Mormon Battalion: United States Army of the West, 1846-1848

This book was recommended to me by the Sons of the Mormon Battalion. They consider this to be one of the most accurate accounts. This book provided me with lots of insights and a new respect for these 500 men. I would suggest this book to anyone you wants a complete, historically accurate, and interesting account.

The author's purpose was to fill in holes in the previously existing historical record, especially pertaining to the people involved in the battalion. She is the first to compile complete rosters, etc., and to catalogue what happened to the members of the battalion until they actually made it back to their families. (Many texts stop at their discharge.) By relying on personal accounts, especially from the diary of William Coray, she provides a clear view of what it was like to actually be on the march. Perhaps the complete historical context must be learned from other sources, but that does not lessen the relevance of this book. I recommend it highly, and look forward to future revisions.

As a historical geographer and recent author of a related work covering the 1846-50 period of Mormon history, I found this book to be quite illuminating -- and a great reference. It was particularly good at weaving the numerous diaries of actual members of the Mormon Battalion together into an understandable fabric. This book is the result of a lifetime of devoted research by Ms. Ricketts. While she may be faulted for her lack of military acumen and historical context, she is at her best in fathoming the emotions of these oft ignored and long forgotten volunteer Mormon soldiers who became a benevolent postwar occupational army the likes of which has seldom been seen since. This is particularly interesting in the light of their recent forcible expulsion by mobs and night riders from their homes in Nauvoo, IL. If anyone had a right to revolt against the nation by whom they had been "ethnically cleansed," these men did. Instead, they honored the country they yet loved by leaving their families at the Missouri River to suffer through countless privations in one of the longest (if not THE longest) forced infantry marches in U. S. military history -- from Council Bluffs, IA to Fort Leavenworth, KS to Santa Fe, NM to Tuscon, AZ and finally to San Diego, CA. Once arrived, rather than adding privations upon the local Californios, they set about finding ways to serve them. Today, such a unit would likely be a much honored National Guard unit. Then, they were quickly forgotten. In fact, within ten years, most of these men were forced to defend their homes and families against the very same Army of the West in which they had so loyally served. Great work, Norma!

The Mormon Battalion is a result of apparently careful scholarship brought to print with an eye for anecdote straight from the original diaries of the participants. Characters come to life through their own words. Anyone interested in the early frontier period of western US history should own this book. Unfortunately, several "typos" throughout were distracting