If the idea of an attack by Gen. Lyon was remote from Gen. McCulloch's
thoughts, it was entirely absent from those of Gen. Sterling Price.
Gen. Price's mind was concentrated upon the plan to which he had wrung
McCulloch's reluctant consent of advancing that morning upon Lyon in
four columns, and thereby crushing him, probably capturing his army
entire or driving him into a ruinous retreat The first messengers
bringing the news of Lyon's close proximity were received with
contemptuous disbelief by McCulloch, but on their heels came an Aid from
Gen. Rains with the announcement that the fields in front of Rains
were "covered with Yankees, infantry and artillery." This roused all to
soldierly activity. Neither Price nor McCulloch lacked anything of
the full measure of martial courage, and both at once sped to their
respective commands to lead them into action.
After breaking up the council of war, the previous afternoon, Gen.
Lyon said very little beyond giving from time to time, as circumstances
called, sharp, precise, practical orders. Naturally talkative and
disputatious, he was, when action was demanded, brief, sententious, and
sparing of any words but what the occasion demanded. He had carefully
thought out his plan of march and battle to the last detail--determined
exactly what he and every subordinate, every regiment and battery
should do, and his directions to them were clear, concise, prompt and
unmistakable.
[Illustration: 165-Battlefield of Wilson's Creek]
161
He rode with Maj. Schofield, his Chief of Staff, to the place where they
halted about midnight in sight of the rebel campfires and slept with
him in the brief bivouac under the same blanket. To Schofield he seemed
unusually depressed. The only words he said, beyond necessary orders,
were almost as if talking to himself:
"I would give my life for a victory."
Again, in response to Schofield's discreet criticism of the wisdom of
dividing his forces and giving Sigel an independent command, he said
briefly:
"It is Sigel's plan."
Sige's theoretical knowledge of war and his experience were then felt to
be so overshadowing to everybody else's as to estop criticism.
The men of Lyon's little army lay down on their grassy bivouac with
feelings of tensest expectation. With the exception of the few of the
Regulars who had been in the Mexican and Indian wars, not one of them
had ever heard a gun fired in anger. They had been talking battle for
three months. Now it was upon them, but none of them could realize how
sharp would be the combat, nor how exceedingly well they were going to
acquit themselves.
At the first streak of dawn Lyon was up--all activity and
anticipation--to open the battle. He had wisely selected the two men who
were to strike the first blows.
162
Capt. Jos. B. Plummer, who commanded the Regulars deployed as
skirmishers on the left, and who sun should set, was a man after Lyon's
own heart He was strongly in favor of the battle, and afterward defended
it as the wisest thing to do under the circumstances. He was born in
Massachusetts, and had graduated in 1841 in the same class with Lyon
and Totten, whose battery was to do magnificent service, and avenge the
insults and humiliations of Little Rock. Rummer's standing in his class
was 22, where Lyon's was 11 and Totten's 25. He had been in garrison in
Vera Cruz during the Mexican War, and so had escaped getting the brevets
"for gallant and meritorious conduct" which had been so freely bestowed
on all who had been "present" at any engagement, but had reached the
rank of Captain in 1862, a year later than Capt Lyon. He was to rise
to Colonel of the 11th Mo. and Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and
everywhere display vigor and capacity in important commands, but to have
his career cut short by his untimely death near Corinth, Miss., Aug.
9,1862, at the age of 43 years. Maj. Peter Joseph Osterhaus, who
commanded the two companies of his regiment--the 2d Mo.--deployed on
the right, was the best soldier in that wonderful immigration of bright,
educated, enthusiastic young Germans who took refuge in this country
after the failure of the Revolution of 1848. At least, he was tried
longer in large commands, and rose to a higher rank than any of them.
Sigel and Carl Schurz became, like him, Major-Generals of Volunteers,
but his service was regarded as much higher than theirs, and he was
esteemed as one of the best division and corps commanders in the Army of
the Tennessee. After long service as a division commander he commanded
the Fifteenth Corps on the March to the Sea. He was born in Prussia,
educated as a soldier, took part in the Revolution, migrated to this
country, and was invaluable to Lyon in organizing the Home Guards among
the Germans to save the Arsenal He still lives, a specially honored
veteran, at Mannheim, in Prussia.
163
Capt. Jas. Totten, whose battery was placed in the center, was to win a
Lieutenant-Colonel's brevet for his splendid service during the day, but
got few honors during the rest of the war. He became a Brigadier-General
of Missouri Militia, and received the complimentary brevets of Colonel
and Brigadier-General when they were generally handed round on March 13,
1865, but his unfortunate habits caused his dismissal from the Army in
1870. He was then Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Inspector-General.
There were many men among Lyon's subordinates whose conduct during the
day brought them prominence and started them on the way to distinction.
