When was the mormon battalion

Why did volunteers agree to join the army? They joined because they listened to President Brigham Young, a living prophet. Captain Allen never would have been able to persuade them to enlist. But President Young knew that their service would provide funds to help the Saints reach the Salt Lake Valley, allowing them to gather as a covenant people.

With trust in the Lord and a prophet, volunteers prepared to march with the U. For each member of the Mormon Battalion, the decision to enlist was an act of faith. Zadoc Judd wrote, "This was quite a hard pill to swallow-to leave wives and children on the wild prairie, destitute and almost helpless. Brown observed that he did "not suppose there is an individual in the Battalion, who, had he been left to his own thoughts and feelings, independent of counsel, would have enlisted.

Two days before the volunteers left, Church leaders met privately with them. President Young and others gave them "their last charge and blessing," which included a promise that their "lives should be spared and [their] expedition result in great good, and [their] names be handed down in honorable remembrance to all generations.

He promised "that they would have no fighting to do. Each man in the battalion received 42 dollars as a clothing allowance, as well as wages for his service. Some of the women were paid for doing laundry for the group.

Members of the battalion donated a portion of their clothing allowance to the Church to provide essential funds for the trek west.

This contribution was so valuable that President Young said they were the "present and temporal salvation" of the Saints. They did, however, face hardships, including fatigue, hunger, and sickness. Their most severe challenges were lack of water and harsh terrain. Extreme thirst threatened their health and survival. Battalion member Henry G. Boyle said, "We were all weary and fatigued, hungry, nearly naked, and barefoot, but our burning thirst drowned every other suffering.

The battalion endured several lengthy marches without water. In addition, three sick detachments were sent to Pueblo, Colorado, during the march and never made it to California. After the men were discharged, they used numerous overland routes to make their way to the Salt Lake Valley. One group, after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, discovered that their families were still in Iowa and continued east for another 1, miles to the Winter Quarters area to reunite with loved ones. The battalion was the only military unit in American history comprised of a single religious denomination.

Tyler said: "Traveling in sight of the ocean, the clear bright sunshine, with the mildness of the atmosphere, combined to increase the enjoyment of the scene before us The birds sang sweetly and all nature seemed to smile and join in praise to the Giver of all good; but the crowning satisfaction of all to us was that we had succeeded in making the great national highway across the American desert, nearly filled our mission, and hoped soon to join our families and the Saints, for whom, as well as our country, we were living martyrs.

References Griswold del Castillo, R. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A legacy of conflict. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, First paperback printing Merk, F. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Riketts, N. The Mormon Battalion; U. Army of the West, - Logan: Utah State University Press, Cooke, P. The Conquest of New Mexico and California in - Tyler, D. Chicago: Rio Grande Press, Reprint.

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