On 26–27 June 1844, JS dictated a letter from , Illinois, to his wife in , Illinois, providing instructions for the residents of Nauvoo and expressing his love and concern for Emma and their family. JS and his brother had been confined in the jail, in Carthage, since the evening of 25 June on charges of . On 26 June at 8:00 p.m., JS’s attorneys informed him that governor had held a council with the militia officers gathered in Carthage. This council had determined that Ford and most of the militia at Carthage would go to Nauvoo the following day, in part, Ford later reported, “to strike a salutary terror” into the Saints and to dissuade them from committing any acts of vengeance against “those who had taken a part against them.” Ford, however, abandoned this course of action after learning of a conspiracy to initiate a war with the once Ford’s troops were in Nauvoo. Instead, on the morning of 27 June, Ford decided to disband most of the men under his command and travel with a single company of militia to Nauvoo. Once there he would “deliver an address” to the Latter-day Saints warning them that if they took revenge against their opponents, then “it would be the sure and certain means of the destruction of their city and the extermination of their people.” At 9:40 on the morning of 27 June, one of JS’s attorneys visited him in the jail at Carthage and informed him of Ford’s new plan.

JS appears to have started his letter to on the evening of 26 June 1844. served as JS’s scribe, writing the letter as JS dictated it. The next morning, Richards wrote most of the letter and consequently revised its date and time.

In his letter, JS informed that he had heard that and his troops would not go to as had been reported on 26 June. Following this remark, the majority of JS’s letter included instructions for , the acting major general of the , to relay to the residents of Nauvoo, asking them to stay in their homes, avoid gathering, and await Ford’s orders. JS reassured Emma that should there be a mutiny in the governor’s force, some troops would remain loyal. But he also cautioned that it was the duty of men to protect their lives and their families, writing that “no power has a right to forbid it. should the last extreme arrive.” JS then wrote a personal postscript to the letter, telling Emma, “I am very much resigned to my lot knowing I am justified and have done the best that could be done.” He also asked her to give his love to their children and friends. Later that morning, at 9:40, added a second postscript, in which JS informed Emma that Ford intended to disband his troops and come to Nauvoo to give a speech. Richards wrote in his journal that after the final postscript was added, the letter was sent with and , who left for Nauvoo before 10:30 that morning. It would have taken them several hours to travel the approximately twenty miles from to Nauvoo, where the letter was delivered to Emma. At some point, Richards made a copy, which was presumably the version later used in the manuscript history. The version sent to and received by Emma is featured here.