Nathaniel Lyon

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Nathaniel Lyon as captain

Nathaniel Lyon (born July 14, 1818 in Ashford , Connecticut , † August 10, 1861 in the Battle of Wilson's Creek ) was a general in the US Army during the Civil War . His goal was that Missouri should remain in the union. But he fell in the same year as the first Union general in the US Civil War.

Life

Lyon was the son of a farmer, but opted for a military career early on. He attended the US Military Academy at West Point , New York , where he graduated in 1841 as the 11th of 52 cadets. He then served in the 2nd US Infantry Regiment in the Seminole War and in the Mexican-American War , where after the Battle of Mexico City he was promoted to lieutenant for bravery in conquering an enemy artillery position and after the battles of Contreras and Churubusco to Brevet - Captain was appointed. After the war he fought against Indians in the American West, u. a. he was involved in May 1850 in the " Bloody Island Massacre " on Clear Lake in California of the Pomo Indians .

In the 1850s, Lyon was involved in the unrest in Kansas leading up to the civil war (" Bleeding Kansas "), which solidified its Republican partisanship. In March 1861 he became the commandant (with the rank of captain) of the state arsenal in St. Louis , which at the time was divided in terms of sympathies for the Union or the Confederation . Governor Claiborne F. Jackson sympathized with the Confederates, whose militias gathered at Camp Jackson, Missouri under General DM Frost. Finally, Lyon marched into the camp with his troops of the 2nd Missouri Infantry Regiment and newly formed (mostly of German descent ) volunteer militias and forced its surrender. Riots broke out in St. Louis, during which Lyon shot at protest crowds on May 10 - 75 people wounded and 28 killed.

Lyon prevented Missouri from seceding to the Confederation in Washington's eyes and was then promoted to Brigadier General (May 12). He was given command of Union forces in Missouri and, on July 2, the " Army of the West ". Governor Jackson then fled to Jefferson City , Missouri, where Lyon followed him with 5,500 men. On June 13, he captured the city and on June 17, he defeated the Missouri State Guard under Sterling Price near Boonville and pushed them further southwest.

There, however, the militias strengthened themselves with the regular troops of Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch , who with a total of around 12,000 men were clearly superior to Lyon and were preparing to attack them in Springfield , Missouri. To forestall this, Lyon himself took the initiative, divided his troops and attacked the Confederates in their camp in the battle of Wilson's Creek on the morning of August 10, sending 1,200 men under Franz Sigel in a night march into the rear of the enemy . The plan initially worked, but Sigel and his men got caught in a violent fire and were stopped and pushed back after they initially mistook a similarly uniformed unit of the enemy for their own troops. Lyon now faced a two-fold superiority and finally had to give way. He himself fell in combat after being wounded several times. His troops (commanded by Sigel) were able to move to Springfield and had temporarily saved the state for the Union.

Lyon was the first Union general to die in the Civil War and was buried with great sympathy (15,000 people reportedly attended the funeral) in the family grave in Eastford, Connecticut. His equestrian statue is in Springfield National Cemetery.

In the United States, three counties in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada are named after him, and two forts in Colorado and Virginia.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brigadier General of the Missouri Volunteers, five days later Brigadier General USV (United States Volunteers). Article Lyon in Boatner, The Civil War Dictionary
personal data
SURNAME Lyon, Nathaniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Civil War General
DATE OF BIRTH July 14, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH Ashford , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH August 10, 1861
Place of death Battle of Wilson's Creek