The Papers
Reference
About
Nauvoo Legion Senior Officers, March–July 1843
The charter
for the city of , Illinois, enacted
in December 1840 to take effect in February 1841, allowed for the
formation of a unit of the state militia in
Nauvoo. On 3
February 1841, the city council passed an ordinance officially
organizing the . On the following day, JS and other commissioned officers of the Illinois state
militia elected the general officers of the legion. Additional
positions were created and staffed throughout 1841 and 1842. In June 1842 the Nauvoo Legion
cashiered as the legion’s major
general. In August 1842, a court-martial elected
brigadier general to replace John C. Bennett as major
general.
The Nauvoo Legion comprised two brigades, or cohorts, each
headed by a brigadier general. The first cohort consisted of cavalry and
the second of infantry and artillery troops. Enlisted men served in one
of these two brigades, which were subdivided into regiments (commanded
by a colonel), then battalions (commanded by a lieutenant colonel or a
major), and then companies (commanded by a captain). Officers retained
their rank unless they were terminated by resignation, death, or
cashiering out of the Nauvoo Legion.
Extant records indicate several changes in Nauvoo Legion’s
organization during this volume’s period. On 27 April 1843 received a commission to serve as brigadier
general over the first cohort, a position that had been left vacant
since August 1842. On the lieutenant general’s staff,
William Hall and were
commissioned as aides-de-camp, while the death of on 8 June 1843 left vacant a spot in the guard of
aides-de-camp. On the major general’s staff,
Garret Ivins was added as cornet and as an aide-de-camp.
The following charts identify the staffs of the lieutenant
general, major general, and brigadier generals of the Nauvoo Legion
during the period covered in this volume; they do not note the colonels,
majors, and captains who commanded the legion’s regiments, battalions,
and companies. In cases where offices went unfilled or for which there
is no extant record of who filled the position for the dates shown, the
offices are marked “vacant.”
| March–July 1843 | |
| Lieutenant general | Joseph Smith |
| Lieutenant general’s staff | |
| Inspector general | |
| Assistant inspector general (colonel) | George Schindle |
| Drill officer (colonel) | |
| Judge advocate (colonel) | |
| Aides-de-camp (colonels) | |
| William Hall | |
| Chief chaplain (colonel) | [vacant] |
| Guards of aides-de-camp (captains) | |
| (served until death, 8 June 1843) | |
| Herald and armor bearer (captain) | |
| Major general | |
| Major general’s staff | |
| Adjutant general (colonel) | |
| Assistant adjutant general—first cohort (colonel) | |
| Assistant adjutant general—second cohort (colonel) | |
| Surgeons general (colonels) | |
| George Cooke | |
| Assistant surgeon general (colonel) | Abel Underhill |
| Cornet (colonel) | Garrett Ivins |
| Quartermaster general (colonel) | |
| Commissary general (colonel) | |
| Paymaster general (colonel) | |
| Chaplain (colonel) | |
| Assistant chaplain (colonel) | |
| Assistant inspector general—first cohort (colonel) | |
| Assistant inspector general—second cohort (colonel) | |
| Aides-de-camp (colonels) | Carlos Gove |
| George Schindle | |
| Amos Dean | |
| J. M. Binelo | |
| War secretary (colonel) | |
| Quartermaster sergeant (major) | |
| Sergeant major (major) | |
| Chief musician (major) | |
| Musicians (captains) | |
| Herald and armor bearer (captain) | Samuel Hicks |
| First cohort | Second cohort | |
| Brigadier general | ||
| Brigadier general’s staff | ||
| Aides-de-camp (lieutenant colonels) | [vacant] | |
| [vacant] | ||
| Adjutant (lieutenant colonel) | ||
| Sergeant major (lieutenant general) | ||
| Quartermaster sergeant (colonel) | [vacant] | |
| Assistant quartermaster general (lieutenant colonel) | ||
| Assistant commissary general (lieutenant colonel) | ||
| Surgeon (lieutenant colonel) | ||
| Assistant chaplains (majors) | ||
| Brigade inspector (major) | ||
| Herald and armor bearer (captain) | William Whitmarsh |