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Luminary lanterns illuminate the front of the Ray House at night.

Podcast

2024 Memorial Luminary Audio Tour

Pea Ridge, Wilson's Creek

This audio tour will take you to each stop on the luminary tour. Your pocket park ranger will walk you through troop movements during the battle and experiences of individuals.

Sound effects courtesy Pixabay. Public domain music from internet Archives and Wiki Commons: "Old Folks at Home," Steven Foster "Hard Times Come Again No More," Edison Male Quartet "Battle Hymn of the Republic," Frank C. Stanley "Washington Grays," U.S. Air Force Band "The Girl I Left Behind Me," US Marine Fife and Drum Corps

Episodes

Season 1

Episode 1

2024 Memorial Luminary - Episode 1 - Visitor Center to Ray House

Transcript

Welcome to Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield and thank you for attending our annual Memorial Luminary this evening. 

This driving tour will stop at three locations on the battlefield where casualties were concentrated. We encourage you to listen for a mention of the individual included with your program at these stops. Each light represents a soldier killed, missing, or wounded during the battle.

For your safety, we ask that you watch your footing while outside your vehicle due to uneven surfaces and low lighting. Please stay together as a group during presentations. In the interest of providing an authentic experience for all participants, no flash photography will be permitted during the tour. Keep headlights on while driving. Upon arrival at each stop, please turn off your vehicle engine and headlights. 

Now let’s set the stage for your first stop.

Thousands of Federal forces assembled in Springfield during the humid afternoon of August 9, 1861. After three months on the march and many small victories, they would soon be face-to-face with a force that outnumbered them two-to-one.

Federal commander General Nathaniel Lyon rallied his troops by giving a brief speech to each company. He had meant to be inspiring, but his men couldn’t help but notice the “deep traces of anxiety” in his voice.

“Men we are going to have to fight. We will march out in short time. Don’t shoot until you get orders. Fire low—don’t aim higher than their knees; wait until they get close; don’t get scared. It’s no part of a soldier’s duty to get scared,” General Lyon said in one speech.

They left that evening, wrapping wagon wheels and horse hooves in blankets to muffle the noise. Soldiers weaved in and out of line, telling stories and exchanging letters to be sent home. They were allowed to rest briefly before sunrise, before continuing the march.

By 5:00 am, General Lyon and around 5500 men had drawn close to the point where the Wire Road between Jefferson Barracks in St Louis and Fort Smith in Arkansas crossed Wilson’s Creek. Lyon issued orders to Captain Joseph B. Plummer to march towards the Ray House and secure the road and its telegraph line on the north side of the creek.

Captain Plummer and his 300 men soon engaged the 1000 men in the combined forces of the 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles and the 3rd Louisiana Infantry Regiment in the Ray Cornfield. The fighting there was intense. The close quarters combat and artillery fire from both sides resulted in heavy losses. Captain Plummer was wounded and more than 100 of his detachment fell in combat.

Civilians were also affected by the battle. The Ray family – consisting of John and Roxanne Ray, and nine of their eleven children, along with Rhoda, a woman enslaved by the Ray family and Rhoda’s four children – were home as the battle began in their cornfield.

According to family tradition, everyone but John Ray took shelter in the cellar, while John watched the fight from the porch. Confederate troops took control of the house by late morning and converted it and the family’s fields into a field hospital. Wounded US and Confederate soldiers were treated at this location. Due to the severity of their wounds, some soldiers were at the Ray House for weeks before they could safely make the trip into Springfield.

The Battle of Wilson’s Creek had begun and the fate of Missouri hung in the balance.

Welcome to the 2024 Memorial Luminary! In this episode, find safety information and an introduction to the opening moments of the battle as Federal troops under General Nathaniel Lyon attacked Confederate camps near the Ray House. Also, learn more about how the Ray family responded to the battle.

Episode 2

2024 Memorial Luminary - Episode 2 - Ray House to Sigel's Final Position

Transcript

“What is the matter with you?” Plummer asked a soldier making his way to the rear. “I am shot through my right cheek,” the soldier replied, and the flowing blood proved the truth. “Go back to your place, you villain!” exclaimed Plummer; “you must not mind flea-bites.”

