1861 August 10th

August 10 1861 Saturday

Battle of Wilson’s Creek, MO (CWSAC Decisive Battle – Confederate Victory)

Wilson‘s Creek Campaign
Confederate Invasion of New Mexico

Illinois. Union Brigadier-General Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss reported from Cairo that as many as 10,000 Confederate troops were concentrating at New Madrid on the Missouri side of the Missouri River.

Missouri. Union Brigadier-General Ulysses Simpson Grant led a Union force in a skirmish at Potosi.

Missouri. Union Expedition to Benton, Commerce, and Price’s Landing ended.

Wilson’s Creek, Missouri, also known as Oak Hills, or Springfield. Union Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon’s Army of the West, marching in two widely separated columns commanded by himself and Colonel Franz Sigel, attacked the Confederate army of Brigadier-General Benjamin McCulloch and Missouri State Major-General Sterling Price (Missouri State Guard) at Wilson’s Creek, about twelve miles southwest of Springfield.
Lyon’s force moved forward at 4am from its brief bivouac and drove back the outposts of Colonel James S Rains. They advanced to the west bank of Wilson’s Creek while Captain J B Plummer moved his battalion of Missouri Home Guards as a flank guard along the opposite bank against a Confederate force seen moving from the Ray House towards a distinctive cornfield. Plummer was strengthened by 300 men from the 1^st US Infantry. The Union army was supported by sixteen guns in Captain James Totten’s Battery of the 2^nd US Artillery and Dubois’s Battery. The Confederates had fifteen guns under Captains Guibor, Bledsoe, Woodruff, and Reid.
The pro-Confederate Missourians were caught by surprise. Lyon’s force overran the enemy camps and took the high ground at the crest of a ridge that would later 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, giving Price’s infantry time to organise new lines on the southern slope of the hill. By 6.30am Price had drawn up a strong Confederate line on Oak Hill. After an hour of fighting, Price had been driven off Oak Hill down to Wilson’s Creek and the Ray House, where he re-formed for a counterattack. A strong counterattack by Colonel Louis Hébert’s 3^rd Louisiana Infantry and Colonel James McQueen McIntosh’s 2^nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles routed the Union force, inflicting a loss of 80 men. An attempt by Confederate Colonel E Greer’s 3^rd Texas Cavalry to envelop the Union left along Skegg’s Branch was halted by Totten’s artillery.
Meanwhile, Sigel was approaching on a flanking march from the south with two infantry regiments, two troops of cavalry, and a battery. By 5.30am Sigel had reached Tyrel’s Creek. He placed his battery on the high ground east of Wilson’s Creek to fire into the Confederate camps. Hearing the sound of Lyon’s guns, Sigel attacked with his 1^st US Infantry at about 5 am and routed the Confederate cavalry facing him, then and moved towards Sharp’s House. At Sharp’s House, he was counter-attacked by McCulloch’s own brigade, including Hébert’s 3^rd Louisiana “Pelican Rifles” and Colonel Thomas J Churchill’s 1^st Arkansas Mounted Rifles. Sigel mistook the grey uniforms worn by Hébert’s men for those of the 1^st Iowa Infantry of Lyon’s force and he assumed that Lyon had already carried the field. Reid’s Confederate battery brought the Union line under enfilade fire and McCulloch achieved a devastating rout of Sigel’s troops, overrunning five of his six guns in the process. By 11 am, Sigel had fled the field and McCulloch was able to bring his forces to bear against Lyon’s column in superior numbers.
On Oak Hill, Lyon repelled two Confederate counterattacks but at about 10.30 am Lyon was wounded twice on Bloody Hill while rallying his men for a countercharge. He was hit again and killed. Regular Army officer Major Samuel Davis Sturgis (1st US Cavalry) replaced Lyon in command. Although they still held a defensible position atop the hill, the Union army’s supplies were low and morale was worsening. By 11 am the Union forces had already repulsed three separate Confederate charges; ammunition and men were nearly exhausted, A third Confederate attack was launched at about 11 am but Sturgis could not induce the 1^st Iowa Infantry to obey an order to counter-charge. At about 11.30 am the Confederates broke off the fight and withdrew for the fourth time.
Sturgis also decided to withdraw rather than risk facing a fourth Confederate attack, because his men were exhausted and low on ammunition. The Union army with about 4,500 surviving men in the ranks retreated to Rolla. Although the Confederates held the field, they were too disorganised and ill-equipped to pursue the retreating Union forces but they soon occupied Springfield.
The Union commander of the Department of the West, Major-General John Charles Frémont disclaimed all responsibility for the defeat at Wilson’s Creek and Sturgis received sharp criticism for his withdrawal. Nevertheless, when Sturgis received his commission as Brigadier-General, it was backdated to the date of Wilson’s Creek because of his successful extrication of the remnants of his force against superior numbers.
Wilson’s Creek was the first major battle west of the Mississippi. The Confederate victory buoyed southern sympathisers in Missouri and created a springboard for a northward advance that would carry Price and the Missouri State Guard as far north as Lexington. It also made it possible for a large proportion of the Confederate and Arkansas forces to leave Missouri for action east of the Mississippi.
Union losses were reported as between 1,235 and 1,317 out of 5,400 men (223 killed, 721 wounded, 291 missing or 258 killed, 873 wounded and 186 captured or missing). The Confederates lost 1,095 to 1,230 out of 10,000 to 11,600 men (257 killed, 900 wounded, 27 missing or 279 killed, and 951 wounded). (CWSAC Decisive Battle – Confederate Victory)

