{"id":2213,"date":"2010-06-18T11:18:17","date_gmt":"2010-06-18T16:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/?p=2213"},"modified":"2010-06-18T11:22:31","modified_gmt":"2010-06-18T16:22:31","slug":"the-battle-of-wilsons-creek-august-10-1861","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/2010\/06\/18\/the-battle-of-wilsons-creek-august-10-1861\/","title":{"rendered":"The Battle of Wilson’s Creek, August 10, 1861"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"On August 10, 1861 about ten miles south of Springfield, Missouri Confederate forces under the joint command of General Benjamin McCulloch<\/a> and Major General Sterling Price<\/a> of the Missouri State Guard, defeated General Nathaniel Lyon\u2019s Union troops at the battle of Wilson\u2019s Creek. The National Park Service provides information geared towards teachers on their website<\/a>, which highlights the field trip-friendly nature of the Wilson\u2019s Creek battlefield. According to historian James McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom<\/em><\/a>, although the Confederate victory at Wilson\u2019s Creek did not affect national public opinion, the battle had a direct impact on communities within Missouri. The Missouri State Senate officially declared Missouri\u2019s secession from the Union on October 28, 1861, only three months after the battle at Wilson\u2019s Creek. The Journal of the Missouri Senate\u2019s Extra Session of the Rebel Legislature has been digitized as part of the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative and is available here<\/a>.\u00a0 Another rich online source for teachers exploring the Western theater of the Civil War is the website \u201cCommunity and Conflict<\/a>,\u201d which documents the impact of the Civil War in the Ozarks from 1850 to 1875. By searching the Wilson\u2019s Creek Collections<\/a> researchers can access the journal of Captain Asbury C. Bradford<\/a> of Company E, 2nd Regiment, 8th Division, Missouri State Guard, which includes Asbury\u2019s hand-drawn map<\/a> of the battle at Wilson\u2019s Creek. Another unique resource is the memoir of Louisa Cheairs McKenny Sheppard<\/a>, a 12-year-old resident of Springfield, who documented the effects of the Civil War on her family. The night before General Lyon was killed at Wilson\u2019s Creek he dined at the McKenny home, an event that Louisa recorded in her memoir:<\/p>\n