 While General Lyon worked to seize the high ground on Bloody Hill and Captain Plummer secured his flank, Colonel Franz Sigel and his Second Brigade were to march to the south of Confederate forces, hold the Wire Road and block any Confederate retreat. Sigel and his troops took their first position on a high ridge east of the Sharp cornfield, your next stop. Sigel ordered four artillery pieces to unlimber on the ridge and open fire on the Confederate forces encamped in the Sharp Cornfield below.

The 2300 Confederates making breakfast or dozing on Joseph Sharp’s fields reacted with panic to the surprise onslaught. Some fled to the north or west, taking no further part in the battle. Others moved quickly off the field but were able to rally later in the morning. While the four cannons continued their bombardment, Sigel moved two additional artillery pieces and most of his infantry and cavalry off the ridge. They were heading south to ford Wilson’s Creek.

His troops crossed the creek and continued to the Sharp farm. There Sigel halted his column and sent word for the remainder of his troops to move off the ridge and join him in the field. Shortly, Sigel again had approximately 1200 men and six artillery pieces with him.

A few of the surprised Confederates rallied in the face the advancing Federal troops. But, by about 7:15am, Sigel again opened fire with his artillery. After about 30 minutes of bombardment, his troops again drove the Confederate troops from the field. By 8:00 am, Sigel had brought his men into position near the Sharp House, effectively blocking the Wire Road. 

The surprise attack had worked. With no losses, Sigel had accomplished his mission, and now waited for Lyon to push the Confederates into his waiting force.

After blocking the wire road, Sigel had sent out skirmishers to scout the area in front of the Sharp House. The skirmishers returned at about 8:30 am to report that Lyon’s troops were coming down the Wire Road, fresh from a successful attack on Bloody Hill. Sigel and his officers cautioned their men not to fire on the approaching troops. He had one of his color bearers advance and wave the Stars-and-Stripes to avoid any accidents.

Unfortunately for the Federals, these troops were not the 1st Iowa Regiment, as Sigel believed, but were members of the 3rd Louisiana Infantry Regiment led by Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch. He called to one of his officers, “Captain, take your men up and give them hell.” Joined by some Missouri State Guard infantry, the 3rd Louisiana moved quickly to the crest just north of Sigel’s position and fired a volley at point-blank range.

Evidence suggests that Sigel had deployed his men poorly. They were unprepared and unable to effectively meet an enemy force coming up the Wire Road. Expecting Lyon’s forces – not the enemy – to move up the slope, this time he was the one taken by surprise.

The Federal Second Brigade quickly disintegrated. Sigel and his men fled the field, abandoning four of their six cannons. With Sigel’s defeat and the rout of his forces, Nathaniel Lyon’s troops were left to face the entire Confederate army on Bloody Hill alone.

In this episode, learn about the approach of Sigel's force to the southern end of the battlefield and their engagement with Southern forces as they crossed Wilson's Creek.

Episode 3

2024 Memorial Luminary - Episode 3 - Sigel's Final Position to Bloody Hill

Transcript

Around 6:30 am, the leading elements of Lyon’s army had reached the crest of what would soon be known as Bloody Hill. They had driven the outnumbered groups of Confederates and Missouri State Guard away from the Short Farm and over the top of the same hill.

At this point, however, the successful Federal attack stalled. Lyon, under fire from the Pulaski Battery across Wilson’s Creek (at Stop 3), waited for his entire army to come up and deploy on Bloody Hill. Unsure of the number of men that faced him in the valley below the hill, he decided not to advance further. Soon both sides began feeding units into the Bloody Hill fight, extending their lines of battle from Wilson’s Creek. 

General Lyon, although the overall commander of the Union army, personally led troops in

action on Bloody Hill. This was natural behavior for the newly promoted general. Unlike Ben McCulloch and Major General Sterling Price of the Missouri State Guard – his opposites on the Confederate side – Lyon had served continuously in the US Army since his graduation from West Point in 1841.

Lyon had been under fire many times during the Mexican War and in conflict with Native peoples in the Far West. On Bloody Hill, he seemed to mentally revert to his days as a junior officer commanding an infantry company from the front. While leading reinforcements forward, Lyon was mortally wounded and became not only the first US Army general killed in the Civil War, but also a great martyr to the Union cause. 

