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Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 December 1843–B

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Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 December 1843–B

Source Note

JS, Military Order, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , Hancock Co., IL, 18 Dec. 1843. Featured version copied [18 Dec. 1843]; handwriting of ; one page; JS Office Papers, CHL. Includes docket.
Single leaf measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The order was inscribed on the recto; the verso is blank except for a later docket. The document was trifolded for filing. The document underwent conservation to repair tearing along the fold creases.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. In 2012 the order was cataloged as part of the JS Office Papers at the CHL. The document’s early docket and later inclusion in the JS Office Papers suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 18 December 1843, JS issued an order to Major General to mobilize a portion of the to defend the city from a possible mob attack. Earlier that day, witness statements had implicated , a local officer in the Anti-Mormon Party, in leading the group that kidnapped member in early December. Later that evening, two messengers from , Illinois, had informed JS that Williams was assembling a mob in southern to possibly rescue , who had been arrested for his participation in Avery’s kidnapping, and to resist further arrests. Shortly after receiving this report, JS issued an order to Law instructing him to send one hundred legion members to support Williams’s arrest.
That night, JS’s scribe swore out an affidavit before JS as mayor of stating that he believed “that the peac[e] of said citty is in danger from a Mobocratic assemblage at ” and that had sent runners to “to excite the Missourians to Join the Mobbers in this for the purpose of making a descent on said city.” It is unclear why Richards, as opposed to the messengers from Warsaw, provided this testimony. In response to Richards’s affidavit, JS issued a second order to , instructing him to muster sufficient forces to repel a possible attack. Richards made a copy of the order sometime before midnight that night.
Ten days earlier, JS had similarly ordered to mobilize a portion of the legion in preparation to defend the city. Law responded by activating two regiments. It is unclear from extant sources whether JS intended Law to remobilize the same units or to mobilize additional or different troops in response to his second 18 December order.
It is unclear how much of the legion activated, though it apparently involved multiple regiments. In accordance with Law’s orders, the legion assembled the next day at one o’clock in the afternoon near the “with arms & ammunition” and instructions “to hold themselves in readiness at a moments warning.” The Warsaw Message later criticized JS’s mobilization of the legion, arguing that the rumored mob was merely “some dozen or twenty of the citizens of Green Plains, excited by the circumstances of the arrest [of ]” who armed themselves and went to .
JS’s original order is apparently not extant. ’s retained copy is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Part 5: December 1843”; “Kidnapping,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 20 Dec. 1843, [2]–[3].

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 18 Dec. 1843; Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 Dec. 1843–A; see also Complaint, 18 Dec. 1843; “Kidnapping,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 20 Dec. 1843, [2]–[3]; Amos Chase, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 19 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; and Petition from Aaron Johnson, 18 Dec. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Willard Richards, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 18 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.

  4. [4]

    Earlier in December, JS similarly relied on an affidavit from Richards containing thirdhand information to justify activating a portion of the legion to defend the city. (Willard Richards and Philip B. Lewis, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 8 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Mayor’s Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843.)

  5. [5]

    Richards, Journal, 18 Dec. 1843.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  6. [6]

    Historical Introduction to Military Order to Wilson Law, 8 Dec. 1843; see also Historical Introduction to Mayor’s Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843; and Historical Introduction to Requisition from Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843.

  7. [7]

    Law’s subsequent orders to the legion are not extant. Aside from the featured order, the only surviving military order connected to the mobilization suggests that Law mobilized the second cohort’s first and fifth regiments, though presumably other troops were involved as well. (Theodore Turley to George W. Crouse, Order, Nauvoo, IL, [19] Dec. 1843, in Order Book, 1843–1844, 14–15; “A Rank Roll of the Commissoned Officers of the First Regiment 2nd Cohort Nauvoo Legion Illinois Militia,” Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL.)

    Order Book, 1843–1844. CHL.

    Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 19 Dec. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 19 Dec. 1843.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  9. [9]

    “The Late Arrest,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 3 Jan. 1844, [1]–[2].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 December 1843–B
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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City of Dec 18th 1843.
I am credibly informed that a warlike force is collecting at or near . for the purpose of some violent move towards this . or some of the inhabitants thereof. you will therefore order out such a portion of the as may be necessa[r]y to repel any such mobocratic or hostile design of the Said unlawful force, and also as may be sufficient to Secure the peace of the citizens according to Law.
Your
Joseph Smith
Mayor
Maj Gen. , Commanding . [1/2 page blank] [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 December 1843–B
ID #
1231
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:401–403
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards
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