Wilson Creek Battlefield-MO

Shopcat a confederate

 

Missouri had the 3rd most civil war battles behind Virginia and SC.  MISSOURIANS WERE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE WAR BUT DIDN'T SECEDE EVEN THO THE GOVENOR WANTED TO.

Wilson’s Creek, a Confederate victory near Springfield in August 1861, gave the nation one of its first tastes of large-scale fighting but settled nothing. Despite the win, Confederate military forces found they could not sustain themselves in the state. After the Battle of Pea Ridge in northern Arkansas (March 1862), a large Confederate army never again gained a serious foothold in the state.

THERE WERE 12,000 SOLDIERS FIGHTING HERE. Imagine how the took all the food, grain, killed animals as they crossed or camped on the land.  Then they took over the homes for temporary hospitals.  The family on this land hid in their basement.  Since their home was a post office, they supported the union.  The confederates won this battle. Union general Lyons died - first general west of the Mississippi to die.  He got a hero's funeral back in Conn. and union reinforcements multiplied for future battles.