Campaign for Wilson's Creek: The Fight for Missouri Begins

by Jeffrey L. Patrick

Overview

In early 1861, most Missourians hoped they could remain neutral in the upcoming conflict between North and South. In fact, a popularly elected state convention voted in March of that year that “no adequate cause” existed to compel Missouri to leave the Union. Instead, Missourians saw themselves as ideologically centered between the radical notions of abolition and secession.

By summer 1861, however, the situation had deteriorated dramatically. Because of the actions of politicians and soldiers such as Missouri Gov. Claiborne Jackson and Union Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, Missourians found themselves forced to take sides.

In this updated edition, author Jeffrey Patrick tells the fascinating story of high-stakes military gambles, aggressive leadership, and lost opportunities. Campaign for Wilson's Creek is a tale of unique military units, untried but determined commanders, colorful volunteers, and professional soldiers. The first major campaign of the Civil War to take place west of the Mississippi River guaranteed that Missourians would be engaged in a long, cruel civil war within the larger, national struggle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933337791
Publisher:	State House/McWhiney Foundation Press
Publication date:	03/11/2019
Series:	Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series , #28
Edition description:	2
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	509,252
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

JEFFREY L. PATRICK is the National Park Service librarian at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. He is the author of numerous articles on various aspects of American military history, and is the editor/coeditor of two Civil War diaries and a memoir from the  World War I period. He lives in Republic, Missouri.

Read an Excerpt

On the morning of June 11, 1861, Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon strode through the Planters’ House Hotel in Saint Louis, accompanied by Maj. Horace Conant, his aide, and US Representative Francis “Frank” P. Blair. The trio were on their way to meet Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson; Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, the commander of the Missouri State Guard; and Thomas L. Snead, one of Jackson’s aides. The Planters’ House Conference, as it came to be called, was a last desperate effort to prevent Missouri from sliding into full-scale civil war.

            Even though the Missouri legislature had authorized Governor Jackson to raise and organize a state militia, the governor agreed in the meeting to disband the pro-Southern Missouri State Guard units that had been formed since early the previous month; to guarantee the protection of pro-Union Missourians; and to prevent Confederate troops from entering the state. Lyon and Blair were asked in return to muster out the pro-Union Home Guard companies they had organized and to guarantee that Federal troops did not occupy any properties beyond those they now held. Price supported the agreement.
            Although initially quiet, the passionate Lyon soon entered the fray. He doubted Governor Jackson’s desire for peace and questioned whether Missouri’s Unionists could be protected with or without the State Guard. The idea that Jackson could prevent Confederate forces from entering Missouri proved to Lyon that the governor was openly negotiating with those in rebellion against the Union. The general could tolerate no one dictating terms to the national government, telling him what a soldier of the US Army could or could not do. Brigadier General Lyon was negotiating from a position of power, and he saw an opportunity to use that power to defeat the governor and his supporters.
            After four or five hours of discussion, Lyon had had enough. Although still seated, he spoke slowly, deliberately and, as Snead remembered, “with a peculiar emphasis” to the three Missourians. “‘Rather than concede to the State of Missouri for one single instant the right to dictate to my Government in any matter however unimportant, I would’ (rising as he said this, and pointing in turn to every one in the room) ‘see you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and every man, woman, and child in the State, dead and buried.’” He then turned to Governor Jackson and ended the meeting with these chilling words: “This means war. In an hour one of my officers will call for you and conduct you out of my lines.” Lyon then marched out of the room, followed by Major Conant, leaving Representative Blair to bid farewell to the others.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1.            Enter the Protagonists
2.            St. Louis Prepares for War
3.            Blood on the Streets
4.            Aftermath
5.            "This Means War"
6.            Sweeny and Sigel
7.            Lyon's Forced March
8.            The Southern "Valley Forge"
9.            The Armies Collide
10.          Lyon's Difficult Decision
11.          The Armies Prepare
12.          Lyon's Advance
13.          Bloody Hill Earns Its Name
14.          The Cornfield
15.          The Sharp Farm
16.          The Struggle for Bloody Hill Continues
17.          The Final Attack and the End of the Battle
18.          Aftermath

 

Interviews

Jeffrey Patrick lives in Republic, Missouri.

Editorial Reviews

"Patrick provides an excellent overview of the campaign and battle of Wilson's Creek, the second major Confederate victory of the Civil War. Patrick's extensive research, use of lively quotations, and strong narrative combine for a compelling story." -Wilson Piston

"This manuscript's greatest strength, is the richness of its first-hand accounts and its multitude of quotes by participants themselves." -John C. Waugh

"This is an excellent manuscript to be included in the Campaign & Commanders series." -Steven E. Woodworth

From the Publisher

"The narrative is written in clear and concise style...a good introduction to the subject for the general reader...""

— Gustav Person, Installation Historian, Fort Belvoir, VA

On Point: The Journal of Army History

The McWhiney Foundation Press provides an alternative to low-cost fluff with the Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series.

Civil War News

What is so inviting about the entire series is the depth and length to which Civil War Campaign and Commanders Series writers go to tell more than just battlefield statistics.

Eclectic Homeschool Online

"The narrative is written in clear and concise style...a good introduction to the subject for the general reader...""

On Point: The Journal of Army History - Gustav Person

"An excellent series [that] should be in every Texas school!"

Empire Books