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The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history to be recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. [5] The volunteers served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican–American War.
The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 [6] [7] and 559 [8] [Note 1] Latter-day Saint men, led by Mormon company officers commanded by regular United States Army officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march of nearly 1,950 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa , to San Diego, California .
The Mormon Battalion's story has largely been forgotten because it didn't participate in gun-fueled battles with the Mexican army or any raiders along the trail during the war, said longtime New ...
The 4 pound Spanish bronze is in the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center in San Diego, Calif. There is a copy of it in front of the center. The iron Spanish 2 and 6 pound cannons remain in storage in Salt Lake City. When the Mormon Battalion was enlisted in July, 1846, about 450 Model 1816 muskets were issued to the infantry.
As the new unit was being recruited and mustered into service, its first commander, James Allen, signed official documents with the name he gave the unit, "Mormon Battalion", [15] General Stephen Watts Kearny, in letters of reply to the unit used Allen's naming convention, calling it the "Battalion of Mormons" and "Mormon Battalion" [16] P. St ...
The unit was founded at the request of the War Department. [1] Telegram to Brigham Young: . Washington, April 28, 1862 Mr. Brigham Young, Salt Lake City, Utah: By express direction of the President of the United States you are hereby authorized to raise, arm, and equip one company of cavalry for ninety days’ service.
Efforts to ease the journey for the emigrants and make the program less expensive for them and the church continued over the PEF's lifetime. At first, church leadership believed that members in Europe should be advised to wait until a potential canal was built through Panama or Nicaragua, so they could land in California and avoid the difficult overland journey from the Atlantic seaboard. [6]
The Mormon Battalion was a US military unit during the Mexican-American War formed in 1846 of 500 Mormon volunteers, many of whom had served in the Nauvoo Legion. [13] [35] Many Mormon Battalion members would go on to become leaders in the Utah Territorial Militia organized in 1852 by the Provisional State of Deseret and the Territory of Utah ...