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Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
Virtual Tour Stop 7
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| NPS Photo |
| The position of Union Captain James Totten's Battery F, 2nd U.S. Artillery on Bloody Hill |
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| Sarah Cunningham | | The Lyon Marker |
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The most intense and savage fighting of the battle took place on Bloody Hill. From about 5:30 until 11:30 a.m., Union troops held Bloody Hill and resisted three determined Southern attacks. About 9:30 a.m. Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, the Union commander, was mortally wounded here, becoming the first Union general killed in action during the Civil War. The only monument on the battlefield is the "Lyon Marker," erected in 1928 on the traditional site of his death.
A 3/4 mile walking trail leads visitors across Bloody Hill, and includes points of interest such as the Lyon Marker and a natural sinkhole used as a mass grave for Union soldiers killed in the fighting.
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Did You Know?
The term "brother against brother" is often used to describe the Civil War, but at Wilson's Creek it was literally true. Both Joseph Shelby (Missouri State Guard) and his stepbrother Cary Gratz (1st Missouri Infantry, U.S.) fought on Bloody Hill. Gratz was killed during the battle.
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Last Updated: February 07, 2007 at 09:57 EST |
