MSU professor to give in-depth presentation on Civil War general Nathaniel Lyon

Saturday, January 15, 2011

A Missouri State University professor will give those attending the Jan. 29 Fort Scott National Historic Site's Civil War commemoration a chance to get in-depth information about Union Army Officer Nathaniel Lyon.

William Garrett Piston will give his presentation at 2 p.m. in the Grand Hall at the historic site.

During and after the Civil War, it was often said that Lyon saved Missouri for the Union.

According to Piston, "the reality was much more complex, for Lyon's partisans have claimed both too much and too little for him. An examination of the secession crisis in Missouri and the military campaign that culminated with Lyon's death at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Aug. 10, 1861, reveals Lyon to have been one of the most important and successful Union commanders of the war."

A native of Johnson City, Tenn., Piston received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Vanderbilt University and his doctorate from the University of South Carolina. Since 1988, he has been a member of the Department of History at Missouri State University, where he specializes in American military history and the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Piston is the author or co-author of a number of books and articles, including "Carter's Raid: An Episode of the Civil War in East Tennessee" (1989); "Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant: James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History" (1987); "Wilson's Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It" (2000); and "Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Missouri in the Civil War" (2009). Piston is an associate editor for North & South magazine and is active in a variety of local and national organizations, including the Society for Military History, the Society of Civil War Historians, and the Longstreet Society.

Following the program, Dr. Piston will be available for a book signing of the Wilson's Creek book which is sold at the site's bookstore.

Piston's talk is part of a full weekend of activities celebrating 150 years of Kansas statehood and exploring events leading up to the Civil War, which officially began April 12, 1861.

At 1 p.m., immediately preceding Piston's program, a special "birthday bash" celebration will be held in the Grand Hall including 19th-century tunes performed by the Gum Springs Serenaders. The cake will be specially designed by nationally renowned cake artist Rebecca Sutterby. Additionally, special speakers will commemorate and reflect upon Kansas heritage. State Sen. Bob Marshall will visit as well.

For more information, call the site at (620) 223-0310 or visit the park's Web site at www.nps.gov/fosc.

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