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Show COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS Morgan T. Mendenhall Colleen McDonnell THE MORMON BATTALION: BIBLIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY Morgan T. Mendenhall (Colleen McDannell) Department of History University of Utah Looking into early Mormon periodicals and the history of the Mormon battalion, it became clear that much of the information is scattered and poorly archived, making it difficult to find clear answers to historical questions. W h y would President Polk want to enlist soldiers such as the Mormons? Despite his repeated denials, it seems that President Polk used volunteer regiments as a test of loyalty. It was feared that Mormons might leave the US and become sympathizers with Great Britain, from where a great deal of their converts came. Thus President Polk used his levying of the Mormon Battalion to test the American loyalty of this religious group. If the president thought the loyalties of the Mormons were tenuous at best, why would the Mormons, w h o had been ignored by the federal government during their religious persecution, believe that raising a battalion for an American war would be a good thing? First, they sought the opportunity to prove themselves to the American people and its government. Secondly, the soldiers' wages were voluntarily collected for the general use of this financially challenged religion. Soldiers'wives were encouraged to donate all their pay and then receive support from Mormon leaders. Lastly, they received permission to settle temporarily on Indian lands west of the Missouri to give them time to regroup before they moved west. The last question, why did the Mormons send w o m e n and children with the battalion, was somewhat more difficult to answer. In fact, it seems there were only indirect answers. Four w o m e n per company were allowed to be hired by army policy in general, and they served as washwomen and seamstresses for the men. Children were mentioned as good servants and errand boys, as they were too young to enlist, but otherwise don't appear often in the journals of battalion members. |
