Gallery: Wilson’s Creek Campaign
Benjamin McCulloch
Benjamin McCulloch was born on November 11, 1811, in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Between 1812 and 1830 his family moved frequently, finally settling near Dyersburg, Tennessee, where Sam Houston and Davy Crockett became influential family friends.
McCulloch served under Houston during the Texas Revolution; after Texas independence he became a Texas Ranger and earned a reputation as an Indian fighter. He won a seat in the state legislature prior to Texas’s annexation; during the Mexican-American War he held various positions with Texas units. After the war McCulloch traveled to California for gold prospecting. Unsuccessful in his hunt for gold, he returned to Texas and was appointed U. S. marshal for the Eastern District of Texas.
As Texas secession from the Union neared, McCulloch accepted a commission as a colonel of state troops. He rode into San Antonio at the head of mounted volunteers, demanding (and receiving) the surrender of all Federal troops in the city. On May 11, 1861 Jefferson Davis appointed McCulloch a brigadier general in the Confederate army, the first such appointment from the civilian community. McCulloch set about building an army from his headquarters in Little Rock, and also established valuable alliances with several Indian tribes in the Indian Territory.
By early August 1861, McCulloch had moved into Missouri and was leading a fragile coalition army made up of his own men, the Missouri State Guard and Arkansas State Troops. On August 10, while camped along Wilson’s Creek, they were attacked by Union forces under the command of General Nathaniel Lyon. The initial Union attack surprised the Southerners and drove them back, but they soon rallied. McCulloch personally led an infantry counterattack that routed a portion of the Federal army. After the battle, the Union army retreated, but due to internal bickering, McCulloch’s coalition army soon dissolved.
In early 1862, McCulloch and his troops came under the command of General Earl Van Dorn. In a daring winter campaign, Van Dorn proposed to attack a Union army that had advanced into northwest Arkansas. On March 7, while he was attempting to determine the exact location of Union troops at Pea Ridge, McCulloch unknowingly approached within 70 yards of Union skirmishers and was shot through the heart and killed.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31500