Docket Entry, 1–circa 6 July 1843 [Extradition of JS for Treason]
Source Note
Docket Entry, [, Hancock Co., IL, 1–ca. 6 July 1843], Extradition of JS for Treason (Nauvoo, IL, Municipal Court 1843); Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 55–87, 116–150; handwriting of and ; CHL.
& beef, were taken by the Whole army to support the men & horses & in many cases cattle, hogs & sheep were Shot down & only a small portion of them used, the rest left to waste, of these crimes of which the soldiers boasted, the general officers freely conversed & corroborated the Same. And even who professed to be opposed to such proceedings acknowledged the truth of them, & gave us several particulars in detail. I believe the name of the man whose brains they knocked out, was Carey; and another individual who had his chest broken open & several hundred dollars in specie taken out was the same whose house the mob burned at . After the mormons were all disarmed gave them a compulsory order for men, women & children to leave the forthwith without any exceptions, counting a mercy to spare their lives on these conditions. Whilst these things were proceeding, instead of releasing us from confinement & were forcibly added to our number as prisoners & under a large military escort, commanded by , before mentioned, we were all marched to , a distance of between fifty & sixty miles, leaving our families & our friends at their mercy, in a destitute condition, to prepare for a journey of more than two hundred miles at the approach of winter without our protection & every moment exposed to robbery, ravishment & other insult, their property robbed & their houses & lands already wrested from them.
We were exhibited like a caravan of wild animals on the way & in the streets of & were also kept prisoners for a show for several days. In the mean time a had been sent by , with an aditional force of six thousand men from the lower country, to join in his operations against the Mormons He soon arrived before with his army & confirmed all & highly commended them for their virtue, forbearance, & other deeds in bringing about so peaceable & amicable an adjustment of affairs. He kept up the same scene of ravage, plunder, ravishment & depredation for the Support & enrichment of his army— even burning the houses and fences for fuel. He also insisted that every man, woman & child of the Mormon Society, should leave the except such as he detained for as prisoners, stating that the had sent him to exterminate them but that he would as a mercy spare their lives & give them until the first of April following to get out of the . He also compelled them at the point of the bayonet, to sign a deed of trust of all their real estate to defray the expences of what he called the “Mormon War.” After arranging all these matters to [p. 84]