The First Regiment (West) Virginia Infantry Volunteers

The First Regiment (West) Virginia Infantry Volunteers was organized in the counties that would become the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and in Southeastern Ohio in May, 1861. It was mustered into the service for the period of three months.  Shown below is the organization of the ten companies, their commanders and the date each was mustered into service:

Company    - Commander, Date of Muster, Place of Muster

Company A - Captain AH Britt, May 10, Wheeling

Company B - Captain E. W.  Stephens, May 11, Wheeling

Company C - Captain I. N.  Fordyce, May 15, Wheeling

Company D - Captain M. Stokeley, May 15, Steubenville, OH

Company E - Captain Geo. C. Trimble, May 16, Wheeling

Company F - Captain T. C.  Parke, May 17, Wellsburg

Company G - Captain James Kuhn, May 18, Wellsburg

Company H - Captain James F. Donnelly,  May 21, Marshall County

Company I - Captain B. W. Chapman, May 21, Hancock County

Company K - Captain G. W. Robinson, May 23, Wheeling

               B.F. Kelley (LOC)

     When the regiment was complete, former Wheeling resident Benjamin Franklin Kelley, who was living in Philadelphia at the time, was assigned to command the unit.  Regimental assignments included Henry B. Hubbard, of Wheeling, as appointed lieutenant-colonel, Isaac H. Duval, of Wellsburg, as major, John B. Lukens, of Wheeling, as adjutant, Isaac M. Pumphrey as quartermaster and Dr. Joseph Thoburn as surgeon.  This regiment was the first to be organized on southern “soil” for defense of the Union. 

     The companies camped in the Fairgrounds near the Back-River Bridge on Wheeling Island. This camp would become known as Camp Carlisle. The citizens of Wheeling supplied many of the men with blankets and clothes.  Arms, however were still needed. Application for these arms was made to the Secretary of War Simon Cameron.  However, due to divided loyalties, it was not thought safe to send arms directly to Wheeling.   Through the office of Governor John A. Andrew of Massachusetts Unionists, W. H. Brothers and Campbell Tarr received the arms, which were then shipped by steamboat to Wheeling where they were supplied to the regiment.  

     Upon receiving orders for a movement, Colonel Kelley requested transportation by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was flabbergasted by the response.  The request was refused.  The B & O wished to remain neutral and would not carry troops or ammunition for either side. Colonel Kelley tersely replied to the agent:

“This is war. Railroad companies cannot be their own masters. They are to serve the government that guarantees to them possession and protection for their property. You have a train of cars in the depot tomorrow morning at four o’clock or I will place you in prison and take possession of your railroad by military authority.”

     The cars were at the depot the next morning.  The B&O remained faithful to the Union for the remainder of the war.

     On May 27, 1861, the 1st left Camp Carlisle, on Wheeling Island and proceeded on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad toward Mannington as General McClelland had received word that bridges on the B&O in western Virginia had been burned the previous night.  From there the regiment marched to Grafton and was joined by regiments from Ohio (14^th and 16^th Ohio Volunteers) and Indiana (6^th, 7^th, and 9^th Indiana Volunteers).

     Receiving intelligence that the Federals were approaching, Colonel George Porterfield, commanding the Confederate forces in Grafton (a pro-Union town) withdrew to Philippi (a secessionist town).  On June 2, 1861 the Federal forces, under General Kelley, attacked and completely routed the Confederates in this first land battle of the Civil War. The Confederates beat it out of town so fast that the battle came to be known as The Philippi Races.  During the engagement, Colonel Kelley was shot in the chest, a wound at first thought to be mortal.  Kelly recovered and was promoted to Brigadier General.  He would go on the command the Department of West Virginia.

     After the Battle of Philippi, the regiment was separated. Five companies advanced to Laurel Hill and served in the battles at Rich Mountain and Corrick’s Ford under General George B. McClellan.  Company G was left as a guard at Philippi.  In July and August, the regiment was scattered throughout the country.  Part of the regiment guarded the bridges between Fairmont and the Cheat River from Confederate sympathizers.  Companies A, D, and F moved east to intercept defeated rebels from Cheat Mountain.  Yet another detachment was with Colonel Tyler in the campaign against General Wise, in the Kanawha Valley.

