PROCLAMATIONS. SPRINGFIELD BATTLE [caption title].

An exceedingly rare, pro-Confederate broadside from the early days of the Civil War in Missouri. The Battle of Wilson's Creek occurred on August 10, 1861, and was the first major battle of the war to take place west of the Mississippi. The bloody struggle left well over a thousand soldiers killed or wounded on each side, but eventually Confederate leaders Ben McCulloch and Sterling Price were victorious over the Union army led by Nathaniel Lyon and Franz Sigel. While the Confederates were not able to press their military victory on the field, this broadside evidences how they attempted to leverage it in other ways. The text prints four brief reports of the recent battle, including two by McCulloch and two by Price. In the first, McCulloch declares that the neutral border state "can no longer procrastinate. Missouri must now take her position, be it North or South!" The Confederate general proclaims that the Confederacy's duty in Missouri involves "restoring the people to their just rights" and giving "the oppressed of your State an opportunity of again standing up as Freemen and uttering their true sentiments." He further informs the public that the Union's "General-in-Chief" Nathaniel Lyon was slain in the battle (he was the first Union general killed in the war), and promises that "The Union people will all be protected in their rights and property" while the Confederacy is in control. The other reports attempt to sway public opinion by reiterating the significance of the Confederate victory and the continued safety of civilians sympathetic to the Union. The text includes a printing of General Orders, No. 27 congratulating the Confederate army on its victory and urging troops that "the private property of citizens of either party, must be respected," Missouri militia general Sterling Price's justification for joining with "our gallant southern brothers" against "the Usurper at Washington," and a summary of the militia's casualties reprinted from the Glasgow Weekly Times (provided to that paper by Price). A pencil annotation at the bottom of this copy notes that "Uncle Charles E. Blackwell my mother's Brother was killed at the Battle of Wilson Creek Willie Eads Cason." Charles Eppa Blackwell was a captain in Price's militia, and his name is underlined in red pencil in the text of the broadside where his death is reported; his niece Willie remained in the state her entire life, passing away in St. Louis in 1944. Parrish and Willingham only locate this rare item at the Boston Athenaeum, and OCLC adds no additional copies. A rare and significant piece of Confederate propaganda from one of the most contentious border states in the war. PARRISH & WILLINGHAM 5003. Old folds, some beginning to split, light soiling. Very good.…