History of the Saints: The Remarkable Journey of the Mormon Battalion

by Michael N. Landon, Brandon J. Metcalf

In 1846, the United States Army came calling on the Latter-day Saints camped as refugees along the Missouri River in western Iowa. Five hundred of their most needed and able-bodied men were mustered into service for one year in the Mexican-American War. While the Saints established Winter Quarters on the Missouri, the Battalion endured enormous hardship in a 2,000-mile march to the Pacific Ocean. Though the war ended before the Battalion arrived, their presence nonetheless secured California for the Americans. Upon Completion of their service, the men were discharged to return home, but where was home? Where were their families, and by what route would they find them? They went in different directions and, along the way, discovered gold, blazed new routes into California, buried victims of the Donner Party, and proved themselves useful in incalculable ways.

This is the story of the Mormon Battalion – their march to California, their brotherly service while garrisoned there, and their subsequent adventures upon their discharge. Moreover, it is the heartrending story of their families – the wives, children, and loved ones left behind to make their way west, not knowing when or if their soldier would ever return. This is the story of a small group of pioneers who proved themselves the salvation of the Saints in the wilderness.

109 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book about an amazing group of men who went through unimaginable hardships for their country.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up to send to my Dad as a birthday gift, as I've grown up hearing stories about my own ancestor (Henry Standage) who marched in the Mormon Battalion, rather than because of a curiosity about the Mexican-American war. As I thought about my purchase, I decided to grab a second copy for myself.

This is an exploration of the Mormon Battalion, a group of 500+ men, who voluntarily joined the army at their country's request. The fact that any man enlisted at all is astonishing. Here these families are, driven out of New York, then Ohio, and finally Missouri by mobs and Governor Boggs' murderous "Extermination Order." Here are families, living and dying on the very intersection of America and complete wilderness. They are completely destitute; many without belongings other than the clothes they were wearing when they fled the mobs. Then the U.S. Government, the same entity who ignored pleas from church leaders to help them and protect them from "legal" militial armies who pillaged and raped and murdered, this same goverment strolls into this vast refugee camp and requests 500 volunteers to go fight a war, 1000 miles away, across uncharted deserts and frontier lands, for a country that ignored their pleas for justice, against an enemy completely unknown to them.

They did. Purely because of a sense of duty and on faith in what Brigham Young promised them: that no one would be harmed in battle. The men who joined had the army consecrated their army pay to the Church, to help finance the wagon trains and handcart companies made up of these rag-tag Mormon refugee-pioneers. And off they marched.

True to the promise, not once did the Battalion have to fight. And although they all suffered a great deal from hunger, and thirst, chronic dehydration, sickness, and lack of adequate clothing (especially shoes), not one Battalion soldier saw battle and were discharged honorably upon reaching the Pacific ocean.

"For many, the Mormon Battalion is a symbolic representation of principles - such as sacrifice, obedience, and devotion to family and church - that are highly valued in Mormon culture.

"The reservoir of experience men that came out of the Mormon Battalion proved a blessing to the Church in countless settings throught the balance of the nineteenth century."

My own great-great-great-great grandfather returned to the Salt Lake valley, where he met up with his wife and mother, who had crossed the Great Pains without him during the time he was deployed. Post-Battalion, Henry lived in and helped colonize Provo, Fillmore, Bingham Fort (now Ogden), and Brigham City. He accepted an assignment to establish the town of Richmond in Cache Valley and uprooted his family to live there. He served many years as justice of the peace, postmaster, and managed the Church's cooperative store. After 20 years, Henry moved his family again to the Salt River Valley, in Arizona, where he and a few other families settled in the town now called Mesa. Many of my relatives still live there.

I appreciated this book as it helped me get beyond the iconic "my great-great, etc. marched in the Mormon Battalion" to see the real character and personality and faith in my own ancestor and the other men who served.

[Ron Tenney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I have relatives that participated in this historic though seldom discussed march through the barren waste of southern America, I was interested in reading an up-to-date account of the Mormon Battalion. I started this book today (4/4/2013).
The quality of the illustrations and maps seems to be first rate.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and interesting account of the Mormon Battalion. I have visited the monument in San Diego, California many times and knew a little bit about the history, but this book taught me a lot more.