News Release
You are viewing ARCHIVED content published online before January 20, 2025.
Please note that this content is NOT UPDATED, and links may not work. For current information,
visit https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/index.htm.
NPS Volunteer
Subscribe
 |
What is RSS
|
Contact: Sarah Cunningham, 417 732-2662 Ext. 235
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield News Release
For Immediate Release: August 04, 2022Contact: Sarah Cunningham, e-mail us, 417-732-2662 ext. 235
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Commemorates 161st Battle Anniversary; Unveils Temporary Exhibit with Recently Acquired Museum Collection
Park Foundation announces donation of Sigel Collection to Battlefield, which will be featured in the Visitor Center Museum
REPUBLIC, MO – The Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield will commemorate the 161st Anniversary of the Battle of Wilson’s Creek at 10 am on Wednesday, August 10, 2022. The outdoor ceremony will take place on the Visitor Center lawn. Entrance to the park is free on the battle anniversary.
The ceremony will include an announcement that Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation purchased a significant collection of objects from a descendent of U.S. Colonel Franz Sigel, who played a critical role in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. This collection will be donated to the park as part of the ceremony. The Foundation is the park’s official philanthropic partner, with a mission of encouraging awareness, appreciation, education, and development of the park, as well as fundraising.
Speakers include Park Superintendent Sarah Cunningham, Wilson’s Creek Foundation outgoing and incoming Presidents Garin Ferguson and Crystal Sharp, respectively, and keynote speaker, Dr. Jeremy Neely. Dr. Neely is a professor of Civil War History at Missouri State University. The ceremony also includes the presentation of a memorial wreath, playing of taps, and a cannon salute.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, visitors are invited to view the temporary exhibit featuring items such as an ornate presentation sword, a framed engraving of a young Sigel as an officer in the revolutionary army of Baden, a .22 Flobert-style target pistol, and Sigel’s commission as a major general of volunteers, signed by Edwin M. Stanton and Abraham Lincoln. The objects will be on display until the end of 2022, at which time they will either be returned to “rest” in climate-controlled storage or sent to an artifact conservator for conservation treatment.
In areas the CDC identifies as high COVID-19 community level, masks are required for everyone in all NPS buildings regardless of vaccination status. In most low and medium COVID-19 community level areas, masks are optional.
Administered by the National Park Service, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield preserves the site of the first major battle of the Civil War in the West. The Confederate victory on August 10, 1861 focused greater national attention on the war in Missouri, leading to greater federal military action. Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield is located 10 miles southwest of Springfield, Missouri at the intersection of Highway ZZ and Farm Road 182. For current information, please visit www.nps.gov/wicr or visit us on Facebook.
www.nps.gov
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 423 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Last updated: August 4, 2022