     At the end of July, the 1^st controlled Beverly and Sutton.  From this point, until August 19, the regiment’s only activities were scouting for bushwhackers and Confederate sympathizers.  On August 19, 1861, the regiment received orders to return to Wheeling.  When the regiment arrived in Wheeling on August 21 it received “the grandest reception extended to ANY body of men by the people of Wheeling.  On August 27 and 28, the three months men were mustered out of service.  The service of these men was vital to the Union cause.  Except for times it was damaged by the enemy, the B&O was able to remain open and throughout the war was under Union control.  In addition, enemy lines had been pushed far away from the Ohio Valley. Now Western Virginia was under Union control.  The birth of a new state was near.

     Two days later, the regiment was reorganized for three years’ service under command of Colonel Joseph Thoburn of Wheeling, who was Surgeon of the regiment in the three months service. Many of the three months men re-enlisted for this year years’ service.

 

Martin Robison Delaney

   

Martin Robison Delaney 

 Martin Robison Delany, the youngest of five children was born on May 6, 1812 in Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia). His mother Patti, a seamstress, was a free born African and his father Samuel was a slave, working as a carpenter.  Martin’s mother wanted to give her children every advantage, so she started teaching them how to read (illegal under Virginia law at the time). When word of her teaching got out, Patti moved the family to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania so she could continue educating her children.  Martin’s father, still a slave could not join them.  Once he was able to buy his freedom, he joined them the following year.

     In 1831, when Martin turned nineteen, he travelled to Pittsburgh (walking the 160 miles) to enroll in the Bethel Church school for blacks and Jefferson College where he studied Latin, Greek, and the classics.  He also apprenticed under Dr. Andrew McDowell, becoming his medical assistant.  Delany soon became a part of the Underground Railroad and in 1843, he established The Mystery, an abolitionist newspaper.  The Mystery was the first black newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains.

     Famed abolitionist Frederick Douglas came calling in 1847 and convinced Delany to become co-editor of his newspaper The North Star. Although the two men would become lifelong friends, they were, at times, bitter rivals. The partnership lasted a mere 18 months before each went his separate way.  Their ideas began to become diametrically opposed.  Douglas was preaching patience and integration for freed blacks and the continuation of the anti-slavery battle of the abolitionists.  Delany, however, preached emigration.  He believed the only way that blacks could achieve equality was by emigrating to Central America, and later to Africa.  These feelings were made clear in 1852 when he published his manifesto:  The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States, Politically Considered.

     Soon after parting ways with Douglas, Delany became one of the first blacks, along with two other men, to enroll in Harvard Medical School at the invitation of Dean Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. All three men were dismissed from the school a few weeks later because of protests filed by many white students.

     During an earlier journey down the Mississippi, Delany witnessed, firsthand, the plight of blacks in the south.  Upon returning, Delany married Catherine Richards. The couple would have eleven children. His experiences during the southern trip inspired him to write a novel, Blake, or the Huts of America.  Soon thereafter in 1856, Delany moved his family to Canada.  In 1858, he aided John Brown during the Chatham Convention. With his novel now complete, he saw its publication. First by Anglo-African Magazine in 1859 followed by the Weekly Anglo-African in 1861 and 1862.  Both magazines published the novel in serial form (it was not published in complete book form until 1970). Many thought the novel to be a response to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe.  It was, in fact, a response to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and the Dred Scott decision of 1857. It tells the story of an escaped slave (Blake) who plans a slave insurrection while traveling through the south. It was quite a contrast to Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

     Delany returned to the United States at the onset of hostilities. He, along with many others, proposed that blacks be recruited for service in the Union Army. Soon after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, Massachusetts Governor John Andrew, himself an abolitionist, “issued the Civil War’s first call for black soldiers.”   Delany began his recruiting efforts.  In fact, one of his sons, Toussaint L’Ouverture Delany enlisted in the 54^th Massachusetts regiment. The 1989 movie “Glory”, starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freeman, told the story of this unit.  Toward the end of the Civil War, in 1865, Delany was commissioned a Major 104th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, becoming the first black officer to receive a field command.

