1

Connor J. Reid

Prof. John G. Turner

Mormonism

May 3rd, 2016

Mormon Battalion and Westward Expansion

Order No. 1, which commended the Mormon Battalion for its march from Council Bluffs,

Iowa to San Diego and Los Angeles, given by Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke stated History

may be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry.1 The Mormon Battalion, the first and

last religiously based unit in United States military history was integral in the United States

move to the west. Having marched 2,000 miles, from Iowa to California, they trail blazed the

way west, pioneered wagon routes, and influenced the cession of the Southwest to the United

States, serving capably as volunteer soldiers for the United States military.

The Mormon Battalion was formed not out of patriotism of its members for their country, but

rather out of desperation and necessity of Mormon leaders who were displaced and had just

recently left what was once the Mormon capital on the Mississippi Nauvoo. The fledgling

religion, while only being organized in 1830, quickly grew, with the building of a temple being

central to their faith. As such, a Zion was found and Independence, considered the Garden of

Eden by Joseph Smith, is where they placed their stake but were quickly driven out. After being

exiled from Independence, Missouri, where Governor Boggs signed his infamous Extermination

Order, the Mormons needed a new place to call home and gather from around the country.

Nauvoo, Illinois is what was chosen and it quickly became a hub, rivaling Chicago in population.

Once called the City of Joseph and the center stake of Zion by Mormon leaders, Nauvoo

1 David L. Bigler and Will Bagley, Army of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives. (Logan,
Utah: Utah State UP, 2000. Print.) 17
 2

quickly became a place of persecution and fear for many in the LDS movement after the death of

their prophet, Joseph Smith. In April 1845, Illinois Governor Thomas Ford advised the Mormons

to move westward, saying:

It would be good policy for your people to move to some far distant country. Your

religion is new and it surprises the people as any great novelty in religion generally does.

I do not foresee the time when you will be permitted to enjoy quiet.2

Mormons lived peacefully in Nauvoo over the summer, but September of 1845 brought large

anti-Mormon activity with demands that Mormons leave Nauvoo by May 1846. Brigham Young,

then de-facto head of the LDS Church, understood the gravity of the situation and made plans to

move out of Nauvoo in spring of 1846. However, it still was not clear where their future place of

refuge lie.

Their move out of Nauvoo did not prove to be an easy one, and Mormons were routinely blocked

by ice flows along the Mississippi river, disagreements on who would go on an forward

expeditionary force, and bitter February temperatures. Not only stopped up by ice flows, the

Nauvoo exiles were also clueless about where they were to end up. Brigham Young himself

stated that he did not know whither they were going. Eventually, most made it to Sugar Creek

but were either over or under-prepared, with some coming with incorrect provisions. The process

of moving westward was incredibly slow, at times only going a half-mile a day. Brigham Young

grew exasperated with the process, saying to his followers:

We will not cross the Mountains as soon as we anticipated but I will not find fault I will

let God do that. . . . I can tell the brethren what they are doing . . . they have hedged up

their own way by praying continually saying I am poor I have done all I could for the

2 Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts,
7:398.
 3

church . . . and all the devils between this and the Nethermost part of Hell are acting in

concert with your prayers.3

The trek across Iowa finally ended two months behind schedule on the June 14th, 1846. There, at

the Missouri, is where the Mormons would establish Winter Quarters.

While Brigham Youngs followers were getting ready to flee Nauvoo, plans were made to appeal

to the United States government with help of Jesse C. Little, the Agent of the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Eastern States. This was not the first time that the LDS

Church appealed to the US Government. Joseph Smith proposed federal legislation shortly

before his death, which would have authorized him to build military posts along the Oregon

Trail, and in the process raising a hundred thousand volunteers to defend American interests. On

the Frontier. After Smiths death, Samuel Brannan, Littles predecessor, was sent to Washington

D.C. to ask for the governments help in sending some of the Churchs eastern members to the

West Coast by sea. Instead, little progress was made through a questionable trading of Mormon

lands for political influence before sailing 230 Mormons to San Francisco on the Brooklyn.

