Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1839-09-20

reply y our artisls in yesterdays paper in rs&ion
to the art acts Il aggression practssd in the State
Of Missouri. during what was called the /" Mormon
War;" and charging the Mormons with being the ag-
grsssors, by first taking up arms.
But il must be constantly recollected that the Nor
mons in Caldwell county, considered themselves, a.
they really were the regular State Militia, acting
under the command Of county officers, and by the ad
vice of Generals Doniphon and Parks, for the par-
pose Of putting down mob They had never
opposed, or thought of opposing, the authorities, OIL
the State, or Of any county They had, IN every IN
stance, agreed to keep the peace against awiess vo
lcnce. az citizens, not as Mormons. they were ma
turally surprised when the State Executive by whom
their officers were commissioned, sent ether militia
officers to command their surrender. IL was not
against the State but for the State not against law
but to maintain law, that they had armed. ine
Mormon War;" of which much has been said,
was then simply and truly an attempt TO put down
the very mob, against whom the militia Of other
counties had been called out and Gov. Boggs might,
with equal Justice have arrested any other militia
oficers. as these officers Of the Mormon militia.
This two fold relation Of the Mormons-frst, OF mi
itia to preserve order under State authority; and
second, of friends to those whom they were called
to defend, must be carefully borne in mind. And
now let few facts be detailed of the surrender to
General Lucas.
The first knowledge the Mormons Of Far West
and Caldwell received that the other militia OF the
State were called against them, was the appear
ance of 5000 armed men, within half mile OF their
town. Ignorant Of whom these people might be and
Of what their purposes were, the Mormons sent out
flag Of truce to inquire the of their appear
ance. The answer returned was, that they wanted
three individuals named, who were then in Far
West two of which were not members OF the church,
and that as forthe Mormons themselves they intended
to exterminate them, drive them from the state
1t still, however, not stated who they were nor
was any authority shown under which they were act
ing In this state of ignorance and uncertainty
the Mormons passed the night and the following
day, naturally supposing that it was another mob,
and keeping up guard therefore against surprisal.
These suspicious were confirmed by the facts, that
the party under Gillian had been seen to join them,
and that various Mormons had been taken prisoners,
and especially by the cruel murder Of Mr.. Carey.
The day after the arrival ofthsse troops Joseph
Smith, IT,, Lyman Wight, Sidney Ridon and Farley
p Pratt, Caleb Baldwin and Alexander M Rae, were
by the deceit and stratagem Of COL George M.
Hincle, himself commander of the Mormons, betray-
ed and made prisoners.
information Of the Governors erder and immediate
held consultation to know what should be done =
They determined at once and without hesitation to
follow the rule, they had always good citizens OBJ
served, of obeyng the authorities Of the State, and
resolved to surrender, although but few hours
previous, supposing the men thus collected to be
mob, they had sworn to stand by each other till
death, and never yieldto lawless force. As as
it was known that these troops body lawfully
acting under the executive order there was but
desire, and that was to give themselves up. Mean
while court martial was held in Gen. Lucas camp
for the trial Of the prisoners already alluded TO, who
were all condemned TO be shot the next morning at
eight o'clock The execution Of this sentence was
pre- vented by the remonstraRcc Of Gen. Doniphon
against such cold blooded MURDER and by his threats
Of Withdrawing with his troops Gen. Atchison, il
should be stated, had, in great indignation, with
drawn from the army while at Richmond, ~
the Governors exterminating order had be en- re-
ceived.
Hinckles treachery will be easily understood. Fear
ing himself conflict, he had entered into treaty
with the officers Of the troops, and had promised to
deliver up the leading Mormons. This he did as
stated in Lyman wight's memorial, by fraudulently
putting them in the enemies, power under pretence
of holding a conference. The treaty which he
tered into not fully understood in the other par
ticulars But the Moimons had bat one course, and
that was 10 surrender; this they did on the follow
ing morning. They were marched into hollow
square under Major Bronson, Hinkle having with
drawn himself, and ,here grounding their arms, they
Welded themselves prisoners Of war. Their subse-
auent cruel fafe and suerings too notorious to
need comment.