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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = Mormon Battalion
| native_name                   = 
| image                         = Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial, Downtown Los Angeles.JPG
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| alt                           = 
| caption                       = Memorial to the Mormon Battalion at the [[Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial]] in [[Los Angeles]]
| dates                         = July 1846 – July 1847
| country                       = [[United States]]
| countries                     = 
| branch                        = [[United States Army]]
| unit                          = [[Army of the West (1846)|Army of the West]]
| command_structure             = 
| garrison                      = [[Fort Leavenworth, Kansas]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.army.mil/article/29369/saints_march_in | title=Saints March In! }}</ref>
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| battles                       = [[Mexican–American War]]
* California Long March (1846–1847)
** Battle of the Bulls (1846)
** [[Capture of Tucson (1846)]]
| decorations                   = 
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| disbanded                     = 1847
| flying_hours                  = 
| website                       = <!-- Commanders -->
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| notable_commanders            = {{plainlist|
* Lieutenant Colonel [[James Allen (Army engineer)|James Allen]] (July–August 1846)
* Captain [[Jefferson Hunt]] (August 1846)
* Lieutenant [[Andrew Jackson Smith]] (August–October 1846)
* Lieutenant Colonel [[Philip St. George Cooke]] (October 1846-May 1847)
* Captain [[Jefferson Hunt]] (May–July 1846)
}}
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{{Mormon Militias}}
[[File:Nauvoo Legion Mormon Battalion Flag.jpg|thumb|right|260px|This flag was first used by the [[Nauvoo Legion]] in 1844, having only 13 stars and a beehive. In 1846 when the battalion was organized they painted over the beehive with an [[Bald eagle|eagle]]. Then after arriving in California they added the bear and raised it over [[Fort Moore (California)|Fort Moore]]. This flag was later given to the Life Guards Militia were they added their name and motto.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Mormon Battalion Flag – Lunar Motion |url=http://www.lunarmotion.com/?p=348 |access-date=2025-01-29 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Deseret News {{!}} 1855-01-11 {{!}} Page 3 {{!}} New Year's Festival |url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=2581729&q=presented+flag&rows=100&sort=date_tdt+asc,parent_i+asc,page_i+asc |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=newspapers.lib.utah.edu |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Mormon Battalion Ed Fraughton.jpg|right|thumb|"Mormon Battalion Monument" by [[Edward J. Fraughton]], [[Presidio Park]], [[San Diego]], California]]

The '''Mormon Battalion''' was an infantry battalion of the [[United States Army]]. It was the only religious unit in the [[military history of the United States]] recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation.{{sfn|Fleek|2006|p=45}} The volunteers served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the [[Mexican–American War]] of 1846–1848.<ref>{{harvnb|Fleek|2006|page=27}}</ref> The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 543 and 559 enlisted soldiers from [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] led by Mormon [[junior officer]]s and non-Mormon [[senior officer]]s.<ref name=UHE>{{Citation | last = Black | first = Susan Easton | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = Mormon Battalion | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MORMON_BATTALION.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241012000916/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MORMON_BATTALION.shtml | archive-date = October 12, 2024 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = May 8, 2025}}</ref><ref name="CaliforniaPioneer.org">{{citation|url=http://californiapioneer.org/historic-events/mormon-battalion|title=Historic Events|work=CaliforniaPioneer.org|publisher=California Pioneer Heritage Foundation|access-date=April 9, 2013|archive-date=August 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813022707/http://californiapioneer.org/historic-events/mormon-battalion|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Lloyd 1992-06-06">{{citation|url=https://www.thechurchnews.com/archive/1992-06-06/monument-honoring-mormon-battalion-to-regain-its-luster-4737|title=Monument honoring Mormon Battalion to regain its luster|first=R. Scott|last=Lloyd|date=June 6, 1992|newspaper=[[Church News]]}}</ref><ref group=Note name=Note01/> During its service, the battalion made a march of nearly 1,950 miles from [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]], to [[San Diego, California]].

The Battalion’s march and service supported the eventual [[Mexican Cession|cession]] of much of the American Southwest from Mexico to the United States, especially the [[Gadsden Purchase]] of 1854 of portions of modern southern [[Arizona]] and [[New Mexico]], extending the American-Mexican border further south to access the most suitable surveyed east-west land route for the future [[Transcontinental railroad|trans-continental railroad]] (later constructed 1866-1869). The Battalion's march also opened a southern wheeled wagon accessible route to California. Veterans of the Battalion played significant roles in America's westward expansion in California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and other parts of the [[Western United States|West]].

==Enlistment==
At the time they enlisted, members of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] were seeking U.S. government aid for their migration west to the [[Rocky Mountains]] and [[Salt Lake Valley]], despite having their previous petitions for redress of grievances denied. Under continued religious persecution, they had fled [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], starting on February 4, 1846, across the Mississippi River. They camped among the [[Potawatomi]] Indians near present-day [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]].

