This handwritten pass was issued on August 20, 1861 from Missouri State Guard Captain Emmett MacDonald to General Nathaniel Lyon’s relatives. Addressed “To all the Pickets of the Confederate army,” the pass granted the bearer and his party safe passage to Springfield, for the purpose of retrieving the remains of General Nathaniel Lyon, who was killed at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861.
General Lyon’s remains had been removed from the battlefield to the home of Mrs. John S. Phelps in Springfield. On August 22, Danford Knowlton, Lyon’s cousin, and John B. Hasler, his brother-in-law, arrived at the Phelps home to secure the body.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31000
