Today is August 10, and on this day in history, in 1861, in Southwest Missouri, near Springfield, we review the Battle of Wilson's Creek, an American Civil War Battle. We have here the first major battle west of the Mississippi River, and it is sometimes called the "Bull Run of the West." Missouri was a slave state, and, therefore, it was important for both sides of the struggle to hold it. Before the battle the Union had grabbed the advantage by clearing out the Confederates in Northern Missouri and capturing the Missouri State Capital at Jefferson City. The Governor of Missouri was for the Confederates, but the Missouri Legislature had a Union majority. Prior to the start of the campaign ending at Wilson's Creek, Governor Claiborne Jackson and Union General Nathaniel Lyon and his predecessor, had maintained an uneasy truce with Missouri being officially neutral. This ended when Lincoln called for volunteers after the firing on Fort Sumter. Lincoln asked Jackson that the Missouri State Guard be enrolled in federal service. Jackson refused and this ended the truce. On June 12, 1861, General Lyon and Governor Jackson met in St. Louis to resolve the matter. The meeting ended with Lyon saying: "This means war. In an hour one of my officers will call for you and conduct you out of my lines." The campaign started. Jackson appointed Sterling Price as commander of the Missouri forces. Lyon chased them across Missouri and several minor battles were fought. Both sides stood and fought the major battle of Wilson's Creek on this day and the Confederates won the battle. General Lyon fell, becoming the first Union general to be killed in battle in the Civil War. What was the result of the battle? As far as strategic outcome is concerned, the battle had little effect. The Confederates were heartened by the victory and Jackson, Price and such other sympathetic officials as were on hand formally joined the Confederacy. That is the reason why the Confederate Battle Flag has thirteen stars. Even though only eleven states formally seceded, the Confederates considered that Missouri and Kentucky were part of the Confederacy. The action of secession by Jackson and Price had little effect and was in fact, illegal. Their actions were not supported by the legislature or the bulk of the people of Missouri. Missouri remained in the Union throughout the war and the Confederate forces were soon forced to leave the state. See the following article for details of the battle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wilson%27s_Creek General Lyon is an interesting fellow and his article is worth a glance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Lyon Sterling Price is an extremely interesting person in history. He refused to surrender at the end of the Civil War, and took his remaining troops into Mexico and founded a Confederate colony near Vera Cruz. Review his article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Price The fate of Confederate Missouri Governor, Claiborne Jackson, was downhill after the battle. You can review an article on him at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claiborne_jackson