[[Brigham Young]], (1801-1877, served 1847-1877),  the [[President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church)|President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles]],  (second L.D.S. Church President) sent Elder [[Jesse C. Little]] (1815-1893),  to [[Washington, D.C.]], to seek assistance from the federal government for the Mormon Pioneers fleeing from the Illinois mobs. Little arrived in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 1846, only eight days after Congress had declared war on Mexico.<ref name=UHE/> Pennsylvania Army officer and attorney [[Thomas L. Kane]]  (1822-1883), offered the Mormons his advice and assistance. Politically well connected through his jurist father, Kane provided letters of recommendation and joined Little in Washington, D.C. The two called on members of the President's Cabinet - the [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]], the [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]], and 11th  President [[James K. Polk]]. (1795-1849, served 1845-1849), After several interviews in early June 1846, President Polk agreed to Mr.  Little's offer{{clarify|date=February 2014}} if "a few hundred" men enlisted. On June 2, 1846, President [[James K. Polk]] wrote in his diary: "Col. [Stephen W.] Kearny was ... authorized to receive into service as volunteers a few hundred of the Mormons who are now on their way to California, with a view to conciliate them, attach them to our country, and prevent them from taking part against us."<ref>{{citation|author-link=James K. Polk|first=James K.|last=Polk|title=Polk: the Diary of a President, 1845–1849|editor-first=Allan|editor-last=Nevins|editor-link=Allan Nevins|year=1929|page=109|location=London and New York|publisher=[[Longman|Longmans, Green & Co.]]|oclc=783494}}</ref>

On July 1, 1846, Captain [[James Allen (Army engineer)|James Allen]], dispatched by Colonel (later Brigadier General) [[Stephen W. Kearny]], (1794-1848), of the U.S. Army arrived at the Mormons' Mosquito Creek camp. He carried President Polk's request for a battalion of 500 volunteers to fight in the coming Mexican War.<ref name=heritage>{{cite web |url=http://heritage.uen.org/resources/Wc2347df2787d4.htm|title=Heritage Gateways: Mormon Battalion|access-date=September 25, 2009|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211092026/http://heritage.uen.org/resources/Wc2347df2787d4.htm|archive-date=December 11, 2008|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Most members of the Church were suspicious of the request, as the Federal government had ignored the persecutions that they suffered. They were concerned about facing discrimination by the government, as they had from both the state and federal government in the past.<ref name=mclynn>{{Cite book|author=McLynn, Frank|title=Wagons West: The Epic Story of America's Overland Trails |publisher=Grove Press|isbn=0802140637|pages=386–7}}</ref>

Kane obtained Federal government permission for the refugee Mormons to occupy Pottawattamie and [[Omaha]] Indian lands along the [[Missouri River]]. After carrying dispatches relating to the land agreements and battalion criteria to famous Mid-Western military post of [[Fort Leavenworth]] in the then larger [[Indian Territory]] (1834-1907, later that part in  the future [[Kansas Territory]], 1854 then subsequent state of [[Kansas]], 1861). Capt. Kane sought out Jesse Little in the Mormon encampments on the Missouri River.  On July 17, 1846, he held a meeting with church leaders and Army Captain Allen.

Young had planned on [[Mormon pioneers|moving the Mormons west]] that summer, but circumstances were against his plan. He saw several possible advantages to the Saints in the proposed federal service. Their enlistment would be a public relations victory for the church, demonstrating additional evidence of its loyalty to the United States.<ref name=mclynn/> As the drafted  men were given a uniform allowance at Fort Leavenworth, (future Kansas),  of US$42 each, paid in advance, for their one-year enlistment and as they were allowed to wear their civilian clothing for the march, the bulk of those funds were immediately donated to a general Church fund. These funds were used to purchase wagons, teams, and other necessities for the American exodus (Actual wages paid over the next year to the Mormon Battalion totaled nearly $30,000).<ref name="Pioneer Trail Map: Council Bluffs">{{citation |url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/pioneer-trek|title=The Pioneer Story: Pioneer Trail Map|work=churchofjesuschrist.org }}</ref> Having been forced to leave farms and homes in [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], the Latter-day Saints were going to spend the winter on the banks of the upper Missouri River. Raising a group of able-bodied men would be difficult. Many men had already scattered to outlying areas where they sought jobs with wages to help support the group. Young wrote a letter to the Saints living in Garden Grove in which he justified the call-up and asked for help:

{{blockquote|The President wants to do us good and secure our confidence. The outfit of this five hundred men costs us nothing, and their pay will be sufficient to take their families over the mountains. There is war between Mexico and the United States, to whom California must fall a prey, and if we are the first settlers the old citizens cannot have a Hancock or Missouri pretext to mob the Saints. The thing is from above for our own good.<ref name=jbrown>{{Cite book|author=Brown, Joseph D.|title=The Mormon Trek West|year=1980|publisher=Doubleday|location=Garden City, NY|isbn=0385130309|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mormontrekwest00brow/page/50 50–52]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mormontrekwest00brow/page/50}}</ref>}}

The public approval of Young and other members of the Twelve were critical to gain men's enlistment. While some men quickly volunteered, Young had to persuade reluctant enlistees.<ref name="CaliforniaPioneer.org"/> It took three weeks to raise the five companies of men.

