Battle of Wilson's Creek

First to the Guns
Battle of Wilson's Creek, August 10, 1861
Artwork by Mort Kunstler

Only three weeks after Manassass, the first major Civil War battle in the West was fought at Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Missouri.

Confederate Colonel James McIntosh, above, led a charge of the Third Louisiana Infantry against a Union battery, an incident that helped turn the battle in the Confederate's favor. A few months later, at Pea Ridge in Arkansas, a Northern army defeated the Southerners and kept Missouri in the Union.

“In the first major battle of the western theatre, a Louisiana brigade, carrying their state 'pelican' flag overran a federal artillery position and helped turn the tide into another victory for the South.”

- Mort Kunstler