ORDER OF BATTLE: WILSON’S CREEK, MO

Union Western Department: Brigadier-General John Charles Frémont
Army of the West: Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon
1^st Brigade (West): Major Samuel Davis Sturgis
2^nd Brigade (West): Colonel Franz Sigel
3^rd Brigade (West): Lieutenant-Colonel George Leonard Andrews
4^th Brigade (West): Colonel George Deitzler

Confederate Western Department: Major-General Leonidas Polk
District of the Indian Territory: Brigadier-General Benjamin McCulloch
“Western Army”: Brigadier-General Benjamin McCulloch
Missouri State Guard: State Brigadier-General Sterling Price
Arkansas State Troops: Brigadier-General Benjamin McCulloch

Union Organisation

USA: The Army of the West was discontinued after the death of its commander, Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon in the defeat at Wilson’s Creek.
USA: Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon was killed at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Missouri.

USA: Samuel Davis Sturgis promoted Brigadier-General USV 7 March 1862 to rank from 10 August 1861.

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Simon Cameron
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Silas Horton Stringham
Gulf Blockading Squadron: William Mervine
Pacific Squadron: John Berrien Montgomery
West Indies Squadron: Garrett J Pendergrast
Western Gunboat Flotilla: John Rodgers
Potomac Flotilla: Thomas Tingey Craven

General–in-Chief: Winfield Scott

Military Division (Department) of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan

Department of Northeastern Virginia: Irvin McDowell
- Army of the Potomac: Irvin McDowell
Department of Washington: Joseph King Fenno Mansfield

Department of the East: John Ellis Wool

Department of Florida: Harvey Brown

Department of Kentucky: Robert Anderson

Department of the Ohio: William Starke Rosecrans

Cheat Mountain District: Joseph Jones Reynolds
Cheat River District: Charles J Biddle
District of Grafton: Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Army of Occupation: William Starke Rosecrans

Department of the Pacific: Edwin Vose Sumner

District of Oregon: George Wright

Department of Pennsylvania: John Adams Dix

Army of the Shenandoah: Vacant

Department of the Shenandoah: Nathaniel Prentiss Banks

Department of Texas: Vacant

Department of Virginia: Benjamin Franklin Butler interim John Ellis Wool awaited

Western Department: John Charles Frémont

District of Ironton: Ulysses Simpson Grant
District of North Missouri: John Pope
Southern District of New Mexico: Benjamin Stone Roberts

Confederate Organisation

Commander in Chief: President Jefferson Finis Davis
Vice-President: Alexander Hamilton Stephens
Secretary of War: Leroy Pope Walker
Secretary of the Navy: Stephen Russell Mallory

