page_title: Nauvoo Legion
hierarchical_section_title: Nauvoo Legion
caption_attribution_description: Depiction of Joseph Smith at head of the Nauvoo Legion. Notice Nauvoo Temple in the background.
context_page_description: The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint areas of settlement.
  The Illinois state legislature granted Nauvoo a liberal city charter that gave the Nauvoo Legion extraordinary independence even though it was still a component of the Illinois State Militia and under the ultimate authority of the Governor of Illinois. Led by Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and a mayor of Nauvoo, the Legion quickly became a formidable concentration of military power.
  Previously, from May to June 1834 Joseph Smith led an expedition of Latter Day Saints, known as Zion's Camp from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri in an attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon settlers. He organized the first Mormon militia group known as the "Armies of Israel" to protect his people.
  In 1844, after a controversy where the
context_section_description: The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint areas of settlement.
  The Illinois state legislature granted Nauvoo a liberal city charter that gave the Nauvoo Legion extraordinary independence even though it was still a component of the Illinois State Militia and under the ultimate authority of the Governor of Illinois. Led by Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and a mayor of Nauvoo, the Legion quickly became a formidable concentration of military power.
  Previously, from May to June 1834 Joseph Smith led an expedition of Latter Day Saints, known as Zion's Camp from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri in an attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon settlers. He organized the first Mormon militia group known as the "Armies of Israel" to protect his people.
  In 1844, after a controversy where the 
  Nauvoo newspaper was burned to the ground on Joseph Smith's orders, due to the publication of articles critical of Smith and his church's policies; Joseph Smith was ordered to the Carthage Jail under charges of Treason. It was there Smith was assassinated by a mob. Soon thereafter, the Nauvoo charter was revoked, and the Nauvoo Legion lost its official sanction as an arm of the Illinois militia.
  After the revocation of the Nauvoo Charter, the members of the Nauvoo Legion continued to operate under the command of Brigham Young, leader of the movement's largest faction, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Young led the Latter-day Saints to what later became the Territory of Utah. In Utah, the Deseret Militia and Utah Territorial Militia used the official name of the Nauvoo Legion. The Nauvoo Legion was permanently disbanded in 1887. In 1894, the former Utah Territorial Militia was reactivated and officially designated the Utah National Guard.
caption: General Joseph Smith commanding the Nauvoo Legion infantrymen in formation between 1839 and 1844 in Nauvoo, Illinois, with the Nauvoo Temple on a hill in the background
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2004:10:13 14:21:26", "Image ExifOffset": "156", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "294", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5244", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "470", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "364"}