, though decimated, during over four hours' hard fighting. They were almost fainting with weariness and thirst, after having repeatedly driven back their enemy, when a heavy body of fresh Confederates were seen hurrying forward to give them a crushing blow. The quick eye and judgment of General Lyon saw the peril of his comrades, and he ordered the Second Kansas to their support. He rode forward himself, and perceiving the danger greater than he apprehended, ordered Totten to send aid from his battery for the right of the contending Nationals. Lieutenant Sokalski was immediately ordered forward with a section, and prompt relief was afforded by his skillful use of his guns.

A new danger to the Nationals now appeared. Eight hundred Confederate cavalry had formed a line of battle, unobserved, behind a ridge, and suddenly dashed toward the National rear, where some Kansas troops were guarding ambulances for the wounded. Volleys from infantry did not check their movement; but when they were within two hundred yards of Totten's Battery, that officer suddenly wheeled his guns, turned them upon the horsemen, and opened such a deadly fire that they and their beasts fell in heaps. The effect was marvelous. Those mounted men, who had just been prouldy scorning all opposition, and feeling sure of turning the tide of victory in favor of the Confederates with very little more fighting, were now suddenly scattered in confusion. The check immediately became a rout, and every man in the saddle sought the shelter of the woods or intervening ridges. Meanwhile the support of Steele's Battery was transferred from Dubois's to Totten's. These had just formed in battle line when a very heavy body of Confederates came pouring out of the woods on Lyon's front and flank. Instantly the hurricane of war was again in full career over that hard-fought field. Backward and forward the contending lines swayed, their fronts often within a few yards of each other. Every effective man in Lyon's column was now engaged. For an hour the conflict was terrible, and all that time it seemed as if a feather's weight would turn the scale in favor of one or the other. Lyon was seen continually moving along the lines wherever the storm raged most furiously, encouraging his men by brave words and braver deeds. Very early in this fierce engagement his horse was shot. Then he received a wound in the leg; another in the head soon

The men serving the cannon were taken from the infantry, and were mostly recruits. Many officers had left, and a greater portion of the men of the Third Regiment were imperfectly drilled, and had never been under fire before.