![]() As evening approached, the Confederates withdrew. Then in January 1863, Confederate forces advanced toward the town square and the Battle of Springfield began. The 1,750-acre battlefield stands as one of the most historically pristine battle sites in the country.įor two years following the Battle of Wilson's Creek, possession of the city seesawed. The National Park Service designated Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in 1960. ![]() The battle led to increased military activity in Missouri and set the stage for the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862. When they returned to Springfield, the Confederates had withdrawn. Union troops fell back to Lebanon, then Rolla, and regrouped. General Nathaniel Lyon was killed, the first Union general to die in combat. On August 10, 1861, army units clashed near Wilson's Creek in the first major battle west of the Mississippi River, involving about 5,400 Union troops and 12,000 Confederates. Here are some of the notable events in the city’s history. Some speculate it was because of the springs in the area and others think it was named after other cities bearing the same name to the east. Why the city was named Springfield is unknown. Soon after, Campbell and others began settling in the area and in 1838, the city was incorporated. Before the Campbells returned, William Fulbright and his family moved to the area and settled in 1830 at Fulbright Spring, on what is now College Street just off Park Central Square. ![]() In 1818, the first permanent settlement of a white family in southwest Missouri was established and in 1829, John Polk Campbell and his brother carved their initials in an ash tree with the intention of returning to the area to settle, an act considered to be the founding of Springfield. Prior to white settlement, the area was inhabited by the Osage, Delaware, Kickapoo and other Native American tribes who moved out of the area after white settlement began. Springfield’s history began long before the city was established. Springfield History Then, Now And In Between. ![]()
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