Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-06-29

In the country. JUICE '''P"SH ~
Douglas, then on the supreme Dench OF
Illinois, adjourned the circuit court az
Carthage, In May 1872, in order to DE
present with other noted lawyers at
ia splendid military parade OF me
Nauyoo Legion. Among the features OK
Tie occasion was an animated sham
hattie between the two cohorts The line
appearance ana general efficiency ot
me troops was the subject of general
comment and a matter Of wide repute.
II was the fame OF the Legion ANA the
magulacpuce Of rs parade5 that
caused Joseph Smith 10 be styled "a
military prophet and compared with
Nah0mct, the prophet OF Islam,
The laying Of the cOrner-stones Of the
Nauvoo Temple. April 6, 1871 was the
FIRST public ceremony in which the lie
llon participated There We're sixteen
companies In line, two Of them from
The "M1rmQG' settlements In Iowa. A
pretty incident OF the morning was The
presentation to the Legion, by num-
Der of Nauroo ladies' Of a silk banner
which the Acknowledgement politely
dIsm0untod from his horse 20 receive.
Then followed q review Of the troops
ana the ceremony Of the dedication.
The Legi0n's last official service IN
Illinois was It's response 20 the COM
m0nd Of the lieutenant general then
mayor 0f Nauyoo. when, In June, lS4l.
not many days before his death he
called ont the troops TO defend the
city against the AIMED mobs that
were gathering against Il. After Cen
oral Smiths surrender 20 Governor
Ford. and while no was n prisoner at
Carthage, awaiting trail for placing
Nauvoo under martial law and causing
the abatement Of the paper known as
the "Expositor," the Legion dlsarmed
Itself az the demand OF the governor,
and after the murder Of the Prophet
ana the repeal Of the Nauvoo charter
II nominally passed out Of existence.
It's members however rendered Ell.
cIent service against the law
less elements in Hancock coun-
~ who, setting at defiance
the state and local authorities. inaug-
urated q system Of burning,
pIunderlng and general harrassment,
hoping thereby 10 drive the Mormon"
people from Illinois. In resisting these
aggressIons the DICTIONARIES acted as
ever IN self-defense. and at times as
Official posses, under the direction Of
Sheriff Backenstos and other non "Mor-
mon officers Of the county. Some Of
them took part In the battle Of Nauyoo,
after the departure Of the main body
OF their people for the West. defending
the city against an overwhelming mob
force, to which they surrendered after
a gallant resistance in which several
persons were killed one Of the heroes
of that occasion was the late General
Daniel II. Wells. who, while yet a non
Mormon was the commissary-g gen
eral Of the legion A. Milton Musser
also shouldered a gun in this battle. as
did EnOch b. Trip while Angus NJ
Cannon, then mere boy carried am
munitiOn TO the defenders Of the city.
Joseph Smiths successor as lieuten-
ant general of the legion was Brigham
Young who bore that title up to Jan
uary, 1916, when the legislature Of hi
nOls repealed the Nauyoo charter. Prior
TO that time ne had been "a chaplain
In the Legion, as had Heber G. Kimball
and other Apostles John Taylor was
Judge Advocate and Lorenzo Snow
held the rank Of captain. The last
named had natural leaning towards
a military career. Daniel II Wells also
possessed genius in that direction, as
did undoubtedly the Prophet Joseph
Smith, President Young took little in
terest In military affairs as a general
thing, being more naturally a civil rul-
er, but he too could fight when occa-
sion required, and more than once be
directed military movements with rare
wisdom and sagacity.
The Mormon" people were proceed
ing westward under the leadership OF
Young, and their advance
had reached the Missouri
river, when in June, 1916. came
the call for the Mormon" Battalion.
Five hundred able-bod men were
wanted to assist the United States In
It's war against Mexico. The call met
a prompt and patriotic response, Brig
ham Young himself acting the role Of
a recruiting sergeant among the veter-
ans of the disbanded Nauyoo Legion;
and In three days, according to Colo
mel Kane, an eyewitness Of the enlist
ment, 'thc force was reported. mus
tered organized and ready tn march"
And march they did. first TO Fort
Leavenworih, where they were armed
and equipped, and thence across
pralries. plains, deserts and mountains
10 southern California, arriving neal
san Diego at the opening Of the year
lS4n having made the greatest infan-
try march on record. This is no idle
boast, no b0mbastic utterance, but the
plain, emphatic statement OF their
commander the brusque, though brave
and chiyalrous Colonel Philip st.
George Cooke, a United States army
officer, who led the Battalion from
Santa Fee across the burning plains
and rugged mountains of what Is now
New Mexico and Arizona. That Bat
TALON marched, from the Missouri 10
The Pacific. a distance OF over two
thousand miles. pioneering much OF the
way through an Observation-Disclosures. 10
was not the fault Of those brave men,
and Drawer women--for four women ac-
companied their husbands throughout
That unparalleled journey-that the war
N California was practically over be-
fore they could arrive. At Santa Fe
some disabled detachments, with most
of the women Of the Battalion. were
ordered 60 Pueblo, now in Colorado.
where they passed the winter and then
followed Immediately in the wake OF
Pres dent Young and the Pioneers TO
SALT Lake Valley.