A painting of Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, Federal Commander at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, and the First Union General to die in the Civil War, hangs above the information desk in the Local History and Genealogy Department at the Library Center. It was painted from a steel engraving by Oliver J. Corbett, a well-known Missouri artist and Springfield resident, and loaned to the library by the Corbett family.

For more information on General Lyon, please visit the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield’s web site, or see the book "Damned Yankee: The Life of General Nathaniel Lyon" by Christopher Phillips.