Little, ordered by Young to Be thou a savior and a deliverer found a receptive audience for

Youngs plea in President Polk.4

James K. Polk, the 11th President of the United States, was a devout believer in the idea of

Manifest Destiny, or the United States destined right to redeem and remake the west in its own

image. In the election of 1844, Polk, a Democrat, defeated Henry Clay, a Whig, on a platform

which promoted the annexation of the Republic of Texas, which was in open revolt from Mexico.

Previous administrations declined to annex the territory. Little, who made his proposal to the

3 Richard Edmond Bennett, Mormons at the Missouri: Winter Quarters, 1846-1852. (Norman; U
of Oklahoma, 2004. Print.) 1:14-15
4 Army of Israel 19-20
 4

Polk administration in the summer of 1846 came at the right time and with the right connections.

With the first shots of the Mexican-American War only being fired months beforehand, any help

or threats from the Mormons would be taken much more seriously than they otherwise would be.

Little found influence with Thomas L. Kane, the son of an influential Democratic judge, a man

with a burning passion to be a man of the Western West, and gifted political operative.

Kane advised Little to play on Polks fears of a very real British plot to takeover

California. In fact, a petition to the British government to settle on Vancouver Island went over

Americas expansionism, the importance of California in trading with China, and urged a balance

of power. Little followed Kanes advice when his other tactics failed and threatened Polk with a

shift of Mormon allegiance to Great Britain. In response, Polk decided to allow a few hundred

Mormons to serve in the California occupation forces. However, he remained in firm in not

allowing any Mormons to serve in the army until California is reached. This directive would be

quickly undermined, however, when the War Department approved an immediate enlistment of a

battalion of Mormon infantry in a hastily drafted order.5

Captain James Allen, accompanied by three men, first made contact with the Mormons at Mt.

Pisgah, Iowa, where he was quickly told to meet with the principal encampment of the Saints at

Council Bluffs, Iowa. With LDS Church President Brigham Young and his council consisting of

Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith, John Taylor,

Uncle John Smith, Levi Richards, and more, Capt. James Allen informed them of his order that

a battalion be formed. President Young, after gathering the brethren of the camp to assemble,

commented:

5 Army of Israel 21-22

 5

I said, the question might be asked, Is it prudent for us to enlist to defend our country? If

we answer in the affirmative, all are ready to go.

Suppose we were admitted into the Union as a State, and the government did not

call on us, we should feel ourselves neglected. Let the Mormons be the first to set their

feet on the soil of California. Capt. Allen has assumed the responsibility of saying that we

may locate at Grand Island, until we can prosecute our journey. This is the first offer we

have ever had from the government to benefit us.

I proposed that the five hundred volunteers be mustered, and I would do my best

to see all their families brought forward, as far as my influence extended, and feed them

when I had anything to eat myself.

As such, the first religiously based unit of the United States military was formed and the

Mormons received their first assistance from the United States government to that date. Those

513 men that swore an oath to the federal government were directed to do so by their church

hierarchy and not out of positive feelings for their country. Along with the enlisted men were

twenty laundresses and some older men to act as teamsters guiding the wagons, with some

allowances being made for families of soldiers to accompany the Battalion.6

Four Companies of the Battalion commenced their march on the 21st of July, and

Company E moved down river to meet them on the 22nd of July. The companies of the Battalion

made quick progress in their march to Sante Fe from Fort Leavensworth, with the help of

contributions and allowance from the LDS Church. Lieutenant Colonel Allen fell ill previously,

and command was now turned over to the most senior Mormon, Capt. Jefferson Hunt. After a

6 David F. Boone, Robert C. Freeman, Andrew H. Hedges, and Richard Neitzel Holtzpafel eds.,
Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: California. (Provo, UT: Dept. of Church
History and Doctrine, Brigham Young U, 1998. Print.) 31-34
 6

tremendous storm on the 20th of August, the only General Authority accompanying the march

urged for a religious meeting for the soldiers. During this meeting, belonging to the LDS Church

was reinforced and a broader mission urged:

concerning our duties as soldiers of the United States, as Saints, and particularly as Elders

of Israel, as men who have received endowments in the Temple of the Lord, admonishing

us to observe our Covenants, and to conduct ourselves in all our deportment as belonging

to the family of heaven, as sons of the Most High. We were also entreated to prove

ourselves good and loyal subjects of the government of the United [SJtates,

notwithstanding we had been persecuted by its citizens.7

On the 26th of August, news was brought that Lt. Col. James Allen had passed away the previous

night.1st Lt. Andrew Jackson Smith was then dispatched by Lt. Col. Clifton Wharton, then

commanding officer at Fort Leavensworth. He was voted in by members of the Mormon

