A State Of Civil War

All peaceable occupations were now at an end in Daviess County.
General Atchison reported to the governor that, on arriving there
on September 17, he found the county practically deserted, the
Gentiles being gathered in one camp and the Mormons in another. A
justice of the peace, in a statement to the governor, declared,
"The Mormons are so numerous and so well armed [in Daviess and
Caldwell counties] that the judicial power of the counties is
wholly unable to execute any civil or criminal process within the
limits of either of the said counties against a Mormon or
Mormons, as they each and every one of them act in concert and
outnumber the other citizens." Lee says that an order had been
issued by the church authorities, commanding all the Mormons to
gather in two fortified camps, at Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman.
The men were poorly armed, but demanded to be led against their
foes, being "confident that God was going to deliver the enemy
into our hands."*

* "Mormonism Unveiled," p. 78.


Both parties now stood on the defensive, posting sentinels, and
making other preparations for a fight. Actual hostilities soon
ensued. The Mormons captured some arms which their opponents had
obtained, and took them, with three prisoners, to Far West. "This
was a glorious day, indeed," says Smith.* Citizens of Daviess and
Livingston counties sent a petition to Governor Boggs (who had
succeeded Dunklin), dated September 12, declaring that they
believed their lives, liberty, and property to be "in the most
imminent danger of being sacrificed by the hands of those
impostorous rebels," and asking for protection. The governor had
already directed General Atchison to raise immediately four
hundred mounted men in view of indications of Indian disturbances
on our immediate frontier, and the recent civil disturbances in
the counties of Caldwell, Daviess, and Carroll." The calling out
of the militia followed, and General Doniphan found himself in
command of about one thousand militiamen. He seems to have used
tact, and to have employed his force only as peace preservers. On
September 20 he reported to Governor Boggs that he had discharged
all his troops but two companies, and that he did not think the
services of these would be required more than twenty days. He
estimated the Mormon forces in the disturbed counties at from
thirteen hundred to fifteen hundred men, most of them carrying a
rifle, a brace of pistols, and a broadsword; "so that," he added,
"from their position, and their fanaticism, and their unalterable
determination not to be driven, much blood will be spilt and much
suffering endured if a blow is at once struck, without the
interposition of your excellency."

* Smith's autobiography, at this point, says: "President Rigdon
and I commenced this day the study of law under the instruction
of Generals Atchison and Doniphan. They think by diligent
application we can be admitted to the bar in twelve months."
Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, p. 246.


The people of Carroll County began now to hold meetings whose
object was the expulsion of the Mormons from their boundaries,
and some hundreds of them assembled in hostile attitude around
the little settlement of Dewitt. The Mormons there prepared for
defence, and sent an appeal to Far West for aid. Accordingly, one
hundred Mormons, including Smith and Rigdon, started to assist
them, and two companies of militia, under General Parks, were
hurried to the spot. General Parks reported to General Atchison
on October 7 that, on arriving there the day before, he found the
place besieged by two hundred or three hundred Missourians, under
a Dr. Austin, with a field-piece, and defended by two hundred or
three hundred Mormons under G. M. Hinckle, "who says he will die
before he is driven from thence." Austin expected speedy
reenforcements that would enable him to take the place by
assault. A petition addressed by the Mormons of Dewitt to the
governor, as early as September 22, having been ignored, and
finding themselves outnumbered, they agreed to abandon their
settlement on receiving pay for their improvements, and some
fifty wagons conveyed them and their effects to Far West.

A period of absolute lawlessness in all that section of the state
followed. Smith declared that civil war existed, and that, as the
state would not protect them, they must look out for themselves.
He and his associates made no concealment of their purpose to
"make clean work of it" in driving the non-Mormons from both
Daviess and Caldwell counties. When warned that this course would
array the whole state against them, Smith replied that the "mob"
(as the opponents of the Mormons were always styled) were a small
minority of the state, and would yield to armed opposition; the
Mormons would defeat one band after another, and so proceed
across the state, until they reached St. Louis, where the Mormon
army would spend the winter. This calculation is a fair
illustration of Smith's judgment.

Armed bands of both parties now rode over the country, paying
absolutely no respect to property rights, and ready for a "brush"
with any opponents. At Smith's suggestion, a band of men, under
the name of the "Fur Company," was formed to "commandeer" food,
teams, and men for the Mormon campaign. This practical license to
steal let loose the worst element in the church organization,
glad of any method of revenge on those whom they considered their
persecutors. "Men of former quiet," says Lee, who was among the
active raiders, "became perfect demons in their efforts to spoil
and waste away the enemies of the church."* Cattle and hogs that
could not be driven off were killed.** Houses were burned, not
only in the outlying country, but in the towns. A night attack by
a band of eighty men was made on Gallatin, where some of the
houses were set on fire, and two stores as well as private houses
were robbed. The house of one McBride, who, Lee says, had been a
good friend to him and to other Mormons, did not escape: "Every
article of moveable property was taken by the troops; he was
utterly ruined." "It appeared to me," says Corrill, "that the
love of pillage grew upon them very fast, for they plundered
every kind of property they could get hold of, and burnt many
cabins in Daviess, some say 80, and some say 150." ***

* Lee naively remarks, "In justice to Joseph Smith I cannot say
that I ever heard him teach, or even encourage, men to pilfer or
steal little things."--"Mormonism Unveiled," p. 90.

