With the exception of the two troops of Regular cavalry under Capt. E. A. Carr, which seem to have done nothing during this time, Sigel's Brigade disappeared completely from the action, and Sigel and Salomon, with a few men, rode back to Springfield, where it is said that they went to bed. This inexplicable action by Sigel bitterly prejudiced the other officers against him, and was continually coming up in judgment against him.
There is no doubt of Sigel's personal courage, but why, with the sound of Lyon's cannon in his ears, and knowing full well the desperate struggle his superior officer was engaged in, he made no effort to rally his troops or to take any further part in the battle, is beyond comprehension. Col. Salomon, who accompanied him in his flight to Springfield, afterward became Colonel of a Wisconsin regiment, and made a brilliant record.
It was yet but little after 9 o'clock, and despite the stubbornness of the fighting no decisive advantage had been gained on either side.
The Union troops were masters of the savagely contested hill, but all their previous efforts to advance beyond, pierce the main Confederate line, and reach the trains below had been repulsed. Had they better make another attempt?
The hasty council of war decided that it would be unsafe to do so until Col. Sigel was heard from. The army was already badly crippled, for the 1st Kan. and the 1st Mo. had lost one-third of their men and half their officers, the others had suffered nearly as severely, and everybody was running short of ammunition. They had marched all night, and gone into battle without breakfast, had been fighting five hours, and were suffering terribly from heat, thirst and exhaustion.
The council was suddenly brought to an end by seeing a large force which Price and McCulloch had rallied come over the hill directly in the Union front A battery which Gen. Price had established on the crest of the hill somewhat to the left opened a fire of canister and shrapnel, but the Union troops showed the firmest front of any time during the day, and Totten's and DuBois's batteries hurled a storm of canister into the advancing infantry. Gen. Price had brought up fresh regiments to replace those which had been fought out, and it seemed as if the Union line would be overwhelmed. But the officers brought up every man they could reach. Capt Gordon Granger threw three companies of the 1st Mo., three companies of the 1st Kan., and two companies of the 1st Iowa, which had been supporting DuBois's battery, against the right flank of the enemy and by their terrible enfilade fire sent it back in great disorder. On the right Lieut.-Col. Blair, with the 2d Kan., was having an obstinate fight, but with the assistance of a section of Totten's battery under Lieut. Sokalski the enemy was at last driven back clear out of sight.
The battle had now raged bitterly for six hours, with every attempt of the enemy to drive foe stubborn defenders from the crest of the hill repulsed. The slope on the eminence was thickly strewn with the dead and wounded. The Confederates had suffered fearfully. Cols. Weightman and Brown, who commanded brigades, had been killed, and Gens. Price, Slack and Clark wounded. The loss of subordinate officers had been very heavy. They had been clearly fought to a finish, and an attempt of their cavalry to turn the Union right flank had been repulsed with great loss by Totten's battery and several companies of the 1st Mo. and the 1st Kan. The shells produced the greatest consternation among the horses and men, as they were delivered at short range with unerring aim. The entire Confederate line left the field, disappearing thru the thick woods in the valley to their camp on Wilson's Creek, somewhat to the right of the Union center.
Another brief council of war resulted in an order from Maj. Sturgis to fall back. Nothing could be heard from Sigel, the men were exhausted, the ammunition nearly gone, and it seemed best to retire while there was an opportunity left. As subsequently learned this was a great mistake, because the Confederate army was in full retreat, and an advance from the Union army would have sent them off the field for good.