Description:

NATHANIEL LYON - ORDER WRITTEN THE DAY BEFORE HIS DEATH
(1818 - 1861) Union brigadier general who met with Confederate representatives and declared "This means war", he later put down the pro-Confederate Missouri militia and faced Ben McCulloch at Wilson''s Creek where he was killed in action. Exceptionally rare war-date A.D.S. as brigadier general WRITTEN THE DAY BEFORE HIS DEATH, 1p. oblong 8vo., [n.p., likely Springfield, Mo.], Aug. 9, 1861. In full: "Capt. Clark Wright has authority to call for and use such portions of the Home Guards, now in Springfield, as he may wish to procure supplies for the NY Troops. N. Lyons Brig. Gen''l Com''g Aug. 9, 61". Fine condition. On the day before his death in combat against vastly superior forces, Lyon was scrambling to gather all of the reinforcements at his disposal. Earlier, Confederate forces under Gen. Ben McCulloch, along with Missouri State Guard under Price, combined to threaten Springfield in early August, 1861. Lyon, with a force of half their size, met them at dawn a few miles southwest of Springfield on August 10 in the Battle of Wilson''s Creek. Lyon was wounded twice in the fighting; shot in the head and leg and his horse shot from under him. He returned to Union lines and commandeered another horse. Badly outnumbered by Confederate forces, he nevertheless dramatically led a countercharge of the 2nd Kansas Infantry on Bloody Hill, where he was shot in the heart at about 9:30 am. In the confused aftermath of the Union retreat, Lyon''s body was mistakenly left behind on the battlefield and discovered by Confederate forces. It was briefly buried on a Union soldier''s farm outside Springfield until it could be returned to his relatives.

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May 9, 2017 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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