Battalion as their acting Lt. Col. shortly after.8

Quickly moving through Kansas, southeast Colorado, and the Northwest tip of the

Oklahoma Panhandle, the Mormon Battalion reached Santa Fe, New Mexico in two staggered

elements. Col. A. J. Smith arrived with an advance unit on the 9th of October and a rear element

composed of many ailing soldiers arrived on the 12th of October. Hearing of Lt. Col. Allens

death, General Kearny, the commander of the Army of the West, took charge of the situation and

appointed Capt. P. St. George Cooke as acting lieutenant colonel of the Mormon Battalion.

Cooke initiated a wide-scale reorganization of the Battalion. Many of the sick and entire families

were sent off to Pueblo, Colorado. After all was said and done. Colonel Cookes reduced

Battalion numbered 343 men when leaving Sante Fe. After departing, they blazed a trail along

7 Army of Israel 86-90

8 Regional Studies 36
 7

the west, even entering Old Mexico. On the 16th of December 1846, the Mormon Battalion

captured Tuscon unopposed.9

Map of the Gadsden Purchase, the path of the Mormon Battalion, and General Kearnys path

The path taken through to Tuscon and up to the Gila River, near present-day Sacaton,

Arizona is considered to be one of the most significant achievements of the Mormon Battalion.

According to historian John F. Yurtinus, the irregularity of the United States southern border is

directly related to the Mormon Battalion. Trailblazing on their way to the Pacific, the Battalion

pioneered a road and left instructions for future groups not to make their same mistakes. Shortly

after they made their travel west, their trail became part of the Southern Trail to California, and

was followed by thousands hurrying to the gold fields on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada.

During the treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo, Major William H. Emory, who marched with Kearnys

forces, created a map which stimulated interest in a southern railway. Cookes own rough map

9 Regional Studies 39-43

 8

made it onto Emorys and demonstrated the practicality of a southern railway. These

developments led directly to the negotiation and signing of the 1853 Gadsden Treaty which

added thirty thousand square miles of land to the United States, at the expense of $10 million.

Seldom has the nation gotten so much for so little. 10

On the 10th of January 1847, the Mormon Battalion crossed the Colorado River shortly after

rejoining Kearnys route. There, members of the Battalion met with Pima Indians and were

welcomed with their hospitality. The suggestion for LDS settlement was welcomed, according to

Sergeant Tyler:

They lived in dome-shaped houses, thatched with corn-stalks and straw, varying

from about twenty to fifty feet in diameter, with arbors in front, on which lay, piled up,

cotton stalks, with unopened bolls, to dry. This was probably from late crops, as the rule

for picking out cotton is when the bolls open in the field. We saw domesticated animals

here, the horse, mule, ox, dog and even Spanish fowls. Their implements of husbandry

consisted of axes, hoes, shovels, and harrows. . . . The natives showed no signs of fear,

and did not run like the Apaches, who, at the time, were said to be hostile.

Colonel Cooke very kindly suggested to our senior officers that this vicinity

would be a good place for the exiled Saints to locate. A proposition to this effect was

favorably received by the Indians.

