Captain James Allen of the United States army was promoted to
Lieutenant Colonel after enlisting five companies of Mormon men.
541 soldiers, 35 women (20 were called to serve as laundresses),
and 42 children began a march to Fort Leavenworth on July 21, 1846.
Before they left, the officers, all of whom had been selected by
Church leaders, were promised that their lives would be spared if
they were faithful.
The band of men, women, and children marched 200 hundred miles
down the east side of the Missouri River, then crossed over to Fort
Leavenworth, where they arrived on August 1, 1846. At the fort,
they were outfitted with guns, supplies and given $42 per man as
clothing money for the year.
Every man was able to sign his own name on the payroll,
greatly surprising the fort's paymaster. Less than a third of the
men he had previously employed could sign their names.
Leaders of the Mormon church collected a portion of each man's
pay and sent it to support the battalion members' families in Iowa
and to help those church members who were evacuating from Nauvoo,
Illinois.
General Stephen W. Kearny's regiment had already embarked in
June, heading toward Santa Fe to conquer New Mexico for the United
States. He had instructed the Mormon Battalion to follow him and
give whatever help was necessary. The battalion remained at Fort
Leavenworth for two weeks.
The extremely hot weather caused many of the men to suffer
with fevers. Colonel Allen, the commanding officer, became sick
and was unable to leave with the group of soldiers when they took
up their march. Captain Jefferson Hunt, the Mormon officer,
assumed temporary command of the battalion. Two weeks after
leaving the Missouri River, the men learned that Colonel Allen had
died.
The soldiers felt that Captain Hunt should continue as their
leader and sent a letter to United States President Polk requesting
to appoint him to the position.
The new lieutenant set a hard pace for New Mexico, hoping to
overtake General Kearny before he left for California. The harsh
pace took its toll on the members of the march, especially the
wives and children who were allowed to travel with the men.
The battalion members had little rest and the weaker of the
group fell behind, trudging into camp hours after the others. A
third detachment of fifty-five men turned back toward Pueblo.
The soldiers reached Tucson, Arizona where a Mexican garrison
was stationed.
They rejoined Kearny's route along the Gila River.
They butchered the animals for food. Every part of the animals was
eaten, including the hide, which was boiled until it was tender
enough to eat.
By this time many of the men were nearly barefoot, and some of
them wrapped rawhide and old clothing around their feet to protect
their skin from the burning sand. They fought off wild bulls.
After they made it through the desert, they pulled the wagons
through narrow mountain passes of the coast range with ropes and
pulleys. At times, it was necessary to cut through stone to make
passages for the wagons.
On January 29, 1847 the Batallion reached Mission San Diego at
the end of the 2,000 mile trek. There, they reported to General
Kearny, who was appointed governor of California by President Polk.
Since California was already in the hands of the United
States, the battalion soldiers served as occupation troops with
garrison duty in the cities of Los Angeles, San Louis Rey, and San
Diego. They earned the respect of the local citizens by building
a courthouse, making brick, and digging wells.
At the end of their
one year's enlistment on July 16, 1847, the battalion members
received an honorable discharge from the army. Eighty-one men
chose to reenlist for an additional six months.
Many of the discharged men left for northern California,
intending to travel east to join the body of the Mormon pioneers in
the Salt Lake Valley of northern Utah. Captain James Brown met
them there and gave them a message from church president Brigham
Young, asking those without families to stay in California to work
during the winter of 1847-1848. The Mormon church desperately
needed the cash.
Most of the men agreed and spent the winter at Sutter's Fort
on the Sacramento River. There, they participated in the discovery
of gold in January of 1848 which began the California gold rush.
By summer of that year, they had completed their contracts with
Sutter. Unlike other men who worked the gold fields, the Mormon
soldiers were not lured by the promise of gold, and joined the
other members of their faith in Utah.