Military Adviser to the President: Robert Edward Lee

Department No 1: David Emanuel Twiggs

“Forces in New Orleans” “Army of Louisiana”: Braxton Bragg

Department of Fredericksburg: Daniel Harvey Hill

District of Aquia: Daniel Ruggles

Department of Norfolk: Benjamin Huger

Department of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

Defences of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

Department of the Peninsula: John Bankhead Magruder

Army of the Peninsula: John Bankhead Magruder

Department of the Potomac: Joseph Eggleston Johnston

Army of the Potomac: Joseph Eggleston Johnston

Department of South Carolina: Daniel Harvey Hill

Department of Southwestern Virginia: William Wing Loring

Department of Texas: Earl Van Dorn

Defences of Galveston: John Creed Moore

Department of West Florida: Braxton Bragg

“Forces in Pensacola”: Braxton Bragg

Western Department: Leonidas Polk

District of Upper Arkansas: William Joseph Hardee
Western Army: Benjamin McCulloch

District of East Tennessee: Felix Kirk Zollicoffer

Defences of Savannah: Alexander Robert Lawton

Indian Territory: Benjamin McCulloch

Forces in Richmond: Thomas Turner Fauntleroy

Army of the Kanawha: Henry Alexander Wise

Army of Liberation: Gideon Johnson Pillow

Army of the Northwest: William Wing Loring

Union Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General USA

Winfield Scott
George Brinton McClellan
John Charles Frémont

Major-General USV

John Adams Dix
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
Benjamin Franklin Butler

Brigadier-General USA

John Ellis Wool
William Selby Harney
Edwin Vose Sumner
Joseph King Fenno Mansfield
Irvin McDowell
Robert Anderson
William Starke Rosecrans

Brigadier-General USV

Samuel Peter Heintzelman
David Hunter
Erasmus Darwin Keyes
Andrew Porter
Fitz-John Porter
William Buel Franklin
William Tecumseh Sherman
Charles Pomeroy Stone
Don Carlos Buell
Thomas West Sherman
Nathaniel Lyon KIA
John Pope
George Archibald McCall
William Reading Montgomery
Philip Kearny
Joseph Hooker
John Wolcott Phelps
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Joseph Jones Reynolds
Samuel Ryan Curtis
Charles Smith Hamilton
Darius Nash Couch
Rufus King
Jacob Dolson Cox
Stephen Augustus Hurlbut
Franz Sigel
Robert Cumming Schenck
Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss
Frederick West Lander
Benjamin Franklin Kelley
John Alexander McClernand
Alpheus Starkey Williams
Israel Bush Richardson
James Cooper
James Brewerton Ricketts
Orlando Bolivar Willcox
Michael Corcoran
George Henry Thomas
Ambrose Everett Burnside
Henry Hayes Lockwood
Louis Blenker
Henry Warner Slocum
James Samuel Wadsworth
John James Peck
Ormsby McKnight Mitchel
George Webb Morell
John Henry Martindale
Samuel Davis Sturgis

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (Quartermaster-General)
Henry Knox Craig
Lorenzo Thomas (Adjutant-General)
James Wolfe Ripley (Ordnance)

Confederate Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

General ACSA

Samuel Cooper
Albert Sidney Johnston
Robert Edward Lee
Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

Major-General PACS

David Emanuel Twiggs
Leonidas Polk

Brigadier-General ACSA

Braxton Bragg

Brigadier-General PACS

Alexander Robert Lawton
Milledge Lake Bonham
Benjamin McCulloch
William Wing Loring
Charles Clark
John Buchanan Floyd
William Henry Talbot Walker
Henry Rootes Jackson
Theophilus Hunter Holmes
Henry Alexander Wise
Earl Van Dorn
William Joseph Hardee
Richard Stoddert Ewell
David Rumph Jones
Benjamin Huger
John Bankhead Magruder
James Longstreet
Edmund Kirby Smith
John Clifford Pemberton
Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Henry Hopkins Sibley
John Henry Winder
Richard Caswell Gatlin
Daniel Smith Donelson
Samuel Read Anderson
Gideon Johnson Pillow
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham
Felix Kirk Zollicoffer
Daniel Harvey Hill
Jones Mitchell Withers
Richard Heron Anderson
Robert Augustus Toombs
Samuel Jones
Arnold Elzey
William Henry Chase Whiting
Jubal Anderson Early
Isaac Ridgway Trimble
Daniel Ruggles