Hello,

The January, 2007 meeting of the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable will be held Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 7 PM in the cafe of Borders Books store in Governor's Square Mall. This is located on Wilma Rudolph Highway (US 79) just south of Exit 4 off I-24 in Clarksville, TN. The meeting is always open to interested members of the public.

This month we welcome Jeff Patrick, park ranger and historian from Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in Springfield, Missouri. His program is entitled "Mean Fowt Fight": The Campaign and Battle of Wilson's Creek"

Wilson's Creek was fought on August 10, 1861; it was the largest Civil War battle fought in the State of Missouri, a state that would see hundreds of smaller fights of a particularly nasty type often between fellow residents. The battle was the culmination of Union Gen. Nathaniel Lyon's campaign for Missouri and it cost him his life. Lyon had helped save St. Louis for the Northern cause earlier in the year when troops under his command surrounded pro-Southern militia mustering in the city under orders of the pro-Confederate Gov. Claiborne Jackson. This defeat allowed Lyon, promoted from Captain to General, to chase pro-South Missouri State Guard forces westward across the state winning some victories and securing St. Louis and the critical Missouri River trade routes.

The Missouri State Guard forces under Gen. Sterling Price, now reinforced by Confederate troops from Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, sought to confront Lyon in the Southwest portion of the state. Lyon, a bold commander, attacked this army of 11,000 men in the rolling hills along Wilson's Creek with his smaller army of 5400 and nearly won the battle! The casualties of 2500 men for both sides presaged some of the other bloody battles that were to come in the war. The Confederates failed to follow-up their win due to a feud between senior commanders.

Jeff Patrick is a park ranger at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. A native of Indiana, he holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in history from Purdue University. He has been employed by the National Park Service since 1991 and has been at Wilson's Creek since 1992 where he is currently park librarian.

Please join us as Jeff Patrick presents ""Mean Fowt Fight": The Campaign and Battle of Wilson's Creek" , Wednesday, January 17th at the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable.

Greg Biggs
Clarksville CWRT