The Mormons and the Civil War

Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-1966 The Mormons and the Civil War Boyd L. Eddins Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Eddins, Boyd L., "The Mormons and the Civil War" (1966). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7754. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7754 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE MORMONS AND THE CIVIL WAR by Boyd L. Eddins A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE History UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 1966 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . iii Chapter I. PREPARING FOR THE KINGDOM (to 1861) l II. THE WAR COMMENCES (1861) . 24 III. THE YEAR OF CONFIDENCE (1862) 49 IV. OPPOSING FORCES (1863) 74 V. I N THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF THE WORLD (1864) 104 VI. FACING REALITY (1865) . 122 VII. EPILOGUE 141 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 144 ii INTRODUCTION I had intended originally to write on another subject and had begun the research. However, in the process of pe rusing sources available, a related subject captured my in terest. The Mormon prophecy relating to the Civil War had been a source of my belief in the efficacy of latter-day revelation. I was under the impression that my Church was extremely interested in current events as indication of the fulfillment of prophecy. I theorized that if such a direct, detailed prophecy as the one received in 1832 by Joseph Smith, began to unfold in our day, considerable excitement would be aroused. Perhaps there was a great deal to understand about the Mormon reaction in 1861. The next step involved investigating if anyone else had covered the subject. Margaret M. Fisher had written an ac- count of the Mormons' part in the Civil War. In introducing the subject she discussed the Mormon patriotic position dur ing the conflict. At this point my research into the Journal of Discourses had uncovered pointed criticism against the government of the United States by Mormon speakers. A conflict was evident. I was encouraged to investigate original sources to discover the influence of the Civil War on the Mormons. The research for this thesis made it necessary to under stand the political activity of the Mormons. The establishment iii iv of a political Kingdom of God based on divine justice was their primary goal. The Mormons were ambitious empire builders with the intent of setting up a temporal as well as a spiritual kingdom in the mountain tops. All of this was done in fulfillment of prophecy . Signs were carefully ob served to indicate when events were to take place. The proph ecy relating to the War which was to commence in South Carolina and spread to all nations of the earth was indica tion that the Mormons would soon assume political power. Hence, as the War commenced the Mormons watched for the wicked to destroy the wicked and waited for the righteous to turn to the Mormon Kingdom as the only just government on the earth. They a ligned themselves with neither North nor South but considered themselves the saviors of the Constitution and rulers of the world under divine direction . My thesis deals with the details of this involvement. I found that the excitement of the War permeated the everyday life of the Mormons. The poetry, songs, speeches, letters, diaries and even their dreams reflect the impact the Civil War had on them . The ''Journal History" recorded this interesting dream : Albert P. Rockwood reports that he was at Center ville, Davis Co. , on Tuesday, the 26th of February, 1861, and staid at Bishop Smith's and went to bed at 10 o'clock with Pres . Jos. Young, when he dreamed the following: "I was in a place that I was not well acquainted with; still the country looked something familiar. On a rising piece of ground which overlooked a valley be low I saw a lot of logs gathered together and a lot of men appeared to be laying up a log house. I went down to see and hear what was going on. When I got there the foundation appeared to be laid and the logs about V 3 ft. high. I was acquainted with one of the men, old Priest Howe (whom I knew about 30 years ago, and who has been dead about 15 years) . He appeared to be act ing the part of a chaplain; another conspicuous man was a tall elderly man with gray hair, who appeared to have the superintendency of the work. The balance of the men appeared to be generally respectable looking, mid dle age men, and well dressed. These men were gathered together to roll up a log on the east side; it was sus pended part way up when it broke in two; I asked who was the foreman of the job and was told his name was Belteshazzar.l He observed that the log was broken when sliding it from the mountains. The men then went to roll up another log, which split in two the whole length of the log; they then went to raise a log on the west side which proved to be too short; another was then raised which was rotten at the end, so that it broke right off; then they went to get up another log, which looked very sound, but when they turned it over, they saw a bunch in the middle, as big as a half bushel. One of them took an axe to chop off the lump, when it was found to be hollow. At this stage of the game, one of the workmen asked Belteshazzar, "How many logs he had,'' when he was answered, "34. 11 The workmen then went to roll up a log on the south side of the building. When they were rolling the log up on the south side, the bark slipped off several of the logs, and as it slipped off, there were many large black worms, from one to three inches long, which fell among the workmen which annoyed them very much. The excitement awoke me." Wilford Woodruff, gives the following interpreta tion : " The place was Washington , the 34 logs represents the 34 St ates of the Union , the men were the members of Congress , the foundation was the Constitution -- Old Priest Howe , represents the spir i tually dead chaplains, the tall elderly man was James Buchanan, the other men were the politicians of the day, the log on the east side repre sents the secession of South Carolina, Belteshazzar rep resents the President of the United States, the log that was broken by the sliding off the mountain was the send ing the army to Utah to make war on the Saints, the log that was split in two is the division of the north and the south , the log on the west side that was too short was New Mexico. These logs represent the corrupt states of the government, for there was more or less defects in all of them. The bark slipping off several logs on the south disclosing the large black worms, represents the Niggers, who have been a source of trouble to the poli ticians for some years . 112 1rn the Bible Belteshazzar was the last king of Babylon. 211Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints," Church Historian's Office, Salt Lake City, Feb . 26, 186 1. Vl I appreciate the fine libr a ry at the Logan L . D.S. Insti tute of Relig i on ; the coope ra tion of the Church Historian's Office in allow i ng me to read the "Journal History " of the Church, the letters of Will i am H . Hooper , and the Wilford Woodruff Journ a ls ; Yale University for furn i shing me with microfilm of Brigham Young's letters to Hooper , delegate to Congress during the Civil War; Utah State Historical Society which provided many interesting diaries and pertinent infor mation; and the Utah State Un i versity Library for providing the public documents , Civil War literature , and microfilms de a ling with Ut a h Terr i tory. Contributions of contemporary historians i n the Utah H i storical Quarterly were depended upon. Hyrum Andrus , Homer G . Durham, James Clark, and Dale 0 . Morgan cont ri buted to my und erstand i ng of the Mormon be lief in the K ing dom of God an d of the method s the Mormons employed i n establ i sh i n g their pol i t i cal orga ni zation . I am especially indebted to Klaus J . Hansen who has written on the political k i ngdom and the Council of Fifty. I acknowledge the a ssist ance of my gr aduate committee : Stanford Cazier , Chairman; Douglas Alder; and Klaus J . Hansen . The study has been rewarding . I feel there is much material still to be investigated. I desire to refine and expand the ideas developed in this thesis. CHAPTER I PREPARING FOR THE KINGDOM (to 1861) I suppose you will have read of the fuss we have had down here in old Virginny, caused by an armed band of Abolitionists seizing the United States Arsenal sit uated at a place called Harper's Ferry, with the inten tion of freeing the Slaves, and murdering all who op posed them.

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