General Price’s Missouri State Guard made up the bulk of pro-Confederate forces initially facing Lyon’s forces on Bloody Hill. Later in the morning, they were reinforced by Arkansas State Troops under Brigadier General N.B. Pearce. Three times, these troops charged toward Federal lines, only to withdraw, leaving the Federals in control of the crest. Ironically, during the entire morning, Missouri loyal regiments engaged with the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard; a good example of Missouri’s own civil war within the national Civil War. 

However, the fighting on Bloody Hill was not constant over the five hours of combat there. There were significant lulls between Southern assaults and Union bombardments.

Even during attacks, formations did not fire their weapons as quickly as possible. Men would kneel or lay down in the prairie grass, thickets, or ravines, and behind trees, making them hard-to-see targets. Units would temporarily withdraw or maneuver into new positions out of range, forcing each side’s fire to slacken. Soldiers would sometimes be careful about when and where to fire as scarce ammunition meant each shot needed to count.

Finally, the Southern attacks were not composed of solid, unbroken lines of advancing infantry, but were uncoordinated. Some units pressed attacks close to the enemy, others came under fire and stood in place, and still others retreated. 

The fighting on Bloody Hill primarily involved infantry and artillery forces. The only major cavalry action during the battle was an attempt by a portion of Colonel Elkanah Greer’s South Kansas-Texas Regiment to outflank the Union line on Bloody Hill. The charge was easily driven off by the Union forces, including Captain James Totten’s artillery battery. Totten wrote that Greer’s charge was so “ineffectual in its force and character as to deserve only the appellation of child’s play.”

Finally, about 11:30 am, following the repulse of the third Southern attack, the Union army began its withdrawal from Bloody Hill. The battle had ended. The Union commander, General Lyon, had been killed about 9:30 am, and the new commander, Major Samuel Sturgis, learned that his men were nearly out of ammunition. In addition, the forces on Bloody Hill had lost nearly a quarter of their original strength as killed, wounded, and missing. Worse, no one was certain of Sigel’s fate.

The Union troops abandoned the field, technically making Wilson’s Creek a Confederate victory.

In this episode, follow the fighting on Bloody Hill as General Nathaniel Lyon faces the bulk of the Confederate forces along the crest of a place that would soon be known as Bloody Hill.

Episode 4

2024 Memorial Luminary - Episode 4 - Bloody Hill to Exit

Transcript

“We watched the retreating enemy through our field-glasses, and were glad to see him go.” – Brigadier General N.B. Pearce, Arkansas State Troops

After Union commander General Nathanial Lyon was killed at about 9:30 am, Major Samuel Sturgis assumed command. Without certainty of Sigel’s fate, having lost a quarter of of his troops to death, injury, or desertion, and being nearly out of ammunition, retreat was the only viable option.

Federal troops held their positions long enough to rebuff a third Confederate attack. While the Confederates regrouped to charge the hill a fourth time, Federal troops abandoned the field, ending the battle. It was about 11:30 am. Except for Sigel’s rout at the Sharp Farm, both sides fought extremely well, shifting quickly to threatened points of the line and holding steady in the face of enemy attacks and counterattacks.

With the battle over, Union forces made an orderly withdrawal toward Springfield. Confederate troops did not pursue—they had lost about 12% of their army, were low on ammunition, exhausted, and disorganized.

At a council of war held that evening, Sturgis turned over command of the Union army to Colonel Sigel. All the officers present agreed that Springfield could not be held and that retreat was inevitable.

The night of August 10 was a hectic one in Springfield as the Federals prepared to abandon the city. Merchants gave food and other supplies to soldiers to keep them from falling into Confederate hands. In the words of Private Eugene Ware, “everything was in a hurly-burly, and the officers were all swearing at each other.”

Early the next morning, Sigel’s force began a week-long march to Rolla, about 110 miles away. Sigel was confident that they had achieved what they set out to do—they had damaged the enemy and were allowed to move without pursuit.