Allen's instructions were to recruit "four or five companies" of men who were to receive the "pay, rations, and other allowances given to other infantry volunteers."<ref name=Roberts1919>{{harvnb|Roberts|1919}}</ref> Each company was authorized four women as laundresses, "receiving rations and other allowances given to the laundresses of our army."<ref name=Roberts1919/> Approximately thirty-three women, twenty of whom served as laundresses, and fifty-one children accompanied the men.<ref name=UHE/> Five women would eventually complete the cross-continental trek.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cc.utah.edu/~joseph/MBattalion.html|title=The Mormon Battalion (1846–1847) Roster|access-date=September 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624033110/http://www.cc.utah.edu/~joseph/MBattalion.html|archive-date=June 24, 2008}}</ref> The Mormon Battalion was mustered into volunteer service on July 16, 1846, as part of the [[Army of the West (1846)|Army of the West]] under Brigadier General Stephen Kearny, a seasoned military veteran. His units included two regiments of Missouri volunteers, a regiment of New York volunteers who had traveled by ships around [[South America]] and [[Cape Horn]] to the [[Pacific Ocean]] and arrived in California to meet Gen. Kearney with there, artillery and infantry battalions, Kearny's own [[1st Cavalry Regiment (United States)|1st US Dragoons]] (cavalry), and the battalion of Mormons. For years afterward, some Mormons viewed the Mormon Battalion as an unjust imposition and as an act of persecution by the United States.<ref>Carrington 1857, p. 5</ref>

==Journey begins==
[[File:Mormon Battalion Routes 1846-47 HENSON.jpg|thumb|Revised map of Mormon Battalion routes with all detachment routes shown.]]
The battalion arrived at [[Fort Leavenworth]] on August 1.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Chapter Twenty-Six: Pioneers to the West|chapter-url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/church-history-in-the-fulness-of-times/chapter-twenty-six?lang=eng|title= Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual: Religion 341–343|year=2003|publisher=[[Institute of Religion|Institutes of Religion]], [[Church Educational System]], LDS Church|page=323}}</ref> For the next two weeks, they drew their clothing allowance of $42 per man, received their equipment ([[Model 1816 Musket|Model 1816]] [[smoothbore]] [[flintlock]] [[musket]]s and a few [[Harper's Ferry Model 1803 Rifle]]s), and were more formally organized into a combat battalion. The volunteers took the approved clothing allowance in cash per regulations. To assure the main body of the group benefited from the men's wages, Young sent Parley Pratt to see that the men handed over the pay they had committed to contribute. Young used this and the wages they earned later to buy supplies for the main group at wholesale prices in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. He wrote to the enlistees that the money was a "peculiar manifestation of the kind providence of our Heavenly Father at this time."<ref name=Roberts1919 /> There was little time for training and instilling discipline. Newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel James Allen became ill but ordered the battalion forward along the [[Santa Fe Trail]] to overtake Kearny's Army of the West. On August 23, Allen died and was the first officer buried there in the old officer's burial grounds.  Later his remains were moved to what became [[Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery|Fort Leavenworth National Military Cemetery]].
[[File:Pueblo_Detachment_of_the_Mormon_Battalion_flag.png|thumb|311x311px|This flag is thought to have been carried by Pueblo Detachment and later raised at [[Ensign Peak]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hartvigsen |first=John |date=2018-07-17 |title=With the Flag Flying |url=https://flag-post.com/with-the-flag-flying/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Flags of Our Ancestors - The Early Utah Flag Stories and Legends |url=https://www.loeser.us/flags/utah_note_2.html |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=www.loeser.us}}</ref>]]
Captain [[Jefferson Hunt]], commanding A Company, was the acting commander until word reached [[Council Grove, Kansas]], that Allen had died.  While there, Lieutenant [[Andrew Jackson Smith]], [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] Class of 1838, arrived and was given temporary command of the Battalion with the Mormons' consent. For the next several weeks, the Mormon soldiers came to hate "AJ" Smith and the assistant surgeon, Dr. George B. Sanderson, for their treatment of the men, and the long marches suffered across the dry plains of Kansas and New Mexico. The Mormon men were not accustomed to the austere military standards of the day nor to the medical treatments imposed by Dr. Sanderson, including the use of feeding mercury compounds to the sick, which were standard for the time. Because the church leaders had counseled the battalion members to avoid military medical treatment, they challenged the doctor's authority and unrest arose among the men. Smith and Sanderson continued to hold the Mormon Battalion to ordinary standards of discipline, and tensions continued.

===Cooke assumes command===
[[File:Philip St. George Cooke.jpg|180px|thumb|[[Philip St. George Cooke]]]]
Arriving in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] in October, General Kearny had dispatched Captain (brevet promotion to Lieutenant Colonel) [[Philip St. George Cooke]], West Point class of 1827, to assume command of the Battalion. His assignment was to march them to California and to build a wagon road along the way (today known as [[Cooke's Wagon Road]]). In Santa Fe, 91 sick men and all but five of the women and one child were sent to [[Pueblo, Colorado|Pueblo]], in present-day [[Colorado]].<ref>{{citation|url=https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/companies/391|title=Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel: 1847–1868|work=history.churchofjesuschrist.org|publisher=[[Church Historian and Recorder|Church History Department]], LDS Church|access-date=April 9, 2013}}</ref> Three separate detachments left the Battalion and went to Pueblo to winter. For the next three months and 1,100 miles, Cooke led the Battalion across some of the most arduous terrain in North America. Most of the Mormon soldiers soon learned to respect and follow him. The group acquired another guide in New Mexico – adventurer and mountain man [[Jean Baptiste Charbonneau]], who as an infant had traveled with his mother [[Sacagawea]] across the continent with the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]].

