Page 48 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

Figure 15. Colonel Philip St. George Cooke, circa 1858-1861. PhotocourtesyoftheMuseumofNew Mexico, #9854.
entire year, $42 each, of which most was sent back to their families and the Church. Companies A, B, and C pulled out on August 13, with D and E following two days later. Colonel Allen, however, had fallen
34
Whitworth recorded that he found out for the first time what it was like to carry his heavy musket and other equipment on a
ill and had to remain behind.
The Mormon Battalion
34
hot, dusty day. Before they proceeded two miles, he
35 was parched with thirst.
On August 23, Colonel Allen died of his illness, but
the news did not reach the Battalion until August 29,
while encamped at Council Grove in present-day
Kansas. This touched off a brief problem regarding
36
their new commander.
The United States Army commander at Fort
Leavenworth, however, immediately designated one
of his First Dragoon officers to take Allen’s place.
First Lieutenant Andrew Jackson Smith soon caught
up with the expedition and assumed command on
the basis that he was the only regular army officer
there and that no one else had the authority to sign
for the government property issued to the Bat-
37
The members of the Mormon Bat- talion were convinced that the terms of their enlist- ment gave them some authority over the selection of higher ranking officers. They moved quickly to con- firm Captain Jefferson Hunt, one of their own, as
leadership
Actually it was a compromise to a degree because the Mormons preferred the Lieutenant over Colonel Sterling Price (Figure 16) of the Mis- sourians whom they passionately hated for his par- ticipation in earlier persecution of the Saints in Missouri.
During the march from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, the men of the Mormon Battalion faced many ordeals. TheywerewoundedbyIndians;disheart- ened by forced separation of comrades and families; weakened by illness, lack of water, and short rations; andsufferedblisteredfeet. Theysufferedonthe march to the extent that even young Whitworth sometimes walked into the camp long after dark, despite the fact that straggling could be very dangerous, not only from Indians but also from the many rattlesnakes. Some days they marched as many as 31 miles and camped without wood or water
38 with which to prepare their meager meals.
The ailments suffered by the Mormons caused them more problems than the immediate discom- fort, because they had been admonished by Brigham Young, before leaving Council Bluffs, to eschew drugs in the case of illness and rely instead on the laying on of hands and spiritual healing. The Bat- talion considered Assistant Surgeon George B. Sanderson, the physician for the command, a “fiend- ish doctor” when he lined up the sick at morning call and forcibly, if necessary, administered massive doses of calomel, one of the army’s universal
talion.