After The Death of Joseph Smith
The Legion survived the loss of its commanding officer, and Brigham Young became the new commander of the militia in August, 1844, though he had never previously been active in Legion activities. Rather than employ the Legion to protect his people from increased mob violence, Young directed most of his followers to leave the city, and Illinois was abandoned by the Mormons entirely by September 17, 1846 after a week of artillery shelling called the "Battle of Nauvoo".
Upon revocation of the Nauvoo Charter in the winter of 1844-1845, the Legion was no longer recognized as a state militia, and its members returned the majority of its government-issued arms. Depleted of its official status, the Legion assumed a very minor role in future Church affairs after being reorganized in Iowa by Hosea Stout on September 22, 1846. It was never actively employed in defense of the Mormon people until the Utah War in which it served mainly to erect defenses and harass the federal army led by Gen Johnston.
Read more about this topic: Nauvoo Legion
Famous quotes containing the words death, joseph and/or smith:
“A rat crept softly through the vegetation
Dragging its slimy belly on the bank
While I was fishing in the dull canal
On a winter evening round behind the gashouse
Musing upon the king my brother’s wreck
And on the king my father’s death before him.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“Leave your theory, as Joseph his coat in the hand of the harlot, and flee.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Heat, ma’am! It was so dreadful here that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)