Lieutenant Smith and Dr. Sanderson continued with the battalion, along with Lt. [[George Stoneman]], newly graduated from West Point that Spring. During the Civil War, Cooke, Smith and Stoneman were promoted to high-level commands for the [[Union Army]], and Stoneman would later be elected [[Governor of California]].

===Battle of the Bulls===
[[File:Mormon Battalion painting.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A later-19th-century painting depicting the Mormon Battalion reaching the Gila River in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona]]
The only "battle" they fought was near the [[San Pedro River (Arizona)|San Pedro River]] in present-day [[Arizona]] against a sizable number of wild cattle. The Battalion reached this area in December 1846, and their presence aroused curiosity among these animals. After the bulls of these herds caused destruction to some of the mules and wagons and resulted in two men being wounded, the men loaded their guns and attacked the charging bulls, killing 10–15 of the wild cattle, causing the event to be termed the "Battle of the Bulls".<ref name=Roberts1919/>

===Capture of Tucson===
{{Main article|Capture of Tucson (1846)}}
Approaching [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], in present-day [[Arizona]], the Battalion nearly had a [[Capture of Tucson (1846)|battle]] with a small detachment of provisional Mexican soldiers on December 16, 1846. The Mexicans retreated as the US battalion approached. Cooke never seems to have considered the encounter as capturing the town. He never made that claim. The local O'odham and other Piman tribes along the march route were helpful and charitable to the American soldiers. Mormon soldiers learned irrigation methods from these native inhabitants and employed the techniques later as pioneers in Utah and other areas.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

===Temecula Massacre===
Nearing the end of their journey, the battalion passed through [[Temecula, California]], during the aftermath of the [[Temecula Massacre]], a conflict between Mexican government forces and the [[Luiseño people|Luiseño]] tribe. The Mormons stood guard to prevent further bloodshed while the Luiseño people gathered their numerous dead into a common grave.<ref>{{citation|title=The Indian Cemetery at Old Temecula|first1=Kevin|last1=Hallaran|first2=Allene|last2=Archibald|first3=Lowell John|last3=Bean|first4=Sylvia Brakke|last4=Vane|location=Riverside, California|publisher=Archaeological Research Unit, [[University of California, Riverside]]|year=1991|oclc=44431925}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Cooke|1878|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/conquestofnewmex00cookrich#page/192/mode/1up 192]–194}}</ref>

==Journey complete==
The Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego on January 29, 1847, after a march of some 2,080 miles from Iowa. For the next five months until their discharge on July 16, 1847, in Los Angeles, the Battalion trained and performed occupation duties in several locations in [[southern California]]. The most significant service the Battalion provided in California was as a reliable unit under Cooke to reinforce General Kearny's one company of army dragoons. The construction of [[Fort Moore (California)|Fort Moore]] in Los Angeles was one measure Cooke employed to protect military control under Kearny. Some 22 Mormon men died from disease or other natural causes during their service. About 80 of the men re-enlisted for another six months of service.

Fifteen men were selected to accompany General Kearny and escort [[John C. Fremont#Courtmartial and resignation|John C. Fremont]] back east to his [[court-martial]]. During their journey over the [[Sierra Nevada]], these men encountered one of the campsites of the [[Donner Party]], and were ordered to bury the human remains and clean up the area.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Dorius |first1=Guy L. |date=Spring 1997 |title=Crossroads in the West: The Intersections of the Donner Party and the Mormons |url=https://ensignpeakfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/NJ9.1_Dorius.pdf |journal=Nauvoo Journal |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=24–25 |access-date=December 24, 2020}}</ref>

After being mustered out, Jesse D. Hunter, captain of Company B, was appointed [[Indian Agent]] for southern California by the military governor, [[Richard Barnes Mason|Colonel Richard Mason]]. Hunter was California's third indian agent, the first two being [[Johann Sutter]] and [[Mariano Vallejo]], both appointed by Mason's predecessor, [[Stephen Kearny]].  Hunter's mission was to protect [[Ranchos of California|ranchos]] and [[Spanish missions in California|missions]] from [[depredations]], and to generally control the Indian labor force, to the point of requiring Indians to carry passports.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hurtado |first=Albert L. |date=Fall 1979 |title=Controlling California's Indian Labor Force; Federal Administration of California Indian Affairs During the Mexican War |jstor=41170828 |journal=Southern California Quarterly |publisher=University of California Press |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=225–226 |doi=10.2307/41170828 }}</ref>

Nearly 100 discharged veterans worked in the [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], area for [[James W. Marshall]] at [[Sutter's Mill]]. Henry Bigler recorded in his diary the actual date when gold was discovered, January 24, 1848. This gold find started the [[California Gold Rush]] the next year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/gold.html |title=The Discovery of Gold in California |first1=John |last1=Sutter |author-link=John Sutter |publisher=[[Hutchings' California Magazine]] |date=November 1857 |quote=The Mormons did not like to leave my mill unfinished, but they got the [[gold fever]] like everybody else. After they had made their piles they left for the [[Great Salt Lake]]. So long as these people have been employed by me they hav [sic] behaved very well, and were industrious and faithful laborers, and when settling their accounts there was not one of them who was not contented and satisfied.}}</ref>  $17,000 in gold was contributed to the economy of the Latter-day Saints' new home by members of the Mormon Battalion returning from California.<ref name="Pioneer Trail Map: Council Bluffs"/>

One group of discharged battalion members established the [[Carson Trail]] wagon road (also called the Mormon Emigrant Trail) on their return east. This road started near [[Placerville, California]], and went across the crest of the Sierra Nevada at [[Carson Pass]] before dropping down and eventually meeting the already-established [[California Trail]]. The newly established route was afterwards used by many emigrants traveling to California's gold fields.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mays |first=Kenneth |date=May 18, 2016 |title=Picturing history: Mormon Emigrant Trail |url=https://www.deseret.com/2016/5/18/20588695/picturing-history-mormon-emigrant-trail |work=Deseret News |location=Salt Lake City |access-date=December 24, 2020}}</ref> Three members of this group were killed at a location which became known as [[Tragedy Spring]].

==Historic sites and monuments==
[[File:Mormon Battalion.JPG|thumb|right|The San Diego Mormon Battalion Historic Site]]

Historic sites associated with the battalion include:
; Iowa
* The Mormon Battalion Mustering Grounds on the campus of the [[Iowa School for the Deaf]] in Council Bluffs includes a short trail with interpretative signage. This site is located within half a mile of the actual site of the mustering.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ensignpeakfoundation.org/mormon-battalion-mustering-grounds/ |title=Mormon Battalion Mustering Grounds |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=ensignpeakfoundation.org |publisher=Ensign Peak Foundation |access-date=December 27, 2020}}</ref>
; Kansas
* A stone monument with a bronze plaque that describes the details of the Mormon Battalion is located on the grounds of the [[Kaw Mission|Kaw Mission State Historic Site]] in Council Grove, Kansas. This is the site at which the Battalion camped while traveling along the Santa Fe Trail. Council Grove had a Government Blacksmith shop stationed along the Santa Fe Trail. Camp followers John and Jane Boscow (Burschough) died while at Council Grove and were buried not far from the later Kaw Mission Site.
; New Mexico
* The [[Mormon Battalion Monument (Sandoval County, New Mexico)|Mormon Battalion Monument in Sandoval County, New Mexico]], outside of [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]]. It is a tower of stone with a wagon wheel on top. A bronze plaque marks the contributions of the battalion and lays out the map of their travels across the Southwest.<ref name="Lloyd 1992-06-06"/><ref>{{citation|title=New monument in New Mexico memorializes Mormon Battalion -- marker replaces one built in 1940|url=https://www.thechurchnews.com/archive/1996-10-05/new-monument-in-new-mexico-memorializes-mormon-battalion-marker-replaces-one-built-in-1940-10036|date=October 5, 1996|newspaper=Church News}}</ref><ref>{{citation|first=Margaret M.|last=Nava|year=2006|title=Remembering: A Guide to New Mexico Cemeteries, Monuments and Memorials|place=Santa Fe, N.M.|publisher=Sunstone Press|isbn=0865344868|oclc=67727597|pages=81–84}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=32984|title=The Historical Marker Database|work=HMdb.org|access-date=June 19, 2014}}</ref>
; Arizona
* A large bronze sculpture of a meeting between the Mormon Battalion and Mexican El Presidio leadership sits in the Northwest portion of El Presidio Park, adjacent to the [[Pima County Courthouse]] in downtown [[Tucson, Arizona]]. Although their nations were at war, the military contingents from both nations were able to avert armed confrontation in part via this peaceful meeting of representatives of both armies.<ref>''The Mormon Battalion'', published by Utah State University circa 1998.{{full citation needed|date=October 2013}}</ref>
* A large bronze statue and monument is located in West Wetlands Park in [[Yuma, Arizona]]. It commemorates the crossing of the [[Colorado River]].
; California
[[File:Mormon Battalion memorial Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Mormon Battalion memorial, [[Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery]]]]
* [[Mormon Battalion Historic Site]], a visitor center in the [[Old Town, San Diego|Old Town]] neighborhood of San Diego.
* [[Box Canyon (Borrego Springs, California)|Box Canyon]] historical site, in [[Anza Borrego Desert State Park]], San Diego County, on Highway S-2, approximately 8.7 miles south of Highway 78 (Scissors Crossing). (GPS location: N33.0152, W116.4429) Here the Battalion cut a road into the rocky side of a canyon which was otherwise impassable to wagons. Remnants of the road cut into the rock wall are still visible.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/RelEd/id/7411|title=Mormon Battalion Trail, Box Canyon, San Diego County, California|website=contentdm.lib.byu.edu}}</ref>