     Following the war, Delany was assigned to the Freedman’s Bureau in South Carolina.  He also entered the field of politics.  He narrowly lost an election for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, where he later served as a judge.  In 1880, he moved to Wilberforce Ohio where his wife had been working as a seamstress. He died there of tuberculosis on January 24, 1885.  Unfortunately, his private papers, given to Wilberforce University, were destroyed in a tragic fire.

Major General Jesse Lee Reno

 

Jesse Lee Reno

General Jesse Lee Reno (LOC)

 was born forty years to the day before West Virginia gained statehood, on June 20, 1823. Jesse, the third of eight children, was born in Wheeling, Virginia to Lewis and Rebecca Reno. When Jesse was seven years old, his family moved to Pennsylvania. Spending his formative years in Franklin, he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point in July of 1842 by Pennsylvania congressman Arnold Plumer.

Jesse finished eighth of fifty-nine in the class of 1846, perhaps the most renowned class in West Point history. He was a close friend of Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall) of Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia). Also in this class were George McClellan, Darius Couch, George Stoneman, John Gibbon, and Samuel Sturgis, generals in the Union Army and Confederate Generals A.P. Hill, George Pickett, and Cadmus Wilcox.

Reno commanded a howitzer battery and serving under General Winfield Scott during the Mexican War.  He was cited for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Cerro Gordo and was brevetted First Lieutenant on April 18, 1847.  He was wounded at Chapultepec and cited for bravery. Reno was brevetted Captain on September 13, 1847.

After the Mexican War, Reno served as assistant professor of mathematics and named Secretary of the Board of Artillery. The primary duty of this board was to prepare a system of instruction for heavy artillery. In 1853, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and sent to Minnesota. There he was instrumental in the construction of a road, nearly three hundred miles in length, from the Big Sioux River to Saint Paul. That November he married Mary Blanes Cross in the nation’s capital.

Soon after, Reno was assigned as an ordinance officer at Frankford Arsenal near Philadelphia. In June of 1857, General Albert Sydney Johnston launched an expedition to Utah. Reno served under him as chief ordinance officer. When Reno returned from Utah in 1859, he was assigned to command the arsenal at Mobile, Alabama. On January 4, 1861, as the flames of secession grew, Alabama Governor Andrew Moore ordered the arsenal’s seizure shortly before Alabama seceded. Reno was then placed in command of the arsenal at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas until December of that year.

Now a Brigadier, Reno accompanied General Ambrose Burnside on an expedition to North Carolina that February. Commanding the Second Brigade, General Reno led a successful attack on Fort Bartow in February. When his units were attached to the Army of the Potomac as the Ninth Corps, Reno was given command of the Second Division of the Ninth Corps. At Second Bull Run, Reno’s division fought against the forces of his West Point classmate Thomas J. Jackson, now known as “Stonewall”. When Lee launched his Maryland campaign, Reno was promoted to command of the Ninth corps, following the elevation of Burnside to command of the right wing of the army (I and IX Corps). On September 13, 1862, prior to the Battle of Antietam, the Ninth Corps moved into position to block the path of the Confederates. A battle ensued at South Mountain on September 14, 1862. Late that afternoon, as the Confederates were being driven from Fox’s Gap, the advance slowed. While riding along his line to investigate, Reno stopped to observe the Confederate position. As he observed, a confederate sharpshooter shot him through the chest.  He fell, mortally wounded. While being taken to the rear, he saw his friend General Sturgis. Reno said, “Hallo Sam, I’m dead.”  At 7 pm, Reno said, to surgeon, Dr. Calvin Cutter, “Tell my command that if not in body, I will be with them in spirit” and with that, he expired.  Reno’s officers and men were grief-stricken.  A correspondent for the Herald observed:

Grief at any time is heart-rending; but such grief as was manifested by the staff officers and those about him it has never before been my lot to witness. The old soldier, just come from the scene of carnage knelt and wept like a child. No eye was dry among those present, and many a silent and spoken resolution was made that moment that Reno's death should be amply avenged. Thus died one of the bravest generals that was in the service of his country, one of the bright gems in the crown of Burnside, and a man whom all respected and loved.

