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11 unusual facts about Nathaniel Lyon


Army of the West

Army of the West (Union Army), an 1861 Union Army, during the American Civil War led by Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon.

Battlefield, Missouri

Several Battlefield streets, parks, and other landmarks are named for events and people related to the battle - such as Nathaniel Lyon Street, one of the town's main thoroughfares, named for Union General Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general to die in the civil war.

Clever, Missouri

On August 2, 1861, the Battle of Dug Springs pitted the Union forces of General Nathaniel Lyon against the numerically superior combined Confederate forces of General Benjamin McCulloch, Arkansas State Troops under General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, and Missouri State Guard under General (and Missouri Governor) Sterling Price.

Etna, Missouri

The action was part of General Nathaniel Lyon's efforts to clear "rebels" from rural Missouri.

Florence, Missouri

Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson took refuge outside of Florence after fleeing from Jefferson City and General Nathaniel Lyon because of his collaboration with the Confederates.

Florida, Missouri

When informed of this growing threat by Union sympathizers and Federal spies, Union commander Nathaniel Lyon in St. Louis ordered action be taken.

Franklin Archibald Dick

He was assistant adjutant general to Nathaniel Lyon at Camp Jackson (the first Missouri Civil War incident); Missouri provost marshal general under Major General Samuel Curtis; law partner with Montgomery Blair at the Blair House in Washington D C after the Civil War.

John E. Phelps

The former Springfield, Missouri-born grocer and cattle trader started his military career as a secret agent for Nathaniel Lyon in 1861.

John M. Jones

Nineteen of his classmates would become Civil War generals, including John F. Reynolds, Nathaniel Lyon, Robert S. Garnett, Richard B. Garnett, Amiel W. Whipple, and Israel B. Richardson, all of whom would also die in combat.

Lyon County, Iowa

Lyon County is named in honor of Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, who served in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.

William M. Wherry

While serving in the American Civil War, as a First Lieutenant of Company D, 3rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry and aide-de-camp to Nathaniel Lyon.


James Totten

Serving under generals Nathaniel Lyon and John C. Frémont in Missouri as their chief of artillery, Totten was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1861.