Visitor Center and other Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, MO Things to Do Tips

The Visitor Center is generally the best stopping place for another national park or battlefield tour. Though limited in its publications, the visitor center at Wilson's Creek will discuss anything about the battle or the progress of the Civil War in Missouri with whomever might ask.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (417) 732-2662
Directions: 3 mi E of Republic and 10 mi S of Springfield
Website: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm

Built in 1852, the Ray House is the main surviving structure associated with the battlefield. Before the war it was a "flag stop" on the Butterfield Overland Stage route (which brought nearby Springfield into prominence -- see my Springfield page). During the battle it served mainly as a Confederate hospital and also for a short time afterward, though dying Union general Lyons was brought here also at the end of the fighting.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (417) 732-2662
Website: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm

At the foot of the hill in front of the Ray House, you can see a small stone structure that resembles a primitive oven. Though not resting on or near Wilson's Creek, the structure pooled water in a natural recess, providing the family's drinking water. Today, along with the actual house, the spring house is the only other surviving structure on the battlefield.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (417) 732-2662
Website: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm

Artillery played a prevalent part in this early battle of the Civil War. The hardest fighting of the day took place in the meat of today's auto-tour, somewhat on a line between Stop 7 (the Bloody Hill) and Stop 3 (the East Overlook). With no cannon foundries in the south, every captured gun was an enormous prize.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (417) 732-2662
Website: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm

Stop 3 on the auto tour pinpoints the location of an Arkansas battery that halted the Union advance coming from the west on what was known as Bloody Hill. The artillery from here kept up a hot fire throughout the battle. The spot also marks (or nearly marks) the position of CSA General Price's headquarters. The point today occupies a woody ridge in the northwest of the battlefield, much as it did in 1861 (therefore the bad shadows).

Leave a Comment

Phone: (417) 732-2662
Website: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm

The worst fighting at Wilson's Creek occurred to the west of the stream at a prominence later to be known as "Bloody Hill." The hill is due west of the Ray House, lies at almost an equal distance from Wilson's Creek, and sits at almost the same elevation. 4,000 Union men under Gen. Lyons held this high ground against repeated attacks, but at the end of the fighting, over 1,700 Union and Confederate soldiers had be killed or wounded here. Among the fatalities was Gen. Lyons.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (417) 732-2662
Website: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm

Those persons crossing Wilson's Creek on the tour road will merely pass a pleasant stream, a serene place befitting the several joggers you're certain to encounter. To get a battlefield view of the creek though, you'll have to trace the historic track of the Old Wire Road, which also takes you past the Edwards Cabin (Price's headquarters) on its rude supports.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (417) 732-2662
Website: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm