Nathanael Lyon

[Edward Ord]

Great guy, I really love it when he shows up, because it means I can get the action started. He has never let me down, floating around the greens keeping everybody away.

Love him!

[Jabberwock]

That was pretty much his role historically. Too bad Fremont hung him out to dry in favor of reinforcing Grant and Pope. (otherwise you might see even better ratings for him, and more mention in the history books)

[tyrex]

The real problem Lyon has historically was it was killed very quickly during the war.

I've during my last two campaigns no seen at all Lyon. He never appears in St Louis and I've Fremont and Halleck to capture Missouri and Arkansas. Such a pain

[runyan99]

That was pretty much his role historically. Too bad Fremont hung him out to dry in favor of reinforcing Grant and Pope. (otherwise you might see even better ratings for him, and more mention in the history books)

There is some truth to that, and had he lived longer he might have carved out a Sherman like career, but there is also much to criticize about both the man himself and his Wilson's Creek campaign. He is an unknown quantity to a large extent.

[Eugene Carr]

The real problem Lyon has historically was it was killed very quickly during the war.

I've during my last two campaigns no seen at all Lyon. He never appears in St Louis and I've Fremont and Halleck to capture Missouri and Arkansas. Such a pain

He appears by event so your not guranteed he will arive (same with Price)
I modded them both to arrive in september 61 if no St Louis massacre but the event has fired every game since then

And yes Lyon is probably the biggest 'what if' in the game as he can go all the way to ***, very much an unknown quantity at higher rank.

[W.Barksdale]

A great man and a true patriot to be sure. And, I believe, the main deciding factor that kept Missouri in the Union. Quite different strategy they employed in here compared with Kentucky. Very interesting subject the border states!

[Jabberwock]

Definitely a controversial character, a man of destiny. I was hoping to provoke some discussion. IIRC, the moment I decided to buy this game instead of just playing the demo - was the moment I discovered I could set up Lyon vs. Jackson.

He was generally disliked personally but respected by almost everyone for his decisiveness and fighting ability. His 3-month men who were supposed to go home, decided on their own to stay and fight at Wilson's Creek, because he would be leading them. Not because they liked him, they didn't.

If I had to assign credit to one man for keeping Missouri in the Union, he would be that man. He had a strategy, he set out to accomplish it, and then the overall strategy was changed from 250 miles behind his lines. He did what was possible with the resources at hand, and ended up accomplishing what he initially set out to do even though he lost a battle and his life.


And for a human interest story, there's the Frank-Blair's-mother-in-law disguise incident.

[DirkX]

The real problem Lyon has historically was it was killed very quickly during the war.

Sounds like a real serious problem.

[Clovis]

I've choosed to introduce 3 ersion of Lyon for 2 an 3 stars rankings in my mod considering he will remain the biggest what-if of the Civil War, considering his short career blends great decisions and big errors.