AUGUST 10, 1861
The second military engagement in the war after the battle of First Bull Run was a small but vicious battle over the future of the border state of Missouri. The commander of Federal forces was Nathaniel Lyon, who had amassed some 5,500 troops at Springfield at the beginning of August, finally camping at Wilson's Creek about 15 miles away. Aware of the confederate position, Lyon planned a suprise attack. His plan was to divide his forces, sending Colonel Franz Sigel to attack from the south while he himself led a frontal assault on the confederate line from the north. Lyon was outnumbered more than two to one, and the soldiers he did command had almost no battlefield experience.
The battle was a fierce, confused hand-to-hand struggle. It began a 4 A.M., when the Northern column moved out and drove back the Confederate outposts from the west side of the creek. A flank guard broke away to move against a Confederate force on the east side and was able to drive it back as well. Sigel, however, met with difficulty advancing from the south. He attacked the Confederate Cavalry at 5:30 A.M. Confederate troops under Louis Herbert and cavalry under Thomas Churchill managned to send Sigel's Union troops into a confused retreat, leaving Lyon's men vulnerable.
However, Lyon's troops were positioned on an incline called Oak Hill, from which they had already repulsed two charges by 10:30 A.M. Lyon himself was wounded twice, in the head and leg, but he stayed alive long enough ro rally his troops for another defensive stand. After another hour of fighting, the Confederates broke off action and withdrew.
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