We did not carry out our original plans for Spring 2017 or our Fall 2017 plans.
This week I traveled down to Wilson's Creek National Battlefield for the 156th anniversary of the battle, which took place on August 10, 1861.
It rained heavily throughout the ceremony commemorating the event, but it was very interesting none the less. Afterward, I toured the museum and took in a very well done 30 minute film depicting the battle. Then I drove through the battle field, stopping at all the venues along the way. It was a good trip. I finished and got back to the hotel about 3pm. In hind sight, I should have visited the Springfield National Cemetery where most of the losses from the battle are interned.
I was so impressed with my visit that I became a member of both the Civil War Trust and the Wilson's Creek Foundation. I was also encouraged to visit the other three National Battlefields here in the West that I have not visited before: Chickamauga/Chattanooga, Vicksburg and Shiloh. These, as well as the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields, were established in the 1890's. With the exception of Antietam, the model for the battlefields established in the 1890's was to attempt to include as much of the actual battlefield in the National Park as possible. Wilson's Creek Battlefield followed this model. Today, it encompasses about 2,011 acres, which constitutes about 85% of the original battlefield.
The battle of Wilson's Creek was a very early battle in the Civil War and dubbed the "Bull Run of the West". It was the first major battle fought west of the Mississippi River and resulted in a Southern victory. While the battle only lasted about six hours and resulted in "only" six hundred soldiers killed (2,549 combined causalities), the Nation was shocked at the losses. President Lincoln proclaimed a National Day of remembrance and prayer. The battle was also notable for being the first of the war in which a Union General (Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon) was killed in combat. While I have not read extensively on the course of the battle, from what I heard at the battlefield, the battle was not well executed by either the Union or Southern forces. It seems the Union force was out numbered intitially by two-to-one. So what did Lyon and Sigel (the Union commanding generals) decide to do, they split their forces. When Sigel encountered the Southern force, he was out numbered by four to one. His force was routed and he withdrew. Lyon, once he realized he was also going to be defeated, withdrew toward Springfield. Fortunately for Lyon, the Southern forces were too exhausted and low on supplies to pursue.
 |
| Honor Guard |
 |
| Fencing at Ray House |
 |
| Atop Bloody Hill aka Oak Ridge |
 |
| Sigel's Final Position |
 |
| Pulaski Arkansas Battery |
 |
| Atop Bloody Hill |
