The Civil War 150 Years Later - The Fury in Missouri

In this and subsequent special editions of Hooves, Heels and Wheels, the blog will take a look at the 150th anniversary of the events of the Civil War, and reflect on how they came about, and what implications they have for today ...

The Civil War

150 years ago This Summer - Fury in Missouri

June-Sept, 1861

Summer of 1861 was the first ‘battle summer’ of the Civil War. July of 1861 brought the first large scale land battle on the hot and dusty fields of Manassas , Virginia – and with the sobering and frightening realization that this could be a long and bloody conflict.

A month after the bloodshed at Manassas, the people of North and South received another bitter lesson about the courage and tenacity of their foes, and of the staggering price that the Civil War would exact from both sides.

The state of Missouri had been deeply divided ever since the election of Abraham Lincoln. When the War began in April of 1861, St. Louis was quickly secured by Union forces, but much of the population of the rest of the state was pro- Confederate. A sharp and violent conflict would be waged for the soul of the state, reaching an explosive climax at Wilson’s Creek.

The Lyon Gives Chase


Missouri Confederates reacted quickly to the seizure of St. Louis, setting up headquarters in the state’s capital, Jefferson City. But by June 10th, the capital city had been captured by Union forces under General Nathanial Lyon. Confederate Forces under General Sterling Price and Missouri’s Pro-South governor Claiborne Fox Jackson fell back to the northwest of the state, giving up land to the Union, even as more Confederates joined thei ranks.


Eager to capitalize on this success Lyon, now in control of most of the Missouri River, packed his 6,000 soldiers on steamboats and chugged upriver in pursuit. On June 17th, 1861 Lyon’s men routed the Confederates again at the Battle of Booneville.

Once rallied from this latest disappointment, Price and Jackson decided that they would not attempt to fight Lyon again unless they received substantial reinforcements. These were nearby, a second Confederate army under General Ben McCulloch moving north from Arkansas. Price and Jackson moved south in order to hasten a linkup. Other Missouri Confederates rallied to this army even as it retreated away from Lyon’s Federals.

By July 29th McColloch’s Confederate force linked up with Price and Jackson, the tactical situation had completely reversed. The Union forces that had been chasing them had dropped to under 6000 men (under fairly good discipline) while the Confederate army, swelled by the enlistment of new recruits had ballooned to a huge 14,000 men (mostly untrained and undisciplined).Here in southwestern Missouri, Union General Lyon was now outnumbered, far from his supply base, and without cavalry to protect him in the event of a retreat. The Confederates, on the other hand, had about 1500 horsemen, who were quickly learning how to slow down Lyon’s pursuit. Price and McCoulloch, in an uneasy command arrangement, turned to face their Union tormentors in early August, camping at Wilson’s Creek.

Warfare at Wilson’s Creek
The feisty Lyon decided his best option was to fight with what advantages he had. His troops were better trained, and –for the moment at least- better supplied and equipped then his enemy. Surprise and discipline, he hoped, would make up for his lack of numbers.
On August 9th, 1861 Lyon’s men moved out. The bluecoats plan was daring and complex. Lyon’s right hand colonel, Franz Sigel, would lead 1,200 men around the Confederate right flank, while Lyon personally led the bulk of his force, 3,600 directly against the Confederate front.
Lyon’s audacity paid off at first. The night march to the Confederate positions was not detected. The Union attack began perfectly. To the northern part of the battlefield, Lyon’s men pushed up a hill and blasted off the Confederate units posted there. On the southern slope of the same hill , the main Confederate camp roused itself to attack the federal interlopers. Union and Confederate battle lines advanced and retreated all over the northern elevation, which from this point on would be known as Bloody Hill.
The battle had only just begun when the Confederates received a second horrible surprise. Segal’s strike force, responding to the noise of battle to their north attacked from the south, routing the first Southerners they met. The disjointed Confederates were forced to defend two separate locations.

It was at this point that Segal’s and Lyon’s luck collapsed. Segal took a wrong turn after routing his initial resistance, and gave the Confederates time to rally and organize. Segal’s poor navigation led him into a valley where he found himself surrounded by McColloch’s Confederates. When the Southerners rallied for a counterattack, the outnumbered Northerners turned tail and ran. The Northern battle plan had lost its entire southern half.

Meanwhile, Bloody Hill was earning-in spades- its frightening nickname. Confederates under Price charged Lyon’s outnumbered bluecoats time and again, only to be thrown back with heavy loss. The point-blank firing on the hillside was taking its toll on the Union defenders as well. Men in blue and plainclothes fell left and right (the motley Confederates had no uniforms). The hill became a macabre man-trap as the death struggle raged for five dreadful hours. McColloch, having dispatched Segal’s column, joined forces with Price, and the entire Confederate weight fell on the Lyon’s Yankees on Bloody Hill.



The courageous and fiery Lyon rode his horse along his men, steadying his lines and encouraging the fearful, despite being slightly wounded. But the Yankees were by now getting the worse of the fight. At around 11:00, Lyon himself was killed by a Confederate bullet square to the chest. So many other Union officers had been killed and wounded that nobody above the rank of major survived to assume command. Responsibility devolved onto Major Samuel Sturgis. He skillfully disengaged the badly damaged Union army, and managed its retreat back to Springfield. McColloch’s Confederates, on whom the day had been equally rough on were more than happy to let them go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhdsDfALeNA&feature=player_detailpage


The Battle of Wilson’s Creek had been spectacularly bloody, considering the small numbers of soldiers involved. The Union lost more than 1300 men, almost as many as had fallen at Manassas/Bull Run only three weeks earlier. The Confederates had lost about the same number. Lyon’s old Union army was badly hurt, with a total loss of about 27%. For the second time in as many months, telegraphs clicked to life and brought the bad news home to city newspapers.
It had been a Confederate victory … but it would not save Missouri for the South. Lyon’s dogged chase of his dangerous Confederate quarry had ensured that the only safe place for the Confederates were the hinterlands of the state – there would be little hope of every retaking Jefferson City or St. Louis. And so the important populations, political and industrial centers of Missouri were permanently secure in Union hands. Missouri would never set up a pro-Confederate government, because no Confederates would be around to protect it. A Unionist Missouri would result.

A new Union general would arrive on the scene in August. Major General John Charles Fremont was a national hero – a celebrity soldier who had blazed the Oregon Trail and California Trail, earning him the nickname The Pathfinder. A more glamorous and famous adventurer did not exist in the US Army. Sadly, Fremont was a general who had far more pomp and ceremony then military skill.

Fremont's Futility
Fremont’s unpreparedness cost the Union a yet another defeat on September 20th. General Price, trying to follow up on his success at Wilson’s Creek, attacked north and besieged and captured the town of Lexington, Missouri providing the Southerners with much needed military supplies. Then Fremont began a clumsy chase of Price, misled by reconnaissance so bad that Union General prepared his army for attack, little suspecting that the crafty Confederate had escaped and was now 50 miles away. Fremont’s embarrassing performance made it plain to President Lincoln that he had not yet found a general he could rely on for victories.

The North was losing battles, the South had already lost a state, tens of thousands of Missourians had lost their homes, and thousands of soldiers had lost limbs and lives. The Civil War was already taking a heavy toll, and 150 years ago this summer, it was only beginning.