thumb|right|260px|This flag was first used by the [[Nauvoo Legion in 1844, having only 13 stars and a beehive. In 1846 when the battalion was organized they painted over the beehive with an eagle. Then after arriving in California they added the bear and raised it over Fort Moore. This flag was later given to the Life Guards Militia were they added their name and motto.]]

right|thumb|"Mormon Battalion Monument" by [[Edward J. Fraughton, Presidio Park, San Diego, California]]

The Mormon Battalion was an infantry battalion of the United States Army. It was the only unit in American military history recruited solely from one religious group and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 543 and 559 enlisted soldiers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints led by Mormon junior officers and non-Mormon senior officers.

On July 1, 1846, Captain James Allen, dispatched by Colonel (later Brigadier General) Stephen W. Kearny, (1794–1848), of the U.S. Army arrived at the Mormons' Mosquito Creek camp. He carried President Polk's request for a battalion of 500 volunteers to fight in the coming Mexican War. Most members of the Church were suspicious of the request, as the Federal government had ignored the persecutions that they suffered. They were concerned about facing discrimination by the government, as they had from both the state and federal government in the past.

Kane obtained Federal government permission for the refugee Mormons to occupy Pottawattamie and Omaha Indian lands along the Missouri River. After carrying dispatches relating to the land agreements and battalion criteria to famous Mid-Western military post of Fort Leavenworth in the then larger Indian Territory (1834–1907, later that part in the future Kansas Territory, 1854 then subsequent state of Kansas, 1861). Capt. Kane sought out Jesse Little in the Mormon encampments on the Missouri River. On July 17, 1846, he held a meeting with church leaders and Army Captain Allen.

Young had planned on moving the Mormons west that summer, but circumstances were against his plan. He saw several possible advantages to the Saints in the proposed federal service. Their enlistment would be a public relations victory for the church, demonstrating additional evidence of its loyalty to the United States. Having been forced to leave farms and homes in Nauvoo, Illinois, the Latter-day Saints were going to spend the winter on the banks of the upper Missouri River. Raising a group of able-bodied men would be difficult. Many men had already scattered to outlying areas where they sought jobs with wages to help support the group. Young wrote a letter to the Saints living in Garden Grove in which he justified the call-up and asked for help:

The public approval of Young and other members of the Twelve were critical to gain men's enlistment. While some men quickly volunteered, Young had to persuade reluctant enlistees. Each company was authorized four women as laundresses, "receiving rations and other allowances given to the laundresses of our army." The Mormon Battalion was mustered into volunteer service on July 16, 1846, as part of the Army of the West under Brigadier General Stephen Kearny, a seasoned military veteran. His units included two regiments of Missouri volunteers, a regiment of New York volunteers who had traveled by ships around South America and Cape Horn to the Pacific Ocean and arrived in California to meet Gen. Kearney with there, artillery and infantry battalions, Kearny's own 1st US Dragoons (cavalry), and the battalion of Mormons. For years afterward, some Mormons viewed the Mormon Battalion as an unjust imposition and as an act of persecution by the United States.

Journey begins

thumb|Revised map of Mormon Battalion routes with all detachment routes shown.

The battalion arrived at Fort Leavenworth on August 1. For the next two weeks, they drew their clothing allowance of $42 per man, received their equipment (Model 1816 smoothbore flintlock muskets and a few Harper's Ferry Model 1803 Rifles), and were more formally organized into a combat battalion. The volunteers took the approved clothing allowance in cash per regulations. To assure the main body of the group benefited from the men's wages, Young sent Parley Pratt to see that the men handed over the pay they had committed to contribute. Young used this and the wages they earned later to buy supplies for the main group at wholesale prices in St. Louis, Missouri. He wrote to the enlistees that the money was a "peculiar manifestation of the kind providence of our Heavenly Father at this time."]]

Captain Jefferson Hunt, commanding A Company, was the acting commander until word reached Council Grove, Kansas, that Allen had died. While there, Lieutenant Andrew Jackson Smith, West Point Class of 1838, arrived and was given temporary command of the Battalion with the Mormons' consent. For the next several weeks, the Mormon soldiers came to hate "AJ" Smith and the assistant surgeon, Dr. George B. Sanderson, for their treatment of the men, and the long marches suffered across the dry plains of Kansas and New Mexico. The Mormon men were not accustomed to the austere military standards of the day nor to the medical treatments imposed by Dr. Sanderson, including the use of feeding mercury compounds to the sick, which were standard for the time. Because the church leaders had counseled the battalion members to avoid military medical treatment, they challenged the doctor's authority and unrest arose among the men. Smith and Sanderson continued to hold the Mormon Battalion to ordinary standards of discipline, and tensions continued.