Maj. Samuel D. Sturgis, of the 4th U. S. Cav., a Pennsylvanian, who was
that day to win the star of a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and
who commanded the First Brigade, afterward rose to the command of a
division, fought with credit at Second Manassas, South Mountain and
Fredericksburg, for which he received brevets, and was overwhelmingly
defeated, while in command of an independent expedition, by Forrest,
at Guntown, Miss., June 10, 1864, and passed into retirement. He became
Colonel of the 7th U. S. Cav. after the war. He was a graduate of West
Point in 1882.
164
Lieut-Col. I. F. Shepard, who was Lyon's Aid, became a Brigadier-General
of Volunteers.
Maj. John M. Schofield, Lyon's Adjutant-General, has been spoken of
elsewhere.
Capt Gordon Granger, 3d U. S. Cav., a New Yorker and a graduate of the
class of 1841, was Lyon's Assistant Adjutant-General, and won a brevet
for his conduct that day. He was a man of far more than ordinary
abilities--many pronounced him a great soldier, and said that only his
unbridled tongue prevented him rising higher than he did. He became
a Major-General and a Corps Commander, led the troops to Thomas's
assistance at the critical moment at Chickamauga, but fell under the
displeasure of Sherman, who relieved him. He afterward commanded the
army which captured Forts Gaines and Morgan, and received the surrender
of Mobile.
Capt Frederick Steele, 2d U. S., Gen. Grant's classmate and lifelong
friend, who had won brevets in Mexico, commanded a battalion of two
companies. He was to become Colonel of the 8th Iowa, Brigadier and
Major-General, and render brilliant service at Vicksburg and in
Arkansas.
Maj. John A. Halderman, 1st Kan., who succeeded to the command of
the regiment when Col. Deitzler was wounded, was commended by all his
superior officers, for his handsome conduct. He had been appointed
by Gen. Lyon Provost Marshal-General of the Western Army, and was
afterwards commissioned a Major-General. He entered the diplomatic
service under President Grant; became Minister to Siam, and was praised
all over the world for his success in bringing that country into touch
with civilization.
165
Lieut.-Col. G. L. Andrews, who in the absence of Col. F. P. Blair,
commanded the 1st Mo., was a Rhode Island man, who afterward entered the
Regular Army, fought creditably through the war, and in 1892 was retired
as a Colonel.
In the 1st Mo. was Capt. Nelson Cole, who was severely wounded. He
served through the war, rose to be a Colonel, became Senior Vice
Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a
Brigadier-General of Volunteers in the war with Spain.
In the 1st Kan. were Col. Geo. W. Detzler, who later became a
Brigadier-General; Capt. Powell Clayton, who was to become a Colonel,
Brigadier-General, Governor of Arkansas, Senator, and Embassador to
Mexico, and Capt. Daniel McCook, who was to become Brigadier-General,
and fall at Kene-saw.
In the 2d Kan. were Col. Robert B. Mitchell, of Ohio, who rose to be
Brigadier-General and did gallant service in the Army of the Cumberland;
Maj. Charles W. Blair, who became a Brigadier-General, and Capt. Samuel
J. Crawford, who became a Colonel, a brevet Brigadier-General, and
Governor of Kansas.
In the 1st Iowa were Lieut.-Col. W. H. Merritt, a New Yorker, who
commanded the regiment and afterwards became a Colonel on the staff, and
Capt. Francis J. Herron, who became a Major-General of Volunteers and
commanded a division at Prairie Grove, Vicksburg, and in Texas.
166
There were very many in these regiments serving as privates and
non-commissioned officers who afterwards made fine records as
commanders of companies and regiments and became distinguished in
civil life. Taken altogether, Lyon's army was an unusually fine body of
fighting men. The Iowa and Kansas men were ardent, enthusiastic youths,
accustomed to the use of the gun, and who hunted their enemies as they
did the wild beasts they had to encounter. They were free from the
superstition inculcated in the Eastern armies that the soldier's duty
was to stand up in the open and be shot at. When it was necessary to
stand up they stood up gallantly, but at other times they took advantage
of every protection and lay behind any rock or trunk of tree in wait for
the enemy to come within easy range, and then fired with fatal effect.
The older Regulars trained to Indian fighting were equally effective,
and speedily brought the mass of recruits associated with them into
similar efficiency.
