Nauvoo Legion

In 1839, Joseph Smith relocated his followers from a hostile environment in Missouri to Commerce, Illinois, which he renamed Nauvoo. Aiming to win the Mormon voting bloc, Illinois Democrats and Whigs (including Abraham Lincoln) passed a bipartisan city-state charter for Nauvoo in 1840. On December 16, 1840 Governor Thomas Carlin approved the charter, which was certified by then Secretary of State Stephen A. Douglas. A few light cannons were also attached. On March 12, 1842 the growing city of Nauvoo was divided into four military districts (aligning with the four city wards), with four corresponding companies that would comprise the fourth regiment of the second brigade. Historian Harold Schindler argues that the rank of Lieutenant General was granted to Smith by the State of Illinois in exchange for the Latter Day Saint vote in upcoming elections. Brigham Young remarked, "If the war [with Mexico] broke out, he would have become commander-in-chief of the United States armies." ==Organizational chain of command==

. Nauvoo forming a city militia was uncommon, as typical militias of the time were formed within the county or state. Typical American courts-martial are exclusively judicial entities, created to try military personnel in accordance with military law. The state legislature granted the Nauvoo Legion additional legislative and executive powers: 1) the Nauvoo Legion court martial was granted the power to make, ordain, establish, and execute laws and ordinances and 2) The Nauvoo Legion was placed at the disposal of the city mayor to enforce city laws. On February 8, 1841, in accordance with the city charter, the Nauvoo City Council further expanded the executive power of the court martial to internally nominate officers for original commissions and promotions at a municipal level. This was also a departure from typical procedure in contemporary state militias. Officers were chosen by popular election, and then commissioned at the state level. At the same time, it granted the court martial the legislative duty to mirror the United States army "so far as applicable" in terms of discipline, drill, uniform, rules, and regulations. ==Activities in Nauvoo==

Laying of the cornerstone of the Nauvoo Temple On April 6, 1841 the Nauvoo Legion paraded in a full military display as part of the temple's cornerstone ceremony. Sharp reflected a growing sentiment in Illinois that the combined military and religious Latter Day Saint community posed a threat to the democratic values of individual freedom and separation of church and state, writing, "Every thing they say or do seems to breathe the spirit of military tactics. Their prophet appears, on all great occasions in his splendid regimental dress.... Truly fighting must, be a part of the creed of these Saints!" Joseph Smith III as a boy carried a wooden sword and a banner that read, "Our fathers we respect; our mothers we'll protect." On December 15, 1841, the Nauvoo Times and Seasons reported the city watch was disbanded and reorganized as a Legion assignment. Reaction to the failed extradition from Missouri was swift and negative. and a "betrayal." Tensions between Nauvoo and surrounding non-Mormon settlements peaked by the summer of 1844, in part because the Legion came to be regarded as Smith's private army. Acting as Lieutenant General, Smith ordered Major General Jonathan Dunham to use the Legion to assist the city marshal. Non-Mormons claimed the Legion was instrumental in destroying the press and called for the arrest of Smith and other members of the city council for riot. Ford called off most of the Illinois militia and recalled state-issued arms in Nauvoo. In the late afternoon of June 27, 1844 the Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were held was attacked and they were killed. About two thirds of the Legion had assembled in Nauvoo at noon on the day of the killing, but disbanded after an emissary from the Governor indicated that there was no danger to the Smith's. As word reached Nauvoo, the full Legion assembled on the parade grounds at 10:00 am on June 28, 1844, and accompanied the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum Smith to the Nauvoo Mansion. Leaders preached calm, and the Legion was not used at that time to avenge the deaths. ==Legion survival after death of Joseph Smith==

