Near Battlefield in Greene County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
From Home to Hospital
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
| | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior | |
Photographed by Jason Armstrong, July 30, 2023
1. From Home to Hospital Marker
After intense fighting, Confederate troops drove Captain Joseph Plummer's Union soldiers from the Ray Cornfield. To save Plummer's men, Union artillerymen on Bloody Hill fired on the Confederates and forced them to retreat. When part of the 3rd Louisiana fled toward the Ray House, the artillerymen shifted their fire toward the house.
The attack stopped when a yellow hospital flag was raised on a porch pillar. Roxanna, Rhoda, and the children emerged from the cellar to find their home had become a military field hospital. The family began to treat wounded soldiers coming up the hill. General Lyon's body was found on Bloody Hill and taken to the Ray House later that afternoon, five Missouri State Guard soldiers volunteered to escort Dr. Samuel Melcher and Lyon's body to Springfield.
"...After arranging the body as well as circumstances permitted, it was carried to the wagon and covered with a spread or sheet furnished me by Mrs. Ray." Dr. Melcher(caption) Dr. Samuel H. Melcher, 5th Missouri Infantry, US
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Parks & Recreational Areas • War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is August 10, 1861.
Location.
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Regionally, this marker is in Greater Springfield. It is also in the American Ozarks, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Ray Family (a few steps from this marker); Morning Disrupted (a few steps from this marker); Fight in Ray's Cornfield (a few steps from this marker); Ray Springhouse (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Pulaski Arkansas Battery (approx. half a mile away); A Union Plan / The Broken Pincer (approx. half a mile away); a different marker also named Pulaski Arkansas Battery (approx. 0.6 miles away); Price's Headquarters (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Battlefield.
Also see . . . Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. National Park Service (Submitted on August 26, 2024.)
Photographed by Jason Armstrong, July 30, 2023
2. Walkway from Parking area to Ray House
Photographed by Jason Armstrong, July 30, 2023
3. Ray's House
Credits. This page was last revised on August 31, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 25, 2024, by Jason Armstrong of Talihina, Oklahoma. This page has been viewed 196 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 25, 2024, by Jason Armstrong of Talihina, Oklahoma. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
