ITS HISTORY AND ACHIEVEMENTS By B. H. ROBERTS THE DESERET NEWS Salt Lake City, Utah 1919 Copyright, 1919. BY B. H. ROBERTS. The Mormon Battalion...

"The Lieutenant-Colonel commanding congratulates the Battalion on their safe arrival on the shores of the Pacific ocean, and the conclusion of their march of over two thousand miles. History will be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry." So wrote Lieutenant-Colonel P. St. George Cooke in "Order No. I," from "Head Quarters Mormon Battalion, Mission of San Diego", under date of January 30th, 1847. If Col. Cooke is accurate in his statement—and one has a right to assume that he is, since

The Mormon Battalion owes its existence to the exodus of the Mormon people from the state of Illinois to the then (1846) little known region of the Rocky Mountain west. The leaders of that people had decided that there was little prospect of their being able to live in peace with their neighbors in Illinois, or in any of the surrounding states, owing to the existence of strong prejudices against their religion, and therefore they resolved upon seeking a new home in the west—"within the Basin of

The "call" for the Mormon Battalion was not an unfriendly act on the part of the United States' government towards the Mormon people. A representative of the Church, as we have seen, had appealed most earnestly to the executive of the nation for aid in the western emigrations of that people; and when it was decided by the administration to "accept" the services of such a force of volunteers, the Mormon leaders received the decision as an answer to their appeal for aid. A Sacrifice Nevertheless.

At Fort Leavenworth the Battalion received its equipment of 100 tents, one for every 6 privates; also their arms and camp accoutrements. When drawing the checks for clothing, the paymaster expressed great surprise to find that every man was able to sign his own name to the pay roll. Death of Col. Allen. Question of a Successor. —At Fort Leavenworth Col. Allen was taken ill; but on the 12th of August he ordered the Battalion to start on its western march, while he would remain a few days, recuper

The Battalion began its march from Santa Fe on the 19th of October, Colonel Cooke in command, Lieutenant A. J. Smith, who had led the Battalion to Santa Fe, became the acting commissary of subsistence; and Lieutenant George Stoneman, acting quartermaster, instead of Lieutenant Samuel E. Gully, who had resigned. Both Smith and Stoneman were of the regular army. Dr. Sanderson was continued as Physician-surgeon to the command. The guides to the expedition—appointed by Gen. Kearny—were Weaver, Charb

This part of the march led through what is now marked on the maps of southern California as the "Colorado Desert," "nature's exhausted region lying between the Colorado river and the eastern base of the coast range"—some of it being below the sea level. Much of the dreary way lay through stretches of sand, and the men were compelled to aid the teams by pulling on ropes, fifteen to twenty men to a wagon. No water was to be had but by the digging of deep wells in the desert sands. These often yiel

Subsequent movements of the Battalion were as follows: At San Luis Rey Mission. —On the evening of their second day at San Diego Mission, an order was issued for the Battalion to return to San Luis Rey Mission, to garrison that station. This Mission was somewhat midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and it was doubtless thought that the Battalion by being stationed there could keep that important position out of the enemies' hands, should Mexican hostilities again be resumed, as at the time

The Battalion had opened a wagon road to the Pacific, but had arrived too late to participate actively in the conquest of California. It was useful, however, in the performance of garrison duty at San Diego, San Luis Rey, and Los Angeles; and, in connection with the New York volunteers, recently arrived under command of Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson, via Cape Horn to San Francisco Bay, also in connection with the constantly increasing naval forces along the coast, they assisted in making secure the

The story of the Mormon Battalion is now before the reader. The perspective of seventy-three years corrects many of the misapprehensions that once obtained respecting the purpose of its being called, and its mission. And as this perspective corrects the misconceptions of the past, so also does it enable us to recognize the real importance and value of the incident and the greatness of the achievements of this Battalion of the United States' troops, for such they were, and the matter of their com

It may be of interest, and certainly it belongs to the history of the Battalion, to say that its commanding officer and the two lieutenants of the regular army, his staff officers, rose later to honorable distinction during the war between the States. Colonel Cooke. —Col. Cooke, after returning to the east with Stephen W. Kearny, continued in the military service of the United States and was active in the Kansas-Nebraska troubles of the early fifties. In 1857-8 he commanded the cavalry in the Jo

Col. Cooke in addition to natural austerity of temperament was a strict disciplinarian, and generally held himself aloof from the men. A few anecdotes that fortunately survived the march, and which were related by Wilford Woodruff at the celebration of Pioneer's Day, in 1880, show the Colonel in some of his better moods, and witness the fact that he could be somewhat broadly tolerant of the independent attitude of some members of his Mormon command. The Woodruff narratives follow: Character of C

The March and Achievements of the Mormon Battalion are worthy of celebration in an enduring form that shall perpetuate the memory of them to future generations. This has been recognized for many years and the idea of such a memorial has been kept alive in the community by a women's organization known as the Daughters of the Mormon Battalion, composed of direct female descendants of the men of that organization. Of late years the interest has taken on a wider scope, until now the whole state of U