* [[Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial]], the largest bas-relief military monument in the United States, on Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles, dedicated in 1958 at the site of historic Fort Moore built by the Mormon Battalion in 1847, decommissioned in 1853.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.saluteamerica.org/july_4th.htm#Building%20Fort%20Moore|title=Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial|access-date=November 17, 2007|archive-date=October 16, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016003551/http://www.saluteamerica.org/july_4th.htm#Building%20Fort%20Moore|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Sean P.. |title=A Downtown Waterfall Is Flowing for the First Time in 42 Years |url=http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/a-downtown-waterfall-is-flowing-for-the-first-time-in/article_b844865a-20e9-11e9-8ee8-8305bd2ab638.html |access-date=29 January 2019 |work=Los Angeles Downtown News |date=January 28, 2019}}</ref>
* The Mormon Battalion Memorial in [[Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery]], [[Point Loma]], San Diego, erected in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.interment.net/data/us/ca/sandiego/rosecrans/mormon.htm|title=Mormon Battalion Memorial – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery – San Diego County, California|website=www.interment.net}}</ref>
* A [[Mormon Battalion Monument (Presidio Park, San Diego)|sculpture of an infantryman]] of the battalion by [[Edward J. Fraughton]] erected in 1969 at [[Presidio Park]], San Diego.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1L11F04827I78.66589&menu=search&aspect=Keyword&npp=50&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=ariall&ri=&source=~!siartinventories&term=&index=.GW&x=13&y=10&aspect=Keyword&term=&index=.AW&term=&index=.TW&term=&index=.SW&term=&index=.FW&term=&index=.OW&term=IAS+75001331&index=.NW|title=Mormon Battalion Monument, (sculpture).|website=siris-artinventories.si.edu}}</ref>
* Monument on the grounds of [[Mission San Luis Rey de Francia]] in Oceanside.
* Mormon Battalion Mountain, a low-lying mountain within San Bernardino County's [[Glen Helen Regional Park]] at the mouth of Cajon Canyon, where in April 1847 a detachment of the Mormon Battalion arrived from Los Angeles with the assignment to set up camp, build a fort or redoubt and guard the pass from Indian raids. A historic marker within the park commemorates this event.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}
* Mormon Rocks, northwest of [[San Bernardino, California]], in the [[Cajon Pass]], just west of [[Interstate 15 (California)|Interstate 15]] on [[State Route 138 (California)|State Route 138]]. Near Mormon Rocks, the first wagon road was blazed through the Cajon Pass in 1848 by 25 veteran Battalion soldiers, with the wagon of Captain Daniel C. Davis, wife Susan and son Danny in their journey to the [[Salt Lake Valley]].{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}
; Utah
* The [[Mormon Battalion Monument (Salt Lake City)|Mormon Battalion Monument]] at the [[Utah State Capitol]], [[Salt Lake City]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Monuments and Landscapes|url=http://utahstatecapitol.utah.gov/index.php/visitortours/aboutthecapitol/monuments|publisher=Utah State Capitol|access-date=October 2, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624024711/http://utahstatecapitol.utah.gov/index.php/visitortours/aboutthecapitol/monuments|archive-date=June 24, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* The Mormon Battalion Monument Plaza at [[This Is the Place Heritage Park]] in Salt Lake City, dedicated in 2010.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lloyd |first=R. Scott |date=August 21, 2020 |title=Elder Ballard dedicates Mormon Battalion plaza |url=https://www.deseret.com/2010/8/22/20136066/elder-ballard-dedicates-mormon-battalion-plaza#re-enactors-from-company-a-mormon-volunteers-fire-their-muskets-after-the-presentation-of-colors-at-the-start-of-the-plaza-dedication-ceremony-on-saturday-at-this-is-the-place-heritage-park |work=Deseret News |location=Salt Lake City |access-date=December 27, 2020}}</ref>
* The Mormon Battalion Museum in the lower level of the Visitor Center at This Is the Place Heritage Park.<ref name="MBA Sites">{{cite web |url=http://www.mormonbattalion.com/Museums_Monuments_Maps_and_Trails |title=Map, Museums, and Trail Markers |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=mormonbattalion.com |publisher=Mormon Battalion Association |access-date=December 27, 2020}}</ref>
; Colorado
* Mormon Battalion Monument at Runyon Field Sports Complex in [[Pueblo, Colorado]]. The battalion's sick detachments wintered in this area.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Monument recording Mormon Battalion stay moved to new location |url=https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/1993-08-07/monument-recording-mormon-battalion-stay-moved-to-new-location-141952 |work=Church News |location=Salt Lake City |date=August 7, 1993 |access-date=December 27, 2020}}</ref>
; Mormon Battalion Trail
* Trail markers have been placed on segments of the battalion route between [[Mount Pisgah (Iowa)]] and San Diego.<ref>{{harvnb|Kimball|1988}}</ref><ref name="MBA Sites" />

{{wide image|Mormon Battalion Monument - Utah State Capitol - 2 September 2024.jpg|600px|The Mormon Battalion Monument at the Utah State Capitol}}

==Notable members of the battalion==
* [[Daniel C. Davis]], namesake of [[Davis County, Utah]]
* [[Stephen Clark Foster]],<ref>{{citation|last=Porter|first=Larry C.|year=2006|work=The Church and the Mexican-American War|editor-last=Freeman|editor-first=Robert C.|title=Nineteenth-Century Saints at War|location=Provo, Utah|publisher=[[Religious Studies Center]], [[Brigham Young University]]|pages=41–76|isbn=978-0842526517|url=http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/nineteenth-century-saints-war/2-church-and-mexican-american-war|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021165554/http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/nineteenth-century-saints-war/2-church-and-mexican-american-war|archive-date=October 21, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> first American mayor of Los Angeles, California
* [[Jefferson Hunt]],<ref name=Esshom1913>{{citation|work=Names of Those in the Mormon Battalion|pages=43–45|last=Esshom|first=Frank Ellwood|year=1913|title=Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah|url=https://archive.org/details/pioneersprominen00esshrich|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|publisher=Utah Pioneers Book Publishing Co.|oclc=2286984}}</ref>{{rp|43}} father of San Bernardino County, Brigadier-General of California Militia
* [[Elam Luddington]], his wife (Mary) and mother (Lena) and two children, Elam served as an officer in the battalion and Mary as a laundress. He later served as the first missionary in Thailand (Siam) and chief of police in Salt Lake City.
* [[William Prows]],<ref name=Esshom1913/>{{rp|44}} first man to wash gold on the [[Comstock Lode]]<ref>''Southern California Quarterly''. Los Angeles County Pioneers of Southern California, Historical Society of Southern California, p. 297</ref>
* [[James Calvin Sly|James C. Sly]], name sake of Sly Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains<ref name=Esshom1913/>{{rp|44}}
* [[Lot Smith]], a teenage private in the battalion, became the first sheriff of [[Davis County, Utah]], Mormon hero of the [[Utah War]], General in the [[Nauvoo Legion]] and the first LDS stake president in Arizona.
* [[George Stoneman]], Civil War general and [[Governor of California]]<ref>{{citation|title=California Military History: Californians and the Military|work=MilitaryMuseum.org|publisher=[[California State Military Museum]], [[California Military Department]]}}</ref>
* [[William S. S. Willes]], a founder of Lehi, Utah<ref name=Esshom1913/>{{rp|44}}
* [[James Allen (Army engineer)|James Allen]], Recruited the battalion and served as the first commander; died at Ft. Leavenworth shortly after leading the battalion there. West Point Class of 1829. Allen was a brevet Lt. Col. and is buried in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.
* [[Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau]], scout and son of Sacagawea and the French trader Toussaint Charbonneau, who were members of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery
* [[Andrew Jackson Smith]], second commander of the battalion, West Point Class of 1838, and major general during the American Civil War
* [[Philip St. George Cooke]], third commander of the battalion, West Point graduate, veteran of the Black Hawk War, cavalry commander during the [[Utah War|Army's expedition to Utah in 1857]], and major general during the [[American Civil War]]
* [[Christopher Layton]], patriarch, coloniser and businessman, namesake of [[Layton, Utah]].<ref>Christopher Layton's Journal</ref>
* Ebenezer Brown, one of the founders of [[Draper, Utah]]

==Current research==
A resurgence of interest in the Battalion is linked to the 175th anniversary of the Battalion's service.
Original documents held at the National Archives have been located, including original muster and pay rolls. These are being prepared for public access online along with transcriptions. A more accurate count and list of participants is being prepared.
A series of events are being planned along the routes during 2021–2022.

==See also==
{{Portal|Latter Day Saint movement}}
* [[California Battalion]]
* [[California Gold Rush]]
* [[Lot Smith Cavalry Company]]
* [[Nauvoo Legion]]
* [[Southern Emigrant Trail]]
* [[Trapper's Trail]]
* [[Utah Territorial Militia]]