Nowhere else at that early period of the war was the fire of the Union
soldiers so deliberate and deadly as at Wilson's Creek.
The Confederates had no pickets out--not even camp-guards. They had
been marched and countermarched severely for days, and were resting
preparatory to advancing that morning on Springfield. Many were at
breakfast, many others starting out to get material for breakfast in the
neighboring fields. Rains's Division was the most advanced, and Rains
reports that he discovered the enemy when about three miles from camp,
and that he put his Second Brigade--mounted men commanded by Col.
Caw-thorn, of the 4th Mo.--into line to resist the advance. He says that
the brigade maintained its position all day, which does not agree with
the other accounts of the battle.
167
Before Gen. Lyon--a mile and a half away--rose the eminence, afterward
known as "Bloody Hill," which overlooked the encampment of the
Confederates along Wilson's Creek, and on which substantially all the
fighting was to take place. From it the Confederate trains were in short
reach, and the rout of the enemy could be secured. Its central position,
however, made it easy to concentrate troops for its defense and bring up
reinforcements.
Capt. Plummer sent forward Capt. C. C. Gilbert, 1st U. S., with his
company to guard the left of the advance, cross Wilson's Creek, and
engage the right of the enemy. Capt. Gilbert was a soldier of fine
reputation, who was to win much credit on subsequent fields; to rise to
the rank of Brigadier-General and the brief command of a corps, and then
to fall under the displeasure of his commanding officers. Capt. Gilbert
moved forward rapidly until he came to Wilson's Creek, where his
skirmishers were stopped by swamps and jungles of brushwood, when Capt.
Plummer caught up with him, and the whole battalion finally crossed
the creek and advanced into a cornfield, easily driving away the first
slight force that attempted to arrest them.
In the meanwhile quite a number of the enemy was discovered assembling
on the crest of the ridge, and Gen. Lyon forming the 1st Mo. into line
sent them forward on the right to engage these, while the 1st Kan. came
up on the left and opened a brisk fire, with Totten's battery in the
center, which also opened fire.
168
This was about 10 minutes past 5, when the battle may be said to
have fairly opened. The 1st Iowa and the 2d Kan., with Capt. Steele's
battalion of Regulars, were held in reserve. Rains's Missourians
responded pluckily to the fire, and Gen. Price began rushing up
assistance to them until he says that he had over 2,000 men on the
ridge. The 1st Kan. and the 1st Mo. pressed resolutely forward,
delivering their fire at short range, and after a sharp contest of 20
minutes the Missourians gave way and fled down the hill.
There was a brief lull, in which the Union men were encouraged by
hearing Sigel's artillery open two miles away, on the other flank of
the enemy, and Lyon found his line preparatory to pushing forward and
striking the trains. Already there were symptoms of panic there, and
some of the wagons were actually in flames.
Gen. Rains soon succeeded in rallying his men.
Gens. Slack, McBride, Parsons and Clark rushed to his assistance with
what men they could hastily assemble, and Gen. Price led them forward in
a line covering Gen. Lyon's entire front. Both sides showed an earnest
disposition to come to close quarters, and a fierce fight lasting for
perhaps half an hour followed. Sometimes portions of the Union troops
were thrown into temporary disorder, but they only fell back a few
yards, when they would rally and return to the field. The enemy strove
to reach the crest of the ridge and drive the Union troops back, but
were repulsed, while the Union troops, following them to the foot of the
ridge, were driven back to the crest.
169
The Confederates brought up a battery, which, however, was soon silenced
by the fire concentrated upon it from Totten's battery and that of
Lieut. Du Bois. In the meanwhile Capt. Plummer had been pushing his
Regulars thru the corn and oat fields toward the battery which he wanted
to take, and was within 200 yards of it when Capt. Mcintosh, an officer
of the Old Army, and now Adjutant-General for McCulloch, saw the danger
and rushed up the 3d La. and the 2d Ark. against Plummer's left The
Regulars made a stubborn resistance for a few minutes, but their line
was enveloped by the long line of the two regiments, and they fell back
with considerable haste across the creek toward Totten's battery.
Mcintosh saw his advantage and pursued it to the utmost, sending his
Louisianians and Arkansans forward on the double-quick to prevent
Plummer from rallying. The watchful DuBois saw the trouble the Regulars
were in, and turning his guns upon his pursuers enfiladed them with
canister and shell with such effect that they in turn ran, and were
rallied by Mcintosh behind a little log house, into which DuBois put a
couple of shells and sent them further back.
By this time the battle was two hours old and the roar of the conflict
died down, except on the extreme right, where the 1st Mo. was still
having a bitter struggle with a superior force of fresh troops with
which Price was endeavoring to turn the Union right flank.