General Ambrose Burnside issued General Order No. 17 to the IX Corps announcing the loss of Reno shortly after his death:

"The commanding general announces to the corps the loss of their late leader, Maj. Gen. Jesse L. Reno. By the death of this distinguished officer the country loses one of its most devoted patriots, the army one of its most thorough soldiers. In the long list of battles in which General Reno has fought in his country's service, his name always appears with the brightest luster, and he has now bravely met a soldier's death while gallantly leading his men at the Battle of South Mountain. For his high character and the kindly qualities of his heart in private life, as well as for the military genius and personal daring which marked him as a soldier, his loss will be deplored by all who knew him, and the commanding general desires to add the tribute of a friend to the public mourning for the death of one of the country's best defenders".

On September 17, at the Battle of Antietam, the soldiers of the Ninth Corps shouted “Remember Reno” as they went into battle.

This marker is found on the National Road near the entrance to Wheeling Park in Wheeling, WV.  Nearby is the Madonna of the Trail Monument. (P. Chacalos)

In 1889, the veterans of the Ninth Corps placed a memorial to Reno on South Mountain at Fox’s Gap. Reno Road in Washington D.C., El Reno, Oklahoma, Reno County Kansas and Reno, Nevada all were named to honor the memory of Jesse Reno. He is interred in Washington D.C. at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown.

The Athenaeum

 The Athenaeum was a four-story structure located at the corner of what is now Sixteenth and Market streets. The first and second floors was intended for use as a warehouse for the Crescent Manufacturing Company, a producer of materials for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The depot of the Baltimore and Ohio was a short distance to the south on Market Street. The top floors were occupied by The Athenaeum.

Edwin Booth

The theater, considered the finest between Alleghenies and Chicago, had a separate entrance accessible by an iron staircase. The debut show of the Athenaeum, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, occurred on November 24, 1856. The show ran for an entire week, including a Saturday Matinee. Many great performers graced the stage of the Athenaeum. None, however, were more renowned than Edwin Booth, an acclaimed Shakespearean actor. Five weeks after Uncle Tom’s Cabin had concluded, Booth was at The Athenaeum for five performances. Booth had a brother, also an actor, albeit not quite as well received, who in a few years would become the more famous of the brothers. He was none other than John Wilkes Booth.

1858 saw no performances at the Athenaeum. The Athenaeum re-opened for one month (May) before closing and re-opening again. There was a limited run as a theater in mid-1861, but   with the beginning of hostilities between North and South, the use of the Athenaeum as a theater was over. It would, however, become very useful as a prison.

As the Civil War began, Confederate prisoners were held at Camp Carlile on Wheeling Island. As more prisoners arrived, it was deemed necessary to find another location in which to house them. The Athenaeum fit the bill, thus began its use as a prison. The new prison was primarily a holding area, as most prisoners would soon be transferred to Camp Chase on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. As the year drew to a close, the number of prisoners housed at The Athenaeum was nearing one hundred.  As the summer of 1862 approached, many prisoners began arriving with greater consistency. The number of arriving prisoners was much greater than Lincoln’s Bastille, as the Athenaeum was referred to by many, could accommodate. Therefore, the prisoners were sent to Camp Chase almost as fast as they arrived.

The whole building: The Athenaeum, as well as the floors used by Crescent Manufacturing were rented to the government for use as prison in the fall of 1863. Major Joseph Darr of the First West Virginia Cavalry was assigned to command of the prison. The prison would soon become self-sufficient with the addition of a vacant lot next to the building that was taken over by authorities. A twenty-foot-tall fence was constructed around the lot. Within the fence a barracks, a bake house, a kitchen, and a hospital were constructed. Part of the lot was used as an exercise yard. next to the building, the prison would soon becomeKitchens, barracks, and a hospital were added.

