Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/182

 the first of the many thousands of Iowa soldiers who perished in the war for the Union. On the 1st of August General Lyon overtook a force of the enemy under General McCulloch, at Dug Springs, and after a sharp fight defeated it. On the Union side the battle was fought by cavalry and artillery, the First Iowa Infantry acting as skirmishers on the right wing.

BATTLE OF WILSON’S CREEK

General Lyon, who was now confronted by a superior army, Price having reënforced Jackson and McCulloch, sent urgent requests for more troops. But they were not furnished and, unwilling to remain idle while the Rebel armies were concentrating about him, he determined to attack rather than retreat. He formed his plan of battle, and on the evening of August 9th, the little army moved out of Springfield with 5,500 men to assail the combined Rebel armies, more than 20,000 strong. It was a desperate venture, but with no prospect of reënforcements, General Lyon was not the man to remain inactive until overwhelmed by the enemy surrounding him. Colonel Sigel was ordered to march by the Fayetteville road and open on the enemy surrounding him. Colonel Sigel was ordered to march by the Fayetteville road and open on the enemy in the rear with artillery, while General Lyon, with the main body, was to attack in front. The First Iowa, under Lieutenant-Colonel Merritt, was with General Lyon. After a march of several hours in darkness and silence, the Union army, at 2 a.m., came within a short distance of the enemy and halted to take a few hours’ rest. With the first dim light of the early morning the battle opened. Totten’s Battery, supported by the Iowa regiment, from a hill, opened fire on the Rebels. To the left was Dubois’ Battery, and to the right of Totten’s were the First Missouri and Second Kansas regiments. The engagement soon became general and strong lines of the Rebels charged on Lyon’s little army. These were driven back in confusion by the steady fire of the