==Notes==

{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=Note01>The numbers provided above include non-military persons who were merely camp followers; family members, officers servants, laundresses and other camp followers.  The original muster and pay rolls have been located at the National Archives and analysis of names, offices and service are underway.  A scholarly paper is being prepared to share the documented Army records giving the most accurate number for Battalion membership.  In addition, recent research has identified more persons who traveled with the Battalion but who were not officially part of the military unit.  These persons will also be publicly identified soon.</ref>}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Citation|editor-last=Bigler|editor-first=David L.|editor2-last=Bagley|editor2-first=Will|editor2-link=Will Bagley|year=2000|title=Army of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives|location=Logan, Utah|publisher=[[Utah State University Press]]|isbn=0874212944|oclc=43487283}}
* Black, Susan Easton. “The Mormon Battalion: Conflict between Religious and Military Authority.” ''Southern California Quarterly'' (1992) 74#4: 313–28.
* {{Citation|editor-last=Carrington|editor-first=Albert|editor-link=Albert Carrington|title=The United States Government and Utah|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|volume=7|issue=23|date=August 12, 1857|url=http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/deseretnews1,7667|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212093223/http://udn.lib.utah.edu/u?/deseretnews1,7667|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 12, 2012|pages=4–5}}
* Coffman, Natalie Brooke, "The Mormon Battalion's Manifest Destiny: Expansion and Identity during the Mexican-American War" (2015). (U of Vermont Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. Paper 509) [https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1508&context=graddis online]
* {{Citation|last=Cooke|first=Philip St. George|author-link=Philip St. George Cooke|year=1878|title=The Conquest of New Mexico and California; an Historical and Personal Narrative|location=New York City, N.Y.|publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]]|url=https://archive.org/details/conquestofnewmex00cookrich|oclc=2740558}}
* Fleek, Sherman L. "The Kearny/Stockton/Frémont Feud: The Mormon Battalion's Most Significant Contribution in California." ''Journal of Mormon History'' 37.3 (2011): 229–257. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23292728 online]
* Fleek, Sherman L. “Dr. George B. Sanderson: Nemesis of the Mormon Battalion.” ''Journal of Mormon History'' (2007) 33#2: 199–223.
* {{Citation|last=Fleek|first=Sherman L.|author-link=Sherman L. Fleek|title=History May be Searched in Vain: A Military History of the Mormon Battalion|location=Spokane, Washington|publisher=[[Arthur H. Clark Company]]|year=2006|isbn=0870623435|oclc=62172752}}
* {{Citation|last=Griswold del Castillo|first=Richard|year=1990|title=The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A legacy of conflict|location=Norman, Oklahoma|publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]]|isbn=0806122404|oclc=20418548}}
* {{Citation|last=Kimball|first=Stanley B.|author-link=Stanley B. Kimball|year=1988|title=Historic Sites and Other Markers Along the Mormon and Other Great Western Trails|location=Urbana, Illinois|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|isbn=0252014553|oclc=15792177|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/historicsitesmar00kimb_1}}
* {{citation|last=Kimball|first=Stanley B.|date=July 1979|title=The Mormon Battalion March, 1846–47|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1979/07/the-mormon-battalion-march-184647?lang=eng|journal=[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]]}}
* Larsen, Carl V., [http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/95 Carl V. Larsen Research on the Mormon Battalion](MSS 5885), L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
* {{Citation|last=Merk|first=Frederick|year=1963|title=Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation|location=New York|publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]]|oclc=421355}}
* Perkins, Eugene H., and Waldo C. Perkins. “The Mormon Battalion Experience: Four Soldiers, Four Stories.” ''Utah Historical Quarterly'' (2005) 73#3: 225–48.
* {{Citation|last=Ricketts|first=Norma B.|year=1994|title=Melissa's Journey with the Mormon Battalion: the western odyssey of Melissa Burton Couray: 1846–1848|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|publisher=[[Daughters of Utah Pioneers|International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers]]|oclc=31954138}}
* {{Citation|last=Ricketts|first=Norma B.|year=1996|title=The Mormon Battalion: U.S. Army of the West, 1846–1848|location=Logan, Utah|publisher=[[Utah State University Press]]|isbn=0874212162|oclc=35637401}}
* {{Citation|last=Roberts|first= B.H.|author-link=Brigham Henry Roberts|title=The Mormon Battalion: Its History and Achievements|year=1919|place=Salt Lake City, Utah|publisher=[[Deseret News]]|url=https://archive.org/details/mormonbattalioni00byurobe|oclc=1049012}}
* {{Citation|last=Tyler|first=Daniel|title=A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War, 1846–1847|place=Salt Lake City, Utah|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00atyle|oclc=560793605|lccn=02015527}}
* {{Citation|last=Weinberg|first=A. K.|year=1963|orig-year=1935|title=Manifest Destiny: A Study of Nationalist Expansion in American History|location=Chicago, Illinois|publisher=[[Quadrangle Books]]|oclc=174491}}
* Yurtinus, John F. “The Mormon Volunteers: The Recruitment and Service of a Unique Military Company.” ''Journal of San Diego History'' (1979) 25#3:242–61.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/subsection/historic-sites/mormon-battalion-historic-site?lang=eng San Diego Mormon Battalion Historic Site], history.churchofjesuschrist.org
* [http://www.mormonbattalion.com Mormon Battalion Association], MormonBattalion.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111107054442/http://byustudies.byu.edu/showtitle.aspx?title=6475 Women of The Mormon Battalion], Carl V. Larson, Shirley N. Maynes, Watkins Printing (1995)
* [http://www.battaliontrek.com Mormon Battalion Trek 2008 Reenactment], BattalionTrek.com
* [http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/oct/papr/mormbat.html The Mormon Battalion in the Desert Southwest] by Kent Duryee, DesertUSA.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081211090720/http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/97-98/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/hr_5_bill_19970121_amended_asm.html House Resolution No. 5 – Relative to commending the Mormon Battalion], January 15, 1997 – California Legislature commendation
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080517031607/http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/95-96/statute/ch_0051-0100/ch_95_st_1995_scr_40 Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 40--Relative to the Mormon Battalion], June 13, 1995 – California Legislature Historical Plaque
* {{cite archive |first=Eugene L. |last=Roberts |date = 1950 |collection = The March of the Mormon Battalion |collection-url = http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/1731 |repository = L. Tom Perry Special Collections; 20th Century Western & Mormon Manuscripts |institution = Brigham Young University |location = Provo, Utah |}}
* {{cite archive |first= Mormon Battalion Association |date = 1846–2012 |collection = Mormon Battalion Association Records |collection-url =http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/2440  |repository = L. Tom Perry Special Collections; 20th Century Western & Mormon Manuscripts |institution = Brigham Young University |location = Provo, Utah |}}
{{Latter-day Saints|show}}
{{Latter Day Saint movement}}

[[Category:Mormon Battalion]]
[[Category:Mormon Militias]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1846]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1847]]