Now, more than just Confederate soldiers could be held. Court martialed Union soldiers and spies were sent to Lincoln’s Bastille. Also held, were many locals who would not sign an oath of allegiance. The sick and wounded were tended to by The Sisters of Saint Joseph, from nearby Wheeling Hospital, cared for the sick and wounded. However, the prison hospital soon became overcrowded. The sick and wounded were moved to the newly constructed Wheeling Hospital and the prison hospital was simply used to house the additional prisoners. 

As hostilities ended, the prison was closed. Over the next three years, the building housed a malt business and an agriculture store. An historic fire (the largest in the city’s history) consumed the building in October of 1868. Only one of the units that responded was able to reach the upper floors and the fire burned out of control. The firefighters concentrated their efforts at preventing the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings. This event resulted in the establishment of the Wheeling Fire Department.

Former site of The Athenaeum, currently quadrangle for West Virginia Northern Community College.  WVNCC building in the background is the former B&O railway depot.  Just across sixteenth street on the left is West Virginia Independence Hall, the former Custom House.  Much history at this intersection!  (P. Chacalos)

The Battle of Wilson's Creek

Preliminary Events

     The events that led to the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, often referred to as the Bull Run of the West, began unfolding in 1820, with the Missouri Compromise. Up to that point, there were twenty-two states in the Union, eleven free states and eleven slave states. In 1818, Missouri had requested admission to the Union as a slave state. To keep the balance equal, Maine was admitted as a free state in March of 1820 and Missouri was admitted the following year as a slave state. The Missouri Compromise also stipulated that slavery would not be allowed north of 36^o30” latitude (Missouri’s southern border). With Missouri’s admission, southern farmers flocked to the state in massive numbers. Most of these migrating farmers settled in an area northwest of St. Louis which became known as Little Dixie. The primary cash crop for these farmers was hemp. Hemp production and cultivation required heavy labor. Thus, the farmers brought with them their slave dependent economy. Also settling in and around St. Louis were many German American immigrants who were viewed with suspicion, not to mention great prejudice.

     At the outset of the 1850’s the Nebraska Territory was laying the groundwork for admission to the Union. To appease southerners, Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed admitting Kansas as a slave state. Now, northerners were outraged. Kansas was north of Missouri’s southern border. In 1854 Douglas was determined to pass the Kansas Nebraska act. This act allowed the territories to decide for themselves through popular sovereignty. Pro-slavery settlers began pouring into Kansas in order to see the territory enter the Union as a slave state. At the same time, anti-slavery settlers, flocked to Kansas as well, determined to make the territory a free state. The events in Kansas led to chaos and guerrilla warfare. Civil War was near.

     As war approached, and states seceded, Missouri was the key to the west, due to its rivers and vast railroad network. Its largest city was St. Louis with a population of almost 200,000. Approximately one third of the population was German American. Known as “Dutchmen”, these German Americans were strongly against slavery. In the 1860 election, practically all of Abraham Lincoln’s support in Missouri came from St. Louis.

     Missouri opposed secession by more than 70,000 votes. However, most people in the state wanted to remain neutral. On April 15, 1861, three days after Fort Sumter was fired upon by Confederate forces, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion, with each state having a quota to fill. Missouri governor Claiborne Fox Jackson adamantly refused. Being an outspoken secessionist, he was determined to see Missouri side with the Confederacy. Jackson ordered state militia to begin preparations to seize the United States arsenal in St. Louis.

Lyon, Blair, and Sigel

     Captain Nathaniel Lyon had been transferred to St. Louis in 1861. Connecticut born and West Point educated, Lyon had a fiery temper. He had also developed an intense and unabashed hatred for slavery and slave owners. He got wind of the plan to seize the arsenal, so he had the arms secreted across the river to Illinois.  St. Louis congressman Francis P. Blair came from one of the most influential families in the country. Above all others, he was the strongest supporter in the state of keeping the Missouri in the Union. Franz Sigel having commanded troops in the German Revolution, immigrated to the United States. He settled in St. Louis and was appointed superintendent of schools. He became a trusted advisor to Lyons and helped to raise volunteers for Lyon’s “army”. The German Americans of St. Louis had an almost blind loyalty to Sigel. Anxious to prove loyalty to their new country, many of these men enlisted, saying to others “I goes to fight mit Sigel.”

Nathaniel Lyon (LOC)

Franz Sigel (LOC)

The Camp Jackson Affair

     The Federal commander in St. Louis at the time was William S. Harney. On May 10, 1861, with Harney away from St. Louis, Lyon and Sigel marched with an army of almost 7,000 to disband the 700 member Missouri State Militia which was encamped at Camp Jackson, a short distance away. The militia surrendered without a shot being fired. The captured militia was paraded through the streets of St. Louis. Crowds gathered along the route directing vulgar language at the Union soldiers. As the crowds grew, they began to throw rocks. Someone, so emboldened by the lack of response from the soldiers, fired a pistol. Troops returned fire. The aftermath saw seventy-five wounded and twenty-five dead. This encounter came to be known as the Camp Jackson Affair or Camp Jackson Massacre. Federals now began to lose public support in Missouri.

     Meanwhile, the state legislature was in session at Jefferson City. Learning of events in St. Louis, legislators gave Governor Jackson unprecedented military powers. Jackson mobilized the state militia, now called the State Guard, and appointed Mexican War veteran Sterling Price as its commander. On May 21, 1861, Price met with Harney, now back in St. Louis. The two came to an agreement that Federal troops would not interfere in Missouri’s affairs if state government kept order. With the influence of Blair, this decision cost Harney his command of Union forces in the state. Shortly thereafter, Lyon was promoted to Brigadier General and was appointed interim commander of all Federal forces in Missouri.

     To iron out their differences, Lyon and Blair met with Price, Jackson, and a number of aides at the Planters House Hotel in St. Louis on June 11, 1861.  Things did not go well. Negotiations quickly fell apart. Finally, Lyon stood and angrily said:

“Rather than concede to the state of Missouri, the right to dictate to my government on any matter however unimportant,” now standing and pointing at each man present, he continued, “I would see you, and you, and you, and you, and every man, woman and child in the state dead and buried! This means war!”

Lyon Launches His Campaign

1861 Missouri Campaign (LOC)

     Lyon, with two thousand men, immediately moved on the state capital, traveling by steamboat. Encountering no resistance, he occupied Jefferson City on June 15. After installing a pro-Union government, he marched on Boonville. At the same time Lyon moved on Springfield, Thomas Sweeney and two thousand men were ordered to move on Rolla to secure the rail and telegraph lines. Due to supply problems, however, only Sigel and one thousand men left as scheduled. Sweeny waited in St. Louis one more week.

     Meanwhile, Jackson and Price had learned of Lyon’s expedition against the state capital. Jackson ordered the state stores and powder moved to Boonville, and Price ordered State Guard Units and newly arriving recruits to assemble to Boonville as well. All eyes were on Boonville. Price’s troops were raw and untrained, and he had no artillery. Lyon’s troops included three companies of U.S. Regulars and an artillery battery. At this point, suffering from a severe case of diarrhea, Price left Jackson in charge and returned to his home nearly sixty miles away. Lyon moved quickly. The Battle of Boonville (more a skirmish than a battle) was over in twenty minutes. Federal casualties included five killed and seven wounded. Three Missouri State Guard troops were killed and nine were wounded. In the East, First Bull run was still a month away.

     Jackson retreated with the State Guard. As he moved south, in heavy rains, his column grew to over six thousand men. Lyon, however, remained in Boonville for two weeks. When Lyon finally moved, he was confronted by swollen rivers, making pursuit difficult. Sigel, having taken Rolla, moved west. He met Jackson’s force at Carthage. Outnumbered by more than six to one, Sigel’s force made a respectable fight before withdrawing to Springfield. He would merge with Lyon the following week. Price moved south to Cowskin Prairie. Jackson decided to leave, feeling he could better serve in a diplomatic manner.