** W. Harris's "Mormonism Portrayed," p. 30.

*** "Brief History of the Church," p. 38.

The Missourians retaliated in kind. Mormons were seized and
whipped, and their houses were burned. A lawless company (Pratt
calls them banditti), led by one Gilliam, embraced the
opportunity to make raids in the Mormon territory. It was soon
found necessary to collect the outlying Mormons at Far West and
Adam-ondi-Ahman, where they were used for purposes both of
offence and defence. The movements of the Missourians were
closely watched, and preparations were made to burn any place
from which a force set out to attack the Saints.

One of the Missouri officers, Captain Bogart, on October 23,
warned some Mormons to leave the county, and, with his company of
thirty or forty men, announced his intention to "give Far West
thunder and lightning." When this news reached Far West, Judge
Higbee, of the county court, ordered Lieutenant Colonel Hinckle
to go out with a company, disperse the "mob," and retake some
prisoners. The Mormons assembled at midnight, and about
seventy-five volunteers started at once, under command of Captain
Patton, the Danite leader, whose nickname was "Fear Not," all on
horseback. When they approached Crooked River, on which Bogart's
force was encamped, fifteen men were sent in advance on foot to
locate the enemy. Just at dawn a rifle shot sounded, and a young
Mormon, named O'Barrion, fell mortally wounded. Captain Patton
ordered a charge, and led his men at a gallop down a hill to the
river, under the bank of which the Missourians were drawn up. The
latter had an advantage, as they were in the shade, and the
Mormons were between them and the east, which the dawn was just
lighting. Exchanges of volleys occurred, and then Captain Patton
ordered his men to rush on with drawn swords--they had no
bayonets. This put the Missourians to flight, but just as they
fled Captain Patton received a mortal wound. Three Mormons in all
were killed as a result of this battle, and seven wounded, while
Captain Bogart reported the death of one man.*

* Ebenezer Robinson's account in The Return, p. 191.


The death of "Fear Not" was considered by the Mormons a great
loss. He was buried with the honors of war, says Robinson, "and
at his grave a solemn convention was made to avenge his death."
Smith, in the funeral sermon, reverted to his old tactics,
attributing the Mormon losses to the Lord's anger against his
people, because of their unbelief and their unwillingness to
devote their worldly treasures to the church.

The rout of Captain Bogart's force, which was a part of the state
militia, increased the animosity against the Mormons, and the
wiser of the latter believed that they would suffer a dire
vengeance.*

* Corrill's "Brief History of the Church," p. 38.


This vengeance first made itself felt at a settlement called
Hawn's Mill (of which there are various spellings), some miles
from Far West, where there were a flour mill, blacksmith shop,
and other buildings. The Mormons there were advised, the day
after the fight on Crooked River, to move into Far West for
protection, but the owners of the buildings, knowing that these
would be burned as soon as deserted, decided to remain and defend
their property.

On October 30 a mounted force of Missourians appeared before the
place. The Mormons ran into the log blacksmith shop, which they
thought would serve them as a blockhouse, but it proved to be a
slaughter-pen. The Missourians surrounded it, and, sticking their
rifles into every hole and crack, poured in a deadly fire,
killing, some reports say eighteen, and some thirty-one, of the
Mormons. The only persons in the town who escaped found shelter
in the woods. The Missourians did not lose a man. When the firing
ceased, they still showed no mercy, shooting a small boy in the
leg after dragging him out from under the bellows, and hacking to
death with a corn cutter an old man while he begged for his life.
Dead and wounded were thrown into a well, and some of the
wounded, taken out by rescuers from Far West, recovered. "I heard
one of the militia tell General Clark," says Corrill, "that a
well twenty or thirty feet deep was filled with their dead bodies
to within three feet of the top."*

* Details of this massacre will be found in Lee's "Mormonism
Unveiled," pp. 78-80; in the Missouri "Correspondence, Orders,
etc.," p. 82; the Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, p. 507, and in
Greene's "Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons from
Missouri," pp. 21-24.


The Mormons have always considered this "massacre," as they
called it, the crowning outrage of their treatment in Missouri,
and for many years were especially bitter toward all participants
in it. A letter from two Mormons in the Frontier Guardian, dated
October, 1849, describing the disinterred human bones seen on
their journey across the plains, said that they recognized on the
rude tombstone the names of some of their Missouri persecutors:
"Among others, we noted at the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains
the grave of one E. Dodd of Gallatin, Missouri. The wolves had
completely disinterred him. It is believed that he was the same
Dodd that took an active part as a prominent mobocrat in the
murder of the Saints at Hawn's Mill, Missouri; if so, it is a
righteous retribution." Two Mormon elders, describing a visit in
1889 to the scenes of the Mormon troubles in Missouri, said, "The
notorious Colonel W. O. Jennings, who commanded the mob at the
[Hawn's Mill] massacre, was assaulted in Chillicothe, Missouri,
on the evening of January 20, 1862, by an unknown person, who
shot him on the street with a revolver or musket, as the Colonel
was going home after dark." * They are silent as to the avenger.

