| Part of a series on |
| Mormon Militias |
|---|
 |
Throughout its history the Latter Day Saint movement operated multiple militias and military units. One of the first militias was the Danite. The first military unit was the Nauvoo Legion, the city militia for Nauvoo, Illinois. [1] [2]
The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by members of the Latter Day Saint movement in 1838 in Missouri. They operated as a vigilante group during a period of intense conflict known as the 1838 Mormon War.[ citation needed ]
The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of Nauvoo, Illinois, from 1841 until 1845. It was one of the largest private military forces in the United States at the time and served to protect the city of Nauvoo and its inhabitants. In 1845 the Nauvoo Legion lost its official sanction as an arm of the Illinois militia, following a controversy in which the Nauvoo Expositor newspaper was destroyed by the Legion on Joseph Smith's orders. The unit was dissolved and as former soldiers went west, they joined the Mormon battalion.[ citation needed ]
With the repeal of the Nauvoo Charter, the city was left without an official militia or police force. [3] [4] In response, in March 1845, Brigham Young organized the Bishops and Deacons to "take care of the poor and guard the city at night, to keep everything straight". [3] Out of these efforts came an organization known as the Whistling and Whittling Brigade who used legal, nonviolent means to monitor apostates, strangers, "Gentiles", or enemies and encourage them to leave town. [3] [4] Members would surround and follow suspicious individuals without engaging in conversation; they whittled pieces of wood, casting shavings in the person’s direction, all while whistling, gathering more members of the group. [3] [4] The organization lasted for less than two months and was phased out as Nauvoo regained law enforcement. [4]
The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history to be recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. [5] The volunteers served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican–American War. The battalion made a grueling march of nearly 1,950 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California. [6] [7]
The Utah Territorial Militia, also known as the Nauvoo Legion, was reestablished in 1849 in the Utah Territory. Its primary role was to provide security against Indian depredations to spreading Mormon settlements. [8]
The Volunteer Cavalry Company was part of the Utah Territorial Militia during the Civil War. For three months, this company patrolled the main trail from Salt Lake City east to Independence Rock on the Sweetwater.[ citation needed ]
Today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints operates a security division known as the "Church Security Division" to protect church leaders and General Conference sessions. [9] [10]
The Nauvoo Expositor was a newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois, that published only one issue. Its publication, and the destruction of the printing press ordered by Mayor Joseph Smith and the city council, set off a chain of events that led to Smith's arrest for treason and subsequent killing at the hands of a lynch mob.
The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saint members in June 1838, in the town of Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigilante group and took a central role in the events of the 1838 Mormon War. They remained an important part of Mormon and non-Mormon folklore, polemics, and propaganda for the remainder of the 19th century, waning in ideological prominence after Utah gained statehood. Notwithstanding public excommunications of Danite leaders by the Church and both public and private statements from Joseph Smith referring to the band as being both evil in nature and a "secret combination", the nature and scope of the organization and the degree to which it was officially connected to the Church of Christ are not agreed between historians. Early in the group's existence, Joseph Smith appeared to endorse its actions, but later turned against it as violence increased and the actions of the Danites inspired a hysteria in Missouri that eventually led to the Extermination Order. According to an essay on the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Historians generally concur that Joseph Smith approved of the Danites but that he probably was not briefed on all their plans and likely did not sanction the full range of their activities."
The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, the Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion, was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 to July 1858. The conflict primarily involved Mormon settlers and federal troops, escalating from tensions over governance and autonomy within the territory. There were several casualties, predominantly non-Mormon civilians. Although the war featured no significant military battles, it included the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where Mormon militia members disarmed and murdered about 120 settlers traveling to California.
The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body 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 534 and 559 Latter-day Saint men, led by Mormon company officers commanded by regular United States Army officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march of nearly 1,950 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California.
The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States from February 4, 1841 until January 29, 1845. Its main function was the defense of Nauvoo and surrounding Latter Day Saint settlements, but it was also occasionally used as local law enforcement and paraded at ceremonies such as the laying of the cornerstone for the Nauvoo Temple. The Nauvoo Legion was unique among contemporary militias for its chain of command structure, its expanded functions of the court martial, and for operating at a city level.
The 1838 Mormon War, also known as the Missouri Mormon War, was a conflict between Mormons and their neighbors in Missouri. Early in the third decade of the nineteenth century, members of the Church of Christ began to migrate into Jackson County, Missouri. Their religious and political beliefs and practices differed from those of their Missourian neighbors. This and their social and economic cohesiveness began to trigger tensions and episodes of vigilante violence.
Missouri Executive Order 44 was a state executive order issued by Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs on October 27, 1838, in response to the Battle of Crooked River. The clash had been triggered when a state militia unit from Ray County seized several Mormon hostages from Caldwell County, and the subsequent attempt by the Mormons to rescue them.
Orson Hyde was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 to 1875 and was a missionary of the LDS Church in the United States, Europe, and the Ottoman Empire.
John Cook Bennett was an American physician and briefly a ranking and influential leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, who acted as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion in the early 1840s.
Hosea Stout was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, a Mormon pioneer, soldier, chief of police, lawyer, missionary, and politician in Utah Territory.
The Utah National Guard comprises both Army and Air National Guard components. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. The National Guard is the only United States military force empowered to function in a state status.
The life of Joseph Smith from 1838 to 1839, when he was 33–34 years old, covers a period beginning when Smith left Ohio in January 1838 until he left Missouri and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois in 1839.
Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, United States, on June 27, 1844, while awaiting trial in the town jail on charges of treason.
George Washington Robinson was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement being the first secretary to the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was also a Danite leader and an official church recorder in the 1830s and was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Rigdonite church established in 1845.
The history of the Latter Day Saint movement includes numerous instances of violence committed both by and against adherents. Mormons faced significant persecution in the early 19th century, including instances of forced displacement and mob violence in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Notably, the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, was shot and killed alongside his brother, Hyrum Smith, in Carthage, Illinois in 1844, while Smith was in jail awaiting trial on charges of treason and inciting a riot.
Robert Blashel Thompson was an associate of Joseph Smith Jr., a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, a Danite, and an official historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The history of Nauvoo, Illinois, starts with the Sauk and Meskwaki tribes who frequented the area, on a bend of the Mississippi River in Hancock County, some 53 miles (85 km) north of today's Quincy. They called the area "Quashquema", in honor of the Native American chief who headed a Sauk and Fox settlement numbering nearly 500 lodges. Permanent settlement by non-natives was reportedly begun in 1824 by Captain James White. By 1830, the community was called "Venus", and it was the site of the first post office in the county. In 1834 the name Venus was changed to "Commerce" in anticipation that the town would prosper under the United States' westward expansion.
Albert Perry Rockwood was an early Latter Day Saint leader and member of the First Seven Presidents of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Sherman L. Fleek is an American military historian. He was born at Hill Air Force Base and raised in Layton, Utah. His work specializes on Mormon military history, particularly the history of the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican–American War. He has also written on topics related to Latter-day Saint (LDS) history that are not always military in nature.
The Utah Territorial Militia was the territorial Militia for the Mormon forces in the Territory of Utah in the United States.
 | This article needs additional or more specific categories .(August 2024) |