     If the campaign ended here it would have been considered a great success. Lyon wanted more. He wanted to punish the secessionists. He was now on a crusade. However, he had been replaced as Union Commander of all Missouri forces by the politically connected John C. Freemont. Blair relinquished has brigade command and returned to his congressional seat in Washington.

The Battle

     As the long, hot days of summer dragged on, Lyon occupied Springfield with 5,400 men. He requested reinforcements from Fremont on a regular basis. Although he had fifty thousand troops at hand, Fremont would send none. Believing Lyon had enough men to repel an attack, Fremont instructed Lyon to withdraw to Rolla if he felt otherwise. If Lyon decided to fight, he alone would bear the responsibility.

     On July 29, 1861, at Cassville, Price’s force combined with a Confederate force commanded by former Texas Ranger Benjamin McCullough and a brigade of Arkansans commanded by General N.B. Pearce. This new Western Army, now numbering just under 13,000 men moved toward Springfield. Lacking a supply train, this army lived off the land. Hungry and tired, the army arrived in a lush valley ten miles from Springfield. Food was plentiful, and more importantly Wilson Creek provided a water source.

     Lyon was now faced with a dilemma. He knew the combined force was coming, he knew he was greatly outnumbered, and he knew that he would not get any reinforcements. If he did not fall back to Rolla, he risked his whole army. However, he did not want to abandon the area’s pro-Union population. In addition, leaving without a fight did not suit his character. Sigel then came to him with an audacious plan of going on the offensive and launching a surprise attack from opposite directions. If the plan succeeded it would be brilliant. If it failed, disaster would ensue. The attack was planned for August 10. McCullough had also planned an attack for August 10. However, since his men lacked proper cartridge boxes to keep their powder dry, McCullough opted to postpone the attack.

Lyon went against conventional wisdom and divided his outnumbered force. He would attack from the north with 4,300 men while Sigel attacked from the south with 1,100 men. Lyon’s column arrived at its designated post just after midnight. As his men rested, he confided to his Chief of Staff, Major John Schofield:

“I am a believer in presentments, and I have a feeling that I can’t get rid of that I shall not survive this battle. I will gladly give my life for a victory.”

     While Lyon rested, Sigel’s force arrived at its predetermined spot. Sigel placed his artillery on a rise overlooking the Confederates camped in farmer Joseph Sharp’s farm below. Sigel was to wait for the sound of Lyon’s guns to commence his attack.

Wilson's Creek Battle Map (LOC)

     Lyon brushed aside Confederate pickets, as fighting erupted at 5:00 AM. Meanwhile, Price and McCullough were having breakfast at Price’s headquarters located at the Edwards cabin. The cabin was in an acoustic shadow, an area where sound is scattered. Thus, Price and McCullough did not hear the guns. When a messenger arrived with news that Lyon was there, McCullough, deeming the messenger unreliable, ignored the warning. When a second messenger arrived with the same message, McCullough and Price went to investigate.

     Lyon again divided his force, sending Captain Joseph Plummer with a battalion of U.S. Regulars and Missouri Home Guards (unionists) to cross the creek and protect his left flank. Lyon proceeded to a rise, known as Oak Hill, thereafter, to be known as Bloody Hill. As fighting intensified, Totten’s Union Battery was wreaking havoc on the Confederates from its position on Bloody Hill. Captain William Woodruff, commanding the Pulaski Battery saw Totten’s Battery completely exposed. Acting without orders Woodruff’s Battery opens fire, buying the southerners time organize as McCullough and Price arrive on the field. Plummer, seeing the Pulaski Battery moves into Ray’s Cornfield to knock it out.

The Ray Cornfield (P. Chacalos)

     McCullough saw Plummer’s men moving through farmer Ray’s cornfield and sends a force of Louisianans and Arkansans to meet them. Plummer, outnumbered three to one, was forced to retreat across the creek and back to Bloody Hill. Plummer was wounded in the retreat. After two hours, casualties mounted as Lyon’s attack lost momentum.

