Vernon countians fought in Battle of Wilson's Creek

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri's first big Civil War battle started at dawn on Aug. 10, 1861, and a lot had changed for the North and South when it was over six hours later with a number of Vernon County men having played an important role.

Having happened near Springfield, it's known by three names -- officially it's the Battle of Wilson's Creek but from the Southern view the Battle of Oak Hills and Bull Run of the West.

It resulted in the death of a general who became the North's first hero and caused the South, which carried the day but failed to pursue the battered Union army, to regret a lost chance to claim Missouri for the Confederacy.

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Site Historian Connie Langum said Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon had been promoted from captain three months earlier and, more like a captain than a general, was out front of the 3rd Kansas Infantry on "Bloody Hill" when felled by a bullet in his heart.

A graduate of the German Military Academy, Union Col. Franz Sigel had enlisted numerous German immigrants in St. Louis and gave commands in his native language because many of his troops did not know English. "Sigel had camped the night before next to the 1st Iowa Infantry, half of whom wore blue uniforms and the other half gray," Langum said.

"Lyon orders Sigel to attack the Confederates' right flank and rear. Sigel blocks Telegraph Wire Road as planned, blocking Confederate Gen. Ben McCulloch's line of retreat.

"McCulloch sends troops to engage Sigel, who thinks he is being reinforced. Once Sigel is forced from the field, no one comes and tells Lyon he is gone. Lyon has to figure that out on his own."

The battle on the 2,000-acre grounds 10 miles west of Springfield off ZZ Highway ended with roughly equal casualties -- 277 Confederates killed and 945 wounded to the Union's 258 dead and 873 wounded, according to references.

McCulloch, a former Texas Ranger and U.S. marshal, had combined his brigade and the Arkansas State Militia with Gen. Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard to marshal 12,120 troops to the 5,430 in the Army of the West led by Lyon, Sigel and Maj. Samuel Sturgis, who took command after Lyon fell about 9:30 a.m.

"At first light on the morning of Aug. 10, the Union force attacked," says one account. "The secessionists were caught by surprise. Lyon's force overran the enemy camps and took the high ground at the crest of the ridge known as Bloody Hill.

"Early Union hopes were dashed, however, when the artillery of the Pulaski Arkansas Battery unlimbered and checked the advance, which gave Price's infantry time and cover to organize lines on the south slope of the hill."

Historians say McCulloch, who died March 7, 1862, in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., didn't pursue Sturgis because he doubted the professionalism of Price's troops, most of whom did not have uniforms.

The late local historian Patrick Brophy wrote in his book "Fire and Sword" that Col. James Cawthorn, who had been the first sheriff of Cedar County, fought alongside Nevada's Col. DeWitt Hunter and six companies of the Vernon Rangers and Vernon Guards. "Cawthorn was nervous because there were no pickets out," wrote Brophy.

"He ordered a patrol out at daylight and they had proceeded almost a mile when they bumped into scouts leading the federal force. The patrol hurriedly returned with this surprising news. Advancing to the top of a ridge forming the northern spur of Bloody Hill, Hunter spotted the main federal force.

"After sending word to Cawthorn, he formed his men in a line atop the spur. Hunter's action had nearly the same effect as a spoiling attack because it forced the federals to halt. This gave Cawthorn time to sound the alarm and organize the rest of the division's mounted troops."

Cawthorn was mortally wounded in the ensuing combat, which gave the Confederacy control of Southwest Missouri.