On August 10, 1861, the battle of Wilson's Creek opened with Union troops approaching from the north and gaining control of the south slope of Bloody Hill early in the fighting, while Colonel Franz Sigel and his 1,200 Union troops took position on both sides of the Wire Road at Sigel's Final Position to strike the Confederate flank and rear. Between these two Union forces, in the wooded valley below, stood more than 10,000 Confederate soldiers. The Union strategy, proposed by Sigel and later accepted by General Lyon despite the risk of dividing an already badly outnumbered army, was to trap the Confederates between the two forces like giant pincers. At first the plan seemed to work as Lyon and Sigel's troops pushed aside Confederate resistance, secured high ground, and bombarded the startled Southerners below with artillery. As the morning progressed, however, communication between the two Union commands faltered, giving Southern troops time to reorganize, and in the end hesitancy and mistaken uniforms defeated Sigel and broke the pincer.