[Missouri]: McCulloch, Ben: Price, Sterling:

$3,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

PROCLAMATIONS. SPRINGFIELD BATTLE [caption title]. An exceedingly rare, pro-Confederate broadside from the early days of the Civil War in Missouri. The Battle of Wilson's Creek occurred on August 10, 1861, and was the first major battle of the war to take place west of the Mississippi. The bloody struggle left well over a thousand soldiers killed or wounded on each side, but eventually Confederate leaders Ben McCulloch and Sterling Price were victorious over the Union army led by Nathaniel Lyon and Franz Sigel. While the Confederates were not able to press their military victory on the field, this broadside evidences how they attempted to leverage it in other ways. The text prints four brief reports of the recent battle, including two by McCulloch and two by Price. In the first, McCulloch declares that the neutral border state "can no longer procrastinate. Missouri must now take her position, be it North or South!" The Confederate general proclaims that the Confederacy's duty in Missouri involves "restoring the people to their just rights" and giving "the oppressed of your State an opportunity of again standing up as Freemen and uttering their true sentiments." He further informs the public that the Union's "General-in-Chief" Nathaniel Lyon was slain in the battle (he was the first Union general killed in the war), and promises that "The Union people will all be protected in their rights and property" while the Confederacy is in control. The other reports attempt to sway publ

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