Cooke assumes command

180px|thumb|[[Philip St. George Cooke]]

Arriving in Santa Fe in October, General Kearny had dispatched Captain (brevet promotion to Lieutenant Colonel) Philip St. George Cooke, West Point class of 1827, to assume command of the Battalion. His assignment was to march them to California and to build a wagon road along the way (today known as Cooke's Wagon Road). In Santa Fe, 91 sick men and all but five of the women and one child were sent to Pueblo, in present-day Colorado. Three separate detachments left the Battalion and went to Pueblo to winter. For the next three months and 1,100 miles, Cooke led the Battalion across some of the most arduous terrain in North America. Most of the Mormon soldiers soon learned to respect and follow him. The group acquired another guide in New Mexico – adventurer and mountain man Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who as an infant had traveled with his mother Sacagawea across the continent with the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Lieutenant Smith and Dr. Sanderson continued with the battalion, along with Lt. George Stoneman, newly graduated from West Point that Spring. During the Civil War, Cooke, Smith and Stoneman were promoted to high-level commands for the Union Army, and Stoneman would later be elected Governor of California.

Battle of the Bulls

right|thumb|250px|A later-19th-century painting depicting the Mormon Battalion reaching the Gila River in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona

The only "battle" they fought was near the San Pedro River in present-day Arizona against a sizable number of wild cattle. The Battalion reached this area in December 1846, and their presence aroused curiosity among these animals. After the bulls of these herds caused destruction to some of the mules and wagons and resulted in two men being wounded, the men loaded their guns and attacked the charging bulls, killing 10–15 of the wild cattle, causing the event to be termed the "Battle of the Bulls".

Journey complete

The Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego on January 29, 1847, after a march of some 2,080 miles from Iowa. For the next five months until their discharge on July 16, 1847, in Los Angeles, the Battalion trained and performed occupation duties in several locations in southern California. The most significant service the Battalion provided in California was as a reliable unit under Cooke to reinforce General Kearny's one company of army dragoons. The construction of Fort Moore in Los Angeles was one measure Cooke employed to protect military control under Kearny. Some 22 Mormon men died from disease or other natural causes during their service. About 80 of the men re-enlisted for another six months of service.

thumb|Banner carried by the Battalion

Fifteen men were selected to accompany General Kearny and escort John C. Fremont back east to his court-martial. During their journey over the Sierra Nevada, these men encountered one of the campsites of the Donner Party, and were ordered to bury the human remains and clean up the area.

After being mustered out, Jesse D. Hunter, captain of Company B, was appointed Indian Agent for southern California by the military governor, Colonel Richard Mason. Hunter was California's third indian agent, the first two being Johann Sutter and Mariano Vallejo, both appointed by Mason's predecessor, Stephen Kearny. Hunter's mission was to protect ranchos and missions from depredations, and to generally control the Indian labor force, to the point of requiring Indians to carry passports.

Nearly 100 discharged veterans worked in the Sacramento, area for James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill. Henry Bigler recorded in his diary the actual date when gold was discovered, January 24, 1848. This gold find started the California Gold Rush the next year. $17,000 in gold was contributed to the economy of the Latter-day Saints' new home by members of the Mormon Battalion returning from California. Three members of this group were killed at a location which became known as Tragedy Spring.

Historic sites and monuments

thumb|right|The San Diego Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Historic sites associated with the battalion include:

; Iowa

  • The Mormon Battalion Mustering Grounds on the campus of the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs includes a short trail with interpretative signage. This site is located within half a mile of the actual site of the mustering.

; Kansas

  • A stone monument with a bronze plaque that describes the details of the Mormon Battalion is located on the grounds of the Kaw Mission State Historic Site in Council Grove, Kansas. This is the site at which the Battalion camped while traveling along the Santa Fe Trail. Council Grove had a Government Blacksmith shop stationed along the Santa Fe Trail. Camp followers John and Jane Boscow (Burschough) died while at Council Grove and were buried not far from the later Kaw Mission Site.

; New Mexico

  • The Mormon Battalion Monument in Sandoval County, New Mexico, outside of Santa Fe. It is a tower of stone with a wagon wheel on top. A bronze plaque marks the contributions of the battalion and lays out the map of their travels across the Southwest.

; Arizona

  • A large bronze sculpture of a meeting between the Mormon Battalion and Mexican El Presidio leadership sits in the Northwest portion of El Presidio Park, adjacent to the Pima County Courthouse in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Although their nations were at war, the military contingents from both nations were able to avert armed confrontation in part via this peaceful meeting of representatives of both armies.
  • A large bronze statue and monument is located in West Wetlands Park in Yuma, Arizona. It commemorates the crossing of the Colorado River.