Soon after capturing the city, Southern commanders met in Springfield to discuss their next move. They could not come to an agreement. Price wanted to follow up the victory with a march to the Missouri River. McCulloch wished to fortify Springfield. In the end, McCulloch and Pearce marched their troops back to Arkansas. The Missouri State Guard under Price moved north and encircled a Union force at Lexington, Missouri. After a siege of three days, the Federals surrendered on September 20, 1861.

Price could not maintain his position on the Missouri River. He and his troops soon fell back to southwestern Missouri in the face of a large Union army under General John C. Frémont. After Frémont was relieved of command, his forces were dispersed. Price remained in southwest Missouri until February 1862 when he was driven out by a new Union force led by Brigadier General Samuel Curtis which included two divisions of troops led by now-Brigadier General Franz Sigel.

Pursued by Curtis, Price and his forces withdrew into northwest Arkansas. There, Price’s army joined McCulloch’s forces again. General Earl Van Dorn then led the combined forces in a daring move to cut Curtis off from his supply base at Springfield. Although initially surprised by the Confederates, Curtis was able to decisively defeat Van Dorn at the Battle of Pea Ridge, near modern day Rogers, Arkansas, on March 7-8, 1862.

What happened to the notable commanders after the Battle of Wilson’s Creek?

General Nathaniel Lyon’s body was transported east by wagon and railroad until it was laid to rest in his hometown of Eastford, Connecticut on September 5, 1861. General Ben McCulloch would lead a Confederate brigade at the Battle of Pea Ridge but was killed early in the fighting. General N.B. Pearce became a Confederate officer once the Arkansas State Troops finished their transfer to the Confederate Army and served out the war in the Indian Territory and Texas.

Franz Sigel had a checkered career. At Pea Ridge, he personally commanded a devastating artillery attack on Confederate positions on the second day. Promoted to major general, he was transferred to the Eastern Theater where he had a series of unsuccessful commands including a humiliating defeat at the Battle of New Market in the spring of 1864 which led to his relief from active command. After the war, he edited and published German-language newspapers and remained active in politics until his death in 1902.

Sterling Price had one of the lengthiest Civil War careers of any of the major participants. After the Battle of Pea Ridge, Price moved east of the Mississippi River and led troops in northern Mississippi. In the spring of 1863, he returned to Arkansas. The following year, he led a major invasion of Missouri. This raid threatened St. Louis and Jefferson City but was eventually defeated at Westport (now Kansas City). After the war he fled to exile in Mexico. He returned to Missouri until 1866 and died the following year.

What then is the significance of the Battle of Wilson’s Creek?

The second major battle of the Civil War was overshadowed by other, later battles in the Trans-Mississippi West. Yet, the battle preserved Missouri for the Union, preventing the state’s secession to the Confederacy. It brought greater national attention to the war in the west.

The bloody fighting also proved that green volunteers could fight bravely, and served as a warning to both the United States and the Confederacy that this would not be a short, easy war. For those who fought, life would never be the same. These common soldiers, once farmers or bookkeepers, had trod upon blood-soaked ground and carried the bodies of fallen comrades

with a musket in hand. They would march, wait, bury, and heal until the next time they would face one another in combat.

Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield would like to thank you for joining us this evening for the Memorial Luminary Tour and learning about our difficult, shared history. We would also like to thank our staff and our volunteers, as well as staff from Buffalo National River, Fort Smith National Historic Site, George Washington Carver National Historic Site, and Pea Ridge National Military Park for their time and commitment to supporting this event. Finally, we would like to thank and recognize the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation for providing refreshments and support.

Please be safe as you exit the park. We look forward to welcoming you at your next visit. For information about our events, visit our website calendar or Facebook page. To learn more about the soldier on your card, you may stop in at the visitor center or visit our website at www.nps.gov/wicr. From the navigation bar, select Learn About the Park, History & Culture, then People.

Music in this tour are from many different sources. Visit the tour webpage to learn.

The script was written by Bill Nash and Clayton Hanson. Alicea Powell provided additional edits.

Audio editing and mixing was completed by Emma Nolan.

Learn about the end of the battle on Bloody Hill and the aftermath of the second major battle of the Civil War.

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