Many exiled LDS members did end up locating in modern-day Arizona due to this encounter and

the ensuing examination of Pima country. Settlers included members of the Pueblo, Colorado

detachment. Soon after crossing into Yuma, the Battalion began their march to the Pacific.11

10 Richard O. Cowan The Mormon Battalion and the Gadsden Purchase. (Brigham Young
University Studies 1997. Web.)
11 Regional Studies 52-54
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California, desired deeply by the Polk administration, was a point of dissension and at

times disorder by American occupiers. Although General Kearny held the lawful authority to

establish civil governments in New Mexico and California under orders from the Secretary of

War, it was U.S. Navy Com. Robert F. Stockton and Lt. Col. John C. Fremont who had

conquered California first. Stockton, an aspiring wealthy grandson of a Declaration of

Independence signer, sailed ahead to make a name for himself. He occupied San Diego and Los

Angeles with sailors and marines, and announced himself supreme commander and governor.

Meanwhile, the Great Pathfinder John C. Fremont utilized a well-armed and oversized force to

overthrow Mexican rule. Fremont and Stocktons questionable conduct would have undesirable

results, causing rebellions and the rise of the Californio rebels.12

Subordinating himself under Stockton to prevent dissension in American ranks, Kearny went on

to defeat rebels in skirmishes around Los Angeles. However, once the Mormon Battalion arrived,

Kearny was able to exert the authority that was rightfully his. He placed the Mormon Battalion at

San Luis Rey Mission. From here, the Battalion could quickly move against rebels in either Los

Angeles or San Diego as well as confront incursion from Sonora. The Mormon Battalion then

became the only legal force in California. Once Kearny had his authority confirmed by

Washington, he moved quickly to put down Fremont and proclaimed Monterey the capital of

California. Kearnys adjutant general, Capt. Henry S. Turner promptly delivered orders to

Fremont and his forces to stand down, then moved to inform Lt. Col. Cooke of his new role as

commander of Californias Southern District. The Mormon Battalion was to keep the peace in

the provinces most populous and important region.13

12 Army of Israel 189-191

13 Army of Israel 198-200
 10

It was then that Jefferson Hunt, the senior captain of the Mormon Battalion and a member of the

church himself, requested a continuation of his government service for him and his men who

wished to settle in San Francisco. This request also included a trip to Council Bluffs, Iowa, no

doubt in order to request permission from President Young. Although denied by Kearny, this

wouldnt be the last from Jefferson Hunt in California. No other early Latter-day Saint enjoyed

as much participation in the churchs early involvement with California as Hunt. Not counting

his involvement with the Battalion, he was a trailblazer and guide, gold miners, colonizers,

legislator, and mail courier. He became familiar with every region of California including the

fertile San Bernardino Valley, the parched desert, and the coastal route linking San Diego and

San Francisco. Hunt was crucial in drilling and training the Mormon Battalions many soldiers

and was a prominent leader of Mormons, and often endorsed his non-Mormon superiors actions

counter to the protests of the spiritual leaders of the Battalion. Hunt, staying in California after

the Battalions dismissal, was crucial in the founding of a Mormon colony in the San Bernardino

Valley and eventually founded a settlement on the Provo River on commands from Brigham

Young. The actions of Hunt, a single member of the Mormon Battalion, serve to demonstrate its

accomplishments in settling and opening the west to non-Mormons and Mormons alike.14

The Mormon Battalion split up in March of 1847 under the orders of Lt. Col. Cooke. Company B

was sent to San Diego under the leadership of Capt. Jesse D. Hunter, those on sick call stayed at

San Luis Rey, and the rest, some 225 men, marched with Cooke to the greatest potential danger,

Los Angeles. Lt. Samuel Thompson, on May 9th 1847, led Company C in carrying out orders

from Cooke to stop attacks from Tularenos Indians. This was the first and last combat action by

14 Regional Studies 57-80

 11

Mormon volunteers during the Mexican-American War. In a report to Cooke, Thompson

described the battle:

We marched to the rancho de los Sanches, where we retired, as I thought, for the

night. In About three hours we were awakened by our guide who had found the

encampment of the Indians against whom we had set out. We then marched to the rancho

del Feliz and from hence to the pass of the Bendayos making in all about eighteen miles

from the Pueblo [de los Angeles].