The death of Joseph Smith caused a succession crisis over who would lead the Church going forward. Brigham Young began to take on the roles Joseph Smith previously had, and on August 31, 1844 he was elected as the Legion's "Lieutenant General". Previously, Young had been an assistant chaplain. Distributed flyers invited all armed men to participate in a “wolf hunt” in Warsaw on September 26 and 27. Whistling and Whittling Brigade With the repeal of the Nauvoo Charter, the city was left without an official militia or police force. In response, in March 1845 Brigham Young organized the Bishops and Deacons to 1) "take care of the poor" and 2) guard the city at night, to keep everything straight.” While plans for an official arsenal had been discussed since at least June 10, 1843, it was not until September 16, 1844 that Lieutenant General Brigham Young dedicated a site near the temple “to the God of the armies of Israel” and broke ground. Prior to this point, the Nauvoo Masonic Hall had been used as a commissary and to store arms. Construction of the arsenal, in connection with construction of a gunsmith's shop and a powder magazine, continued despite the repeal of the Nauvoo Charter and the recall of state-issued arms. The arsenal was funded in part through non-attendance fines. Records in the Nauvoo Legion Arsenal Account book indicate that local merchants were sometimes paid to procure and ship arms and ammunition for the Legion. Rising tensions Although no longer sanctioned, the Legion continued to function as though it still had authorization, including drills, parades, and new military appointments. Major General Rich stopped using his military rank and took on the title "President of the Organized Quorums of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hancock County." At a September 9, 1845 meeting of the Anti-Mormon party, members were fired upon. In retaliation a group led by Levi Williams set fire to the Mormon settlements of Yelrome, Morley, and Lima and destroyed forty four homes. The morning of September 16, Lieutenant Frank Worrell of the nearby Carthage militia was shot and killed by Orrin Porter Rockwell after refusing an order to stop by non-Mormon Sherriff William Backenstos. Worrell had been the sergeant of the guard at Carthage when the Smiths were assassinated. Backenstos and Rockwell went to Nauvoo and found Brigham Young, asking for assistance. Young offered 2,000 legionnaires to be commanded by Backenstos, who went through Hancock county burning "Gentile" property, and driving anti-Mormons from their homes, many of who fled across the border to Missouri and Iowa. Governor Ford wrote that "they sallied forth and ravaged the country, stealing and plundering whatever was convenient to carry or drive away." Governor Ford sent an army of 400 troops along with Judge Stephen A. Douglas to stop the violence on both sides. The army searched for bodies of two men believed to be murdered by Mormons, and after pressure from the Anti-Mormon party, arrested Sherriff Backenstos for the murder of Worrell (Rockwell went into hiding). ==Departure from Nauvoo==

On October 1, 1845 Brigham Young announced the Latter-day Saints would leave Nauvoo and travel west. He removed the unit on May 1, 1846, because of the expense and being outnumbered by those hostile and ready to attack the city. In response, 150 men of Nauvoo gathered to defend themselves while women and children sheltered near the Temple. They were divided into the Spartan Bandremnant members of the Nauvoo Legionand the Kill Devil Companya group of non-Mormon New Citizens who were weary of anti-Mormon antagonism and hoped to defend their newly purchased property. Over the next five days the band of 150 withstood the siege of 1,000 men through methods such as guerrilla warfare, placing mines called a “hell's half acre”, and building up bulwarks. A steamboat shaft was turned into a makeshift cannon. Some women “gleaned” fields by collecting the anti-Mormon's discharged cannonballs to be reused in Mormon cannons. Three Mormons were killed and several injured on both sides. On September 16, 1846, the Mormons surrendered, knowing that they could not withstand the siege indefinitely. They agreed to leave Nauvoo within five days. Even with the treaty terms, anti-Mormon militia members harassed the Mormons by ordering some out of the city at the point of a bayonet, entering the temple and shouting obscenities from the belltower, interfering with the burials, and searching departing wagons to remove weapons and goods. ==Legacy==

The Nauvoo Legion in Utah participated in the Black Hawk War and the Walker War. In September the Iron County district (which included several former members of the Illinois Nauvoo Legion) participated in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Two cavalry units of the Nauvoo Legion were used by the federal government to protect mail and freight lines during the Civil War. In 1887 the Nauvoo Legion in Utah was disbanded by the Edmunds-Tucker Act. ==Weapons and equipment==

. Used by the Nauvoo Legion in Nauvoo. Records are sparse regarding military readiness of the Nauvoo Legion in terms of uniforms, equipment, discipline, and armaments, making an accurate state difficult to ascertain. After the forced return of arms to the state, the church began to acquire arms that it referred to as "public arms". Brigham Young noted in his journal in September 1844 that "some arms and ammunition" had been received from St. Louis. In October 1845 the Legion purchased 100 muskets. In November 1845 Orson Pratt used tithing money to purchase four hundred dollars' worth of Allen's revolving six shooter pistols (pepperboxes). William Hickman remembered in a memoir that there were four artillery pieces and five hundred stands of small arms. A 12-pound howitzer carronade, a ship cannon, was purchased by the Legion in Nauvoo, to go along with one three-pounder and two six-pounder cannons. At least one cannon was drilled out by John Kay. For the final battle of Nauvoo five cannons were made out of hollow steamboat shafts. ==See also==