170
Gen. Lyon, who had watched every phase of the battle closely, ordered
Capt. Totten to move part of his battery to the support of the 1st
Mo., but as the Captain was about to open he was restrained by seeing
a regiment advancing to within a distance of about 200 yards, carrying
both a Federal and a Confederate flag. It was the direction from which
Sigel had been anxiously expected, and as the uniform of the advancing
regiment was similar to that of Sigel's men, both the infantry and the
artillery withheld their fire until the enemy revealed his character by
a volley, when Capt Totten opened all his guns upon them with canister
and inflicted great slaughter.
Capt Cary Gratz, of the 1st Mo., was so indignant at this treachery that
he dashed out and shot down the man who was carrying the Union flag,
only to be shot down himself almost immediately afterwards by several
bullets from the Confederates. The 2d Kan. was also hurried forward to
support the 1st Mo. Capt Steele's battalion was brought up and the
1st Iowa was sent in to relieve the 1st Kan., which had suffered quite
severely and was nearly out of ammunition.
The battle was renewed with much greater fierceness than ever, the
Confederates advancing in three or four ranks, lying down, kneeling,
standing, sometimes getting within 30 or 40 yards of the Union line
before they were forced back.
Gen. Lyon was everywhere where his presence was needed to encourage the
troops, rally them, and bring them back into line. His horse was shot,
and he received a wound in the head and one on the ankle. He continued
to walk along the line, but he was evidently much depressed by the way
in which Price and McCulloch succeeded in bringing forward fresh troops
to replace those which had been driven from the field. He said to
Maj. Schofield sadly, "I fear the day is lost." Schofield replied
encouragingly, dismounted one of his orderlies and gave the horse to
Lyon, when they separated, each to lead a regiment It was now 9 o'clock,
or little after, and there was a lull in the fight, during which
time the enemy seemed to be reorganizing his force, and Lyon began
concentrating his into a more compact form on the crest of the ridge.
171
Capt. Sweeny called Lyon's attention to his wounds, but Lyon answered
briefly, "It is nothing."
Schofield moved off to rally a portion of the 1st Iowa, which showed
a disposition to break under the terrific fire, and lead it back into
action. Gen. Lyon rode for a moment or two with the file closers on the
right of the 1st Iowa, and then turned toward the 2d Kan., which was
moved forward under the lead of Col. Mitchell. In a few moments the
Colonel fell, wounded, and Gen. Lyon shouted to the regiment to come on,
that he would lead them. The next instant, almost, a bullet pierced his
breast and he fell dead. Lehman, his faithful orderly, was near him when
he fell, and rushed to his assistance, raising a terrible outcry,
which some of the officers near promptly quieted lest it discourage the
troops.
After a bitter struggle of fully half an hour the Confederates were
driven back all along the line, and the battle ceased for a little
while. The Confederates retired so completely that it looked as if the
battle was won, and Maj. Schofield, finding Maj. Sturgis, informed him
that he was in command, and the principal officers were hastily gathered
together for a consultation. The first and most anxious inquiry of all
was as to what had become of Sigel. It was all-important to know that.
If a junction could be formed with him the army could advance and drive
the enemy completely from the field.
172
Sigel had crossed Wilson's Creek and come into line within easy range
of McCulloch's headquarters, where Capt Shaeffer opened with his battery
upon a large force of Arkansan, Texan and Missourian troops who were
engaged in getting breakfast. They were so demoralized by the awful
storm of shells that at least one regiment--Col. Greer's of Texas--did
not recover its composure during the day, and took little if any part in
the rest of the engagement.
Col. Churchill succeeded in rallying his Arkansas regiment, but before
he could return and engage Sigel he received urgent orders to hurry over
to the right and help drive back Lyon. Sigel's men moved forward into
the deserted camp, but unfortunately broke ranks and began plundering
it.
McCulloch had rushed over to his headquarters in time to meet the
fugitives, and by great exertions succeeded in rallying about 2,000 men,
with whom he attacked Sigel's disorganized men in the camps, and
drove them out. Sigel succeeded in rallying a portion of his men, when
McCulloch advanced upon them with a regiment the uniforms of which were
so like that of the volunteers under Lyon that his men could not be
persuaded that it was not a portion of Lyon's troops advancing to their
assistance, and they withheld their fire until the Confederates were
within 10 paces, when the latter poured in such a destructive volley
that men and horses went down before it, and Sigel's Brigade was utterly
routed, with a loss of some 250 prisoners and a regimental flag, which
was afterwards used to deceive the Union troops.