Here we found the enemy ambushed. When they were discovered so as to admit

of successful action I ordered the attack which they returned with a warm and continued

shower of arrows. The combat lasted on account of the advantage of ambush they had for

two hours when they retreated. I found six dead Indians on the field, from only five of

whom, however, the California Spaniards that accompanied us took scalps. I had one man

rather severely wounded with an arrow, another slightly.15

The Mormon Battalion was reunited again when Company B returned from San Diego on the

15th of July 1847. Demonstrating the reliability of its members, the Battalion prevented

insurrection in San Diego and kept the peace to a large degree; this was an impressive feat

compared to the way in which other volunteer forces composed themselves. General Kearny held

the members of the Mormon Battalion in such high regard that they served as his military escort

back to Fort Leavenworth after he had closed his public business [at Monterey]. This was very

important business due to Kearnys plans to arrest John C. Fremont on arrival at Fort

Leavenworth due to his conduct in California. The 13 members of the Mormon Battalion who

accompanied Kearny were called his lifeguards, and he valued them greatly and did

15 Army of Israel 219-220

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demonstrate a certain amount of sympathy towards their cause, stating that the Mormons were a

very sinning people but that they have also been much sinned against. When their service came

to an end, efforts were made to reenlist the entire Mormon Battalion due to their superior service,

however Hunts plan to travel to seek President Youngs permission to continue their service was

shot down, dooming Kearnys successors plans to retain the soldiers that were desperately

needed. After being discharged, members of the Battalion broke into ever small groups while

returning to the bosom of the church in 1847. The small amount who stayed to volunteer who

make their journey to the Great Basin in March of 1848.16

Throughout most of the march of the Mormon Battalion west, their families and church stood

still in harsh conditions at Winter Quarters. Serving as a place of accommodation, transition,

experimentation, and implementation, Winter Quarters served as a way-station for the Mormons

as they transmitted their culture across the vast expanse of the West. It was also a place where

funds for the Battalion soldiers were pooled, and Brigham Young proved his leadership through

the toughest of times. The Churchs leaderships decision to choose the Great Basin was

publicized years later, and it has served as the new Zion for Mormons since and a place for the

members of the Battalion to return home.17

The achievements of the Mormon Battalion were best put by their longtime commander, Lt. Col.

Cooke. His Order Number 1 congratulates the Battalion for the safe arrival at the Pacific which

ended one of the longest military marches of United States military history, capping off 2,000

miles of traversing the harsh terrain of the American West building a pioneering road all the way,

commends them for following military orders and not harming any citizens where they went, and

praises them for approaching their enemy without repose. Cooke and his commanders believed

16 Army of Israel 225-334

17 Mormons at the Missouri 230-232
 13

that the Battalion, an unlikely rag-tag group of religious misfits, exhibited all of the high and

essential qualities of military veterans.18

Brigham Young, speaking in front of some of the returning members of the Mormon Battalion,

said to President Heber C. Kimball and other church leaders that, These men were the salvation

of the Church. The Mormon Battalion was a pivotal force that marched 2,000 miles through the

perilous west, supported the United States military under Kearny in California, aided the church

in their move west, and paved the way for territorial expansion through the Gadsden Purchase. A

full thirty years after their march ended, the Battalions trail was followed yet again, this time by

the Southern Pacific Railroad.19 Although they were unsung heroes of their time and a century

afterward, the Mormon Battalion was irrevocably influential during the Mexican-American war

and shaped the southwestern United States.

18 Regional Studies 46
19 The Mormon Battalion and the Gadsden Purchase 61
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Mormon Battalion Research Paper Works Cited

Bennett, Richard Edmond. Mormons at the Missouri: Winter Quarters, 1846-1852. Norman: U

of Oklahoma, 2004. Print.

Bigler, David L., and Will Bagley. Army of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives. Logan, UT:

Utah State UP, 2000. Print.

Boone, David F., Robert C. Freeman, Andrew H. Hedges, and Richard Neitzel Holzpafel, eds.

Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History. Provo, UT: Dept. of Church History

and Doctrine, Brigham Young U, 1998. Print.

Cowan, Richard O. "The Mormon Battalion and the Gadsden Purchase." Brigham Young

University Studies 37.4 (1997): 48-64. JSTOR. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

Roberts, B. H. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Salt Lake City, UT:

Deseret News, 1902. Print.