THE MORMON BATTALION[xii]

As a result of a correspondence on 26 Jan 1846 from Brigham Young  to Jesse C. Little , presiding elder over the New England and Middle States Mission, a battalion was formed.  In his letter, Young had Little meet with national leader in Washington , D.C. to seek aid for the migrating Latter-day Saints, majorities of who were then in the Iowa Territory .  Little arrived in Washington on 21 May 1846, eight days after Congress had declared war on Mexico .  In July 1846, Captain James Allen , US Army, with the encouragement of Brigham Young , the Mormon Battalion was mustered in at Council Bluff, Iowa .

Captain James Allen  was designated by Colonel Kearny  to raise five companies of volunteer soldiers from the able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen (18) and forty-five (45) from the Mormon encampments in Iowa.  On 16 Jul 1846, over 543 men enlisted in the Mormon Battalion, not included in this number were about thirty-three women, twenty of which served as laundresses, and fifty-one children.  The commissioned officers selected from among the 543 were:

Captain of Company A - Jefferson Hunt
Captain of Company B - Jesse D. Hunter
Captain of Company C - James Brown
Captain of Company D - Nelson Higgins
Captain of Company E - Daniel C. Davis

Upon on arriving about 10 Jul at Council Bluffs , John W. Hess  learned that four companies had been enlisted and organized.  George A. Smith  advised me and other to enlist.  After considering the matter, I was enlisted in Company "E", Captain Daniel Davis .  My wife, Emeline [Bigler] Hess , also enlisted, as the Government had provided for four women to each company of 100 men to go as laundresses.

The battalion marched from Council Bluffs on 20 Jul 1846 and arrived on 1 Aug 1846 at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas .  There the battalion members drew their arms and accouterments, as well a clothing allowance of $42.00.  A military uniform was not mandatory, so many of the soldiers sent their clothing allowances back to their families in the encampments in Iowa .