About the Mormon Battalion Dataset

Quick Links

See Individuals in the Dataset
See Organizations in the Dataset
See Positions in the Dataset

Brief History of the Dataset

In July 1846, two years after the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Saints were approached by the United States Army. At the time, the United States was involved in what would later become known to Americans as the Mexican-American War, and the Army needed soldiers. The Saints, for their part, needed money to fund crossing the plains. Thus, the Army suggested that Latter-day Saint men join its encampment in Potawatomi (present-day Council Bluffs, Iowa) and form a battalion. To this day, their Army unit remains the only American military unit based solely on religious affiliation: the Mormon Battalion. 
 
Although historians disagree on the exact number of Battalion participants, we know that approximately 500 Latter-day Saint men mustered (or enlisted) and marched in the Mormon Battalion. Battalion members were split into five companies, assigned letters A-E. Regardless of a participant’s company, however, the overall experience in the Battalion was quite uniform: they trekked two-thousand miles across the grueling terrain of the American Southwest from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Los Angeles, California. Though the Battalion members were registered in separate military companies, on the trail they all traveled together. Some men even traveled with their wives and children, who are commonly known as “camp followers,” as they were not officially registered with the military. There were over 100 camp followers who marched with the soldiers.  
 
At three separate points during the march, members of the Mormon Battalion who were sick or otherwise unable to continue the march, along with soldiers assigned to accompany them, broke off in what is referred to as a “detachment.” Each of the three known detachments were re-routed to what is today Pueblo, Colorado, where they spent the fall, winter, and early spring before traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 29, 1847, less than a week after the Brigham Young Vanguard Company. 
 
Ultimately, 333 men and five women completed the Mormon Battalion march to the West Coast, arriving in San Diego, California, on January 29, 1847. Companies A, C, D, and E continued north and were stationed in Los Angeles, while Company B remained in San Diego. All Battalion members who completed the march to California were formally discharged at an event held in Los Angeles on July 16, 1847. 
 
For more information about the Mormon Battalion, we invite you to look at the following resources: 

• Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about the Mormon Battalion 
• Four Things to Know about the Journey of the Mormon Battalion 
• From Iowa to Immortality: A Tribute to the Mormon Battalion 
• What to Expect When You Visit the Mormon Battalion Historic Site in San Diego

Research Process for Collecting the Data

Every Latter-day Saint listed as participating with the Mormon Battalion was identified using primary source documentation including, but not limited to, personal journals and reminiscences, muster rolls, clothing rolls, and pension requests. Many of these sources link back to the Church History Catalog and have been digitized to accommodate research needs. More sources will be added as they become publicly available.  

We have done our best to accurately reflect military ranks, positions, and whether a Battalion member a) enlisted but didn’t march, b) enlisted and marched, or c) acted as a volunteer. All three of these statuses represent official military rankings of the time period. We have used every tool currently available to determine the route these men and women took to reach California, or if they detached, to reach Salt Lake City. We have only tracked their journey with the Battalion. We are not making any efforts to trace individual routes after theMormon Battalion was disbanded and the men were formally discharged by the United States military.

Collections Used to Compile the Data

• Names of Pueblo soldiers and Mississippi brethren (MS 15561) 
• Mormon Battalion W.W. Willis Detached Company descriptive list (MS 9124) 
• Mormon Battalion return lists (MS 1248) 
• Mormon Battalion James Brown Detached Company descriptive roll and pay record, 1847 (MS 9126) 
• Mormon Battalion Company A muster roll (MS 5261) 
• Mormon Battalion Company C muster roll (MS 9125) 
• Mormon Battalion record book (MS 3439) 
• Mormon Battalion reports, 1847 February and March (MS 2059) 
• Descriptive roll (MS 5267) 
• Morning report, 1846 September-October (MS 20385)