173
With the exception of the two troops of Regular cavalry under Capt.
E. A. Carr, which seem to have done nothing during this time, Sigel's
Brigade disappeared completely from the action, and Sigel and Salomon,
with a few men, rode back to Springfield, where it is said that they
went to bed. This inexplicable action by Sigel bitterly prejudiced the
other officers against him, and was continually coming up in judgment
against him.
There is no doubt of Sigel's personal courage, but why, with the sound
of Lyon's cannon in his ears, and knowing full well the desperate
struggle his superior officer was engaged in, he made no effort to
rally his troops or to take any further part in the battle, is beyond
comprehension. Col. Salomon, who accompanied him in his flight to
Springfield, afterward became Colonel of a Wisconsin regiment, and made
a brilliant record.
It was yet but little after 9 o'clock, and despite the stubbornness of
the fighting no decisive advantage had been gained on either side.
The Union troops were masters of the savagely contested hill, but all
their previous efforts to advance beyond, pierce the main Confederate
line, and reach the trains below had been repulsed. Had they better make
another attempt?
The hasty council of war decided that it would be unsafe to do so until
Col. Sigel was heard from. The army was already badly crippled, for the
1st Kan. and the 1st Mo. had lost one-third of their men and half their
officers, the others had suffered nearly as severely, and everybody was
running short of ammunition. They had marched all night, and gone
into battle without breakfast, had been fighting five hours, and were
suffering terribly from heat, thirst and exhaustion.
174
The council was suddenly brought to an end by seeing a large force which
Price and McCulloch had rallied come over the hill directly in the Union
front A battery which Gen. Price had established on the crest of the
hill somewhat to the left opened a fire of canister and shrapnel, but
the Union troops showed the firmest front of any time during the day,
and Totten's and DuBois's batteries hurled a storm of canister into the
advancing infantry. Gen. Price had brought up fresh regiments to replace
those which had been fought out, and it seemed as if the Union line
would be overwhelmed. But the officers brought up every man they could
reach. Capt Gordon Granger threw three companies of the 1st Mo., three
companies of the 1st Kan., and two companies of the 1st Iowa, which had
been supporting DuBois's battery, against the right flank of the enemy
and by their terrible enfilade fire sent it back in great disorder. On
the right Lieut.-Col. Blair, with the 2d Kan., was having an obstinate
fight, but with the assistance of a section of Totten's battery under
Lieut. Sokalski the enemy was at last driven back clear out of sight.
The battle had now raged bitterly for six hours, with every attempt of
the enemy to drive foe stubborn defenders from the crest of the hill
repulsed. The slope on the eminence was thickly strewn with the dead and
wounded. The Confederates had suffered fearfully. Cols. Weightman and
Brown, who commanded brigades, had been killed, and Gens. Price,
Slack and Clark wounded. The loss of subordinate officers had been very
heavy. They had been clearly fought to a finish, and an attempt of their
cavalry to turn the Union right flank had been repulsed with great loss
by Totten's battery and several companies of the 1st Mo. and the 1st
Kan. The shells produced the greatest consternation among the horses and
men, as they were delivered at short range with unerring aim. The entire
Confederate line left the field, disappearing thru the thick woods in
the valley to their camp on Wilson's Creek, somewhat to the right of the
Union center.
175
Another brief council of war resulted in an order from Maj. Sturgis to
fall back. Nothing could be heard from Sigel, the men were exhausted,
the ammunition nearly gone, and it seemed best to retire while there was
an opportunity left. As subsequently learned this was a great mistake,
because the Confederate army was in full retreat, and an advance from
the Union army would have sent them off the field for good.
The Union officers did the best they could according to their light, and
their retirement was in the best order and absolutely unmolested.
The retreat began about 11:30 and continued two miles to a prairie
northeast of the battleground, where a halt was made to enable the
Surgeons to collect the wounded in ambulances. Gen. Lyon's body had been
placed in an ambulance, but by someone's order was taken out again and
left on the prairie with the rest of the dead.
About 5 o'clock in the afternoon the army reached Springfield, and
there found Sigel and Salomon and most of their brigade, with the others
coming in from all directions.
176
In spite of his conduct on the battlefield, Sigel's great theoretical
knowledge and experience in European wars decided that the command
should be turned over to him, and he was formally placed at the head.
According to official reports the casualties in the Union army were as
follows:
[Illustration: 176-Table of Union Casualties]
The official reports give the casualties in the Confederate army as
follows:
[Illustration: 177-Table of Confederate Casualties]
177