{179}

It is altogether unlikely that the 1st Mo., for example, took into battle within 100 or more of the 900 men assigned to it, and the same thing is true of the 900 men given for the 1st Iowa, and the 700 each for the two Kansas regiments.

If we assume that the 1st Mo. and the 1st Iowa had 800 men each and the Kansas regiments 600 each, we find that the loss of 295 for the 1st Mo., 284 for the 1st Kan., and 154 for the 1st Iowa to be appalling. The Regulars suffered severely, but not so badly as the volunteers.

Among those who were noted for gallant conduct in the battle of Wilson's Creek was Eugene F. Ware, then a private in the 1st Iowa, and who afterward became a Captain in the 7th Iowa Cav. In civil life he attained a leading place at the Kansas bar, and was appointed Commissioner of Pensions by President Roosevelt.

{180}

None of the Confederate regiments engaged suffered to anything like the same extent, and as they were driven from the field, while the Union regiments maintained their position and were even ready for further aggression, the palm of higher purposes and more desperate fighting must be unhesitatingly conceded to the Union volunteers. Few of the Confederate commanders give reports of the number they carried into action, but many of their regiments must have been approximately as strong as those of the Union, and they had many more of them.

The moral effect of the battle was prodigious on both sides. The Union troops were conscious of having met overwhelming forces and fought them to a stand-still, if not actual defeat. Every man felt himself a victor as he left the field, and only retreated because the exigencies of the situation rendered that the most politic move.

It was consequently a great encouragement to the Union sentiment everywhere, and did much to retrieve the humiliation of Bull Run. The Confederates naturally made the very most of the fact that they had been left masters of the field, and they dilated extensively upon the killing of Gen. Lyon and the crushing defeat they had administered upon Sigel, with capture of prisoners, guns and flags. They used this to so good purpose as to greatly stimulate the Secession spirit thruout the State.

{181}