* "Infancy of the Church" (pamphlet).


Governor Boggs now began to realize the seriousness of the
situation that he was called to meet, and on October 26 he
directed General John B. Clark (who was not the ranking general)
to raise, for the protection of the citizens of Daviess County,
four hundred mounted men. This order he followed the next day
with the following, which has become the most famous of the
orders issued during this campaign, under the designation "the
order of extermination":--

"HEADQUARTERS OF THE MILITIA, "CITY OF JEFFERSON, Oct. 27, 1838.
"GEN. JOHN B. CLARK,

"Sir:--Since the order of this morning to you, directing you to
cause four hundred mounted men to be raised within your Division,
I have received by Amos Rees, Esq., of Ray County and Wiley C.
Williams, Esq., one of my aids, information of the most appalling
character, which entirely changes the face of things, and places
the Mormons in the attitude of an open and avowed defiance of the
laws, and of having made war upon the people of this state. Your
orders are, therefore, to hasten your operations with all
possible speed.

"The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated
or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace--their
outrages are beyond all description. If you can increase your
force, you are authorized to do so to any extent you may consider
necessary. I have just issued orders to Maj. Gen. Willock, of
Marion County, to raise five hundred men, and to march them to
the northern part of Daviess, and there unite with Gen. Doniphan,
of Clay, who has been ordered with five hundred men to proceed to
the same point for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the
Mormons to the north. They have been directed to communicate with
you by express; you can also communicate with them if you find it
necessary.

"Instead therefore of proceeding, as at first directed, to
reinstate the citizens of Daviess in their homes, you will
proceed immediately to Richmond and then operate against the
Mormons. Brig. Gen. Parks, of Ray, has been ordered to have four
hundred of his brigade in readiness to join you at Richmond. The
whole force will be placed under your command.

"I am very respectfully, "Your ob't serv't, "L. W. Boggs,
Commander-in-chief."

The "appalling information" received by the governor from his
aids was contained in a letter dated October 25, which stated
that the Mormons were "destroying all before them"; that they had
burned Gallatin and Mill Pond, and almost every house between
these places, plundered the whole country, and defeated Captain
Bogart's company, and had determined to burn Richmond that night.
"These creatures," said the letter, "will never stop until they
are stopped by the strong hand of force, and something must be
done, and that speedily."*

* For text of letter, see "Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 59.


The language of Governor Boggs's letter to General Clark cannot
be defended. The Mormons have always made great capital of his
declaration that the Mormons "must be exterminated," and a man of
judicial temperament would have selected other words, no matter
how necessary he deemed it, for political reasons, to show his
sympathy with the popular cause. But, on the other hand, the
governor was only accepting the challenge given by Rigdon in his
recent Fourth of July address, when the latter declared that if a
mob disturbed the Mormons, "it shall be between us and them a war
of extermination, for we will follow them till the last drop of
their blood is spilled, or else they will have to exterminate
us." What compromise there could have been between a band of
fanatics obeying men like Smith and Rigdon, and the class of
settlers who made up the early Missouri population, it is
impossible to conceive. The Mormons were simply impossible as
neighbors, and it had become evident that they could no more
remain peaceably in the state than they could a few years
previously in Jackson County.

General Atchison, of Smith's counsel, was not called on by the
governor in these latest movements, because, as the governor
explained in a letter to General Clark, "there was much
dissatisfaction manifested toward him by the people opposed to
the Mormons." But he had seen his mistake, and he united with
General Lucas in a letter to the governor under date of October
28, in which they said, "from late outrages committed by the
Mormons, civil war is inevitable," and urged the governor's
presence in the disturbed district. Governor Boggs excused
himself from complying with this request because of the near
approach of the meeting of the legislature.

General Lucas, acting under his interpretation of the governor's
order, had set out on October 28 for Far West from near Richmond,
with a force large enough to alarm the Mormon leaders. Robinson,
speaking of the outlook from their standpoint at this time, says,
"We looked for warm work, as there were large numbers of armed
men gathering in Daviess County, with avowed determination of
driving the Mormons from the county, and we began to feel as
determined that the Missourians should be expelled from the
county."* The Mormons did not hear of the approach of General
Lucas's force until it was near the town. Then the southern
boundary was hastily protected with a barricade of wagons and
logs, and the night of October 30-31 was employed by all the
inhabitants in securing their possessions for flight, in
anticipation of a battle the next day.

* The Return, Vol. I, p. 189.


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