The battle had now raged bitterly for six hours, with every attempt of the enemy to drive foe stubborn defenders from the crest of the hill repulsed. The slope on the eminence was thickly strewn with the dead and wounded. The Confederates had suffered fearfully. Cols. Weightman and Brown, who commanded brigades, had been killed, and Gens. Price, Slack and Clark wounded. The loss of subordinate officers had been very heavy. They had been clearly fought to a finish, and an attempt of their cavalry to turn the Union right flank had been repulsed with great loss by Totten's battery and several companies of the 1st Mo. and the 1st Kan. The shells produced the greatest consternation among the horses and men, as they were delivered at short range with unerring aim. The entire Confederate line left the field, disappearing thru the thick woods in the valley to their camp on Wilson's Creek, somewhat to the right of the Union center. 175 Another brief council of war resulted in an order from Maj. Sturgis to fall back. Nothing could be heard from Sigel, the men were exhausted, the ammunition nearly gone, and it seemed best to retire while there was an opportunity left. As subsequently learned this was a great mistake, because the Confederate army was in full retreat, and an advance from the Union army would have sent them off the field for good. The Union officers did the best they could according to their light, and their retirement was in the best order and absolutely unmolested. The retreat began about 11:30 and continued two miles to a prairie northeast of the battleground, where a halt was made to enable the Surgeons to collect the wounded in ambulances. Gen. Lyon's body had been placed in an ambulance, but by someone's order was taken out again and left on the prairie with the rest of the dead. About 5 o'clock in the afternoon the army reached Springfield, and there found Sigel and Salomon and most of their brigade, with the others coming in from all directions. 176 In spite of his conduct on the battlefield, Sigel's great theoretical knowledge and experience in European wars decided that the command should be turned over to him, and he was formally placed at the head. According to official reports the casualties in the Union army were as follows: [Illustration: 176-Table of Union Casualties] The official reports give the casualties in the Confederate army as follows: [Illustration: 177-Table of Confederate Casualties] 177 CHAPTER XI. THE AFTERMATH OF WILSON'S CREEK