     Sigel, after initial success on his end, had halted at the Sharp farm after taking prisoners. A lull had occurred in the fighting. Having no direct communication with Lyon, Sigel waited. At that stage of the Civil War, neither side had adopted standard uniform colors. The First Iowa Infantry, known as the Greyhounds and part of Lyon’s column, was clad in grey. When the Third Louisiana charged Sigel’s column, Sigel thought they were Lyon’s Greyhounds and ordered his men to hold their fire. Realizing, too late the enemy was upon them, Sigel’s column was routed. The men not captured, led by Sigel, retreated to Springfield. McCullough and Price could now throw their combined force against Lyon on Bloody Hill.

This monument marks the spot where
General Lyon fell. It is the ONLY
monument at Wilson's Creek NBF
(P. Chacalos)

     Up to that point in the battle, Lyon’s horse had been killed and Lyon had been wounded twice. He feared the day was lost. Seeing Lyon discouraged, Major Schofield encouraged him to try one more time. Borrowing a horse, Lyon led the Second Kansas forward. Encouraging his men, Lyon said “Come on my brave boys, I will lead you forward.” Upon speaking these words, Lyon was shot through the chest and fell from his horse. The Union had lost its first General in the Civil War.

At 10:30 the southerners attacked again. Northern artillery was devastatingly accurate. A lull occurred and 11:00 AM. With ammunition low, canteens empty, and every regimental commander wounded, Major Samuel Sturgis, now in command, ordered a retreat to Springfield. The southerners attacked again, only to find the Northerners had gone. After six hours, the battle was over.

The Aftermath

In the Ray cornfield, on the Sharp farm, and on Bloody Hill, over five hundred lay dead along with over eighteen hundred wounded. Federal casualties amounted to 24% of all forces engaged, while southern casualties were 12% of all forces engaged.

The Ray Family: John and Roxanna Ray farmed over four hundred acres in the area surrounding Wilson’s Creek. John Ray, a unionist, was the local U.S. Postmaster, since his farm was located on the Wire Road, the major highway in southwestern Missouri. The Rays emerged from their home to find their property had become a massive hospital. Mother and daughters give aid and comfort to soldiers from both sides. John and Roxanna Rays remained at Wilson’s Creek until their deaths in the mid-1870’s.

The Ray House (P. Chacalos)

The Sharp Family:  Joseph Sharp lived a short distance down the road from the Rays. One of the wealthiest farmers in the area, Sharp owned one thousand acres and three slaves. After the battle, Sharp and his wife found their crops destroyed. Artillery had damaged much of their property. They were still burying the fallen weeks later.

The Short Family:  The Shorts suffered the most. Dead Union soldiers, as well as horses were strewn about their farm. Dead bodies contaminated the water. This gave rise to a typhoid epidemic. As a result, Sharp’s two daughters died within a year. Suspected of being disloyal, Joseph Sharp was briefly imprisoned in 1863. They moved away shortly after his release. The house was destroyed by fire later in the war.

General Lyon:  During the Union retreat, Lyon’s remains had been left behind by accident. When discovered, they were taken to the Ray house. The Rays wrapped the body in a counterpane and placed it in the family bed. The body was taken to Rolla. From there it travelled by rail to Lyon’s home state of Connecticut. Lincoln announced a National Day of Prayer in his honor. The first Union general killed in the Civil War; Lyon was seen as a martyr for the Union.

Lyon's body was brought to the Ray house and placed in this bed after it was recovered (P. Chacalos)

Price and McCullough:  Price and McCullough could not agree on their next step. They did not pursue the northerners and thus lost their advantage. McCullough returned to his base in Arkansas. Price led the Missouri State Guard to Lexington, taking the city that September. The death of Lyon coupled with the twin defeats at Wilson’s Creek and Lexington spurred Lincoln to increased Federal presence in Missouri. In March of 1862, a Union Army led by General Samuel Curtis moved against the forces of Price and McCullough in the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas. The Confederates were routed. From that point, and despite continued guerilla activity, Missouri remained in firm Union control for the rest of the war.