; California

thumb|Mormon Battalion memorial, [[Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery]]

  • Mormon Battalion Historic Site, a visitor center in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego.
  • Box Canyon historical site, in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, on Highway S-2, approximately 8.7 miles south of Highway 78 (Scissors Crossing). (GPS location: N33.0152, W116.4429) Here the Battalion cut a road into the rocky side of a canyon which was otherwise impassable to wagons. Remnants of the road cut into the rock wall are still visible.
  • Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial, the largest bas-relief military monument in the United States, on Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles, dedicated in 1958 at the site of historic Fort Moore built by the Mormon Battalion in 1847, decommissioned in 1853.
  • The Mormon Battalion Memorial in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego, erected in 1998.
  • A sculpture of an infantryman of the battalion by Edward J. Fraughton erected in 1969 at Presidio Park, San Diego.
  • Monument on the grounds of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in Oceanside.
  • As part of the "Southern California Sesquicentennial Celebration" in 1997, San Bernardino County renamed a low-lying mountain within Glen Helen Regional Park at the mouth of Cajon Canyon as "Mormon Battalion Mountain." Local Boy Scouts built a monument to the Battalion consisting of a flagpole and stockade at the park.
  • Mormon Rocks, northwest of San Bernardino, California, in the Cajon Pass, just west of Interstate 15 on State Route 138. Near Mormon Rocks, the first wagon road was blazed through the Cajon Pass in 1848 by 25 veteran Battalion soldiers, with the wagon of Captain Daniel C. Davis, wife Susan and son Danny in their journey to the Salt Lake Valley.

; Utah

  • The Mormon Battalion Monument at the Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City.
  • The Mormon Battalion Monument Plaza at This Is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, dedicated in 2010.
  • The Mormon Battalion Museum in the lower level of the Visitor Center at This Is the Place Heritage Park.

; Colorado

  • Mormon Battalion Monument at Runyon Field Sports Complex in Pueblo, Colorado. The battalion's sick detachments wintered in this area.

; Mormon Battalion Trail

  • Trail markers have been placed on segments of the battalion route between Mount Pisgah (Iowa) and San Diego. first American mayor of Los Angeles, California
  • Jefferson Hunt, father of San Bernardino County, Brigadier-General of California Militia
  • Elam Luddington, his wife (Mary) and mother (Lena) and two children, Elam served as an officer in the battalion and Mary as a laundress. He later served as the first missionary in Thailand (Siam) and chief of police in Salt Lake City.
  • William Prows,
  • James C. Sly, name sake of Sly Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
  • William S. S. Willes, a founder of Lehi, Utah
  • Ebenezer Brown, one of the founders of Draper, Utah

Current research

A resurgence of interest in the Battalion is linked to the 175th anniversary of the Battalion's service.

Original documents held at the National Archives have been located, including original muster and pay rolls. These are being prepared for public access online along with transcriptions. A more accurate count and list of participants is being prepared.

A series of events are being planned along the routes during 2021–2022.

See also

  • California Battalion
  • California Gold Rush
  • Lot Smith Cavalry Company
  • Nauvoo Legion
  • Southern Emigrant Trail
  • Trapper's Trail
  • Utah Territorial Militia

Notes

Citations

References

  • Black, Susan Easton. “The Mormon Battalion: Conflict between Religious and Military Authority.” Southern California Quarterly (1992) 74#4: 313–28.
  • Coffman, Natalie Brooke, "The Mormon Battalion's Manifest Destiny: Expansion and Identity during the Mexican-American War" (2015). (U of Vermont Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. Paper 509) online
  • Fleek, Sherman L. "The Kearny/Stockton/Frémont Feud: The Mormon Battalion's Most Significant Contribution in California." Journal of Mormon History 37.3 (2011): 229–257. online
  • Fleek, Sherman L. “Dr. George B. Sanderson: Nemesis of the Mormon Battalion.” Journal of Mormon History (2007) 33#2: 199–223.
  • Larsen, Carl V., Carl V. Larsen Research on the Mormon Battalion(MSS 5885), L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
  • Perkins, Eugene H., and Waldo C. Perkins. “The Mormon Battalion Experience: Four Soldiers, Four Stories.” Utah Historical Quarterly (2005) 73#3: 225–48.
  • Yurtinus, John F. “The Mormon Volunteers: The Recruitment and Service of a Unique Military Company.” Journal of San Diego History (1979) 25#3:242–61.
  • San Diego Mormon Battalion Historic Site, history.churchofjesuschrist.org
  • Mormon Battalion Association, MormonBattalion.com
  • Women of The Mormon Battalion, Carl V. Larson, Shirley N. Maynes, Watkins Printing (1995)
  • Mormon Battalion Trek 2008 Reenactment, BattalionTrek.com
  • The Mormon Battalion in the Desert Southwest by Kent Duryee, DesertUSA.com
  • House Resolution No. 5 – Relative to commending the Mormon Battalion, January 15, 1997 – California Legislature commendation
  • Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 40--Relative to the Mormon Battalion, June 13, 1995 – California Legislature Historical Plaque