The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. Nauvoo Legion Senior Officers, March–July 1843

Nauvoo Legion Senior Officers, March–July 1843

The charter for the city of , Illinois, enacted in December 1840 to take effect in February 1841, allowed for the formation of a unit of the state militia in Nauvoo. On 3 February 1841, the city council passed an ordinance officially organizing the . On the following day, JS and other commissioned officers of the Illinois state militia elected the general officers of the legion. Additional positions were created and staffed throughout 1841 and 1842. In June 1842 the Nauvoo Legion cashiered as the legion’s major general. In August 1842, a court-martial elected brigadier general to replace John C. Bennett as major general.
The Nauvoo Legion comprised two brigades, or cohorts, each headed by a brigadier general. The first cohort consisted of cavalry and the second of infantry and artillery troops. Enlisted men served in one of these two brigades, which were subdivided into regiments (commanded by a colonel), then battalions (commanded by a lieutenant colonel or a major), and then companies (commanded by a captain). Officers retained their rank unless they were terminated by resignation, death, or cashiering out of the Nauvoo Legion.
Extant records indicate several changes in Nauvoo Legion’s organization during this volume’s period. On 27 April 1843 received a commission to serve as brigadier general over the first cohort, a position that had been left vacant since August 1842. On the lieutenant general’s staff, William Hall and were commissioned as aides-de-camp, while the death of on 8 June 1843 left vacant a spot in the guard of aides-de-camp. On the major general’s staff, Garret Ivins was added as cornet and as an aide-de-camp.
The following charts identify the staffs of the lieutenant general, major general, and brigadier generals of the Nauvoo Legion during the period covered in this volume; they do not note the colonels, majors, and captains who commanded the legion’s regiments, battalions, and companies. In cases where offices went unfilled or for which there is no extant record of who filled the position for the dates shown, the offices are marked “vacant.”
March–July 1843
Lieutenant general Joseph Smith
Lieutenant general’s staff
Inspector general
Assistant inspector general (colonel) George Schindle
Drill officer (colonel)
Judge advocate (colonel)
Aides-de-camp (colonels)
William Hall
Chief chaplain (colonel) [vacant]
Guards of aides-de-camp (captains)
(served until death, 8 June 1843)
Herald and armor bearer (captain)
Major general
Major general’s staff
Adjutant general (colonel)
Assistant adjutant general—first cohort (colonel)
Assistant adjutant general—second cohort (colonel)
Surgeons general (colonels)
George Cooke
Assistant surgeon general (colonel) Abel Underhill
Cornet (colonel) Garrett Ivins
Quartermaster general (colonel)
Commissary general (colonel)
Paymaster general (colonel)
Chaplain (colonel)
Assistant chaplain (colonel)
Assistant inspector general—first cohort (colonel)
Assistant inspector general—second cohort (colonel)
Aides-de-camp (colonels) Carlos Gove
George Schindle
Amos Dean
J. M. Binelo
War secretary (colonel)
Quartermaster sergeant (major)
Sergeant major (major)
Chief musician (major)
Musicians (captains)
Herald and armor bearer (captain) Samuel Hicks
First cohort Second cohort
Brigadier general
Brigadier general’s staff
Aides-de-camp (lieutenant colonels) [vacant]
[vacant]
Adjutant (lieutenant colonel)
Sergeant major (lieutenant general)
Quartermaster sergeant (colonel) [vacant]
Assistant quartermaster general (lieutenant colonel)
Assistant commissary general (lieutenant colonel)
Surgeon (lieutenant colonel)
Assistant chaplains (majors)
Brigade inspector (major)
Herald and armor bearer (captain) William Whitmarsh
  1. 1

    Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.

  2. 2

    Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841; Minutes, 4 Feb. 1841.

  3. 3

    John C. Bennett, “Officers of the Nauvoo Legion,” [1841], Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; Minutes, 12 Mar. 1842.

    Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.

  4. 4

    JS, Journal, 30 June 1842.

  5. 5

    Nauvoo Legion, Proceedings, 13 Aug. 1842, Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; Nauvoo Legion Minute Book, [13] Aug. 1842, 29.

    Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.

    Nauvoo Legion Minute Book, 1843–1844. Nauvoo Legion, Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430, fd. 1.

  6. 6

    Miller had been elected to brigadier general on 23 September 1842 but did not receive his commission until 27 April 1843. (Wilson Law, Nauvoo, IL, to Moses K. Anderson, Springfield, IL, 24 Apr. 1843, Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; Nauvoo Legion, Hancock Co., Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855, vol. 14, p. 1163, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; Hosea Stout, History of the Nauvoo Legion, Draft 1, p. 3, Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL.)

    Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Stout, Hosea. History of the Nauvoo Legion, Draft 1, ca. 1844–1845. Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430, fd. 10. One of three drafts of the history; includes material dated 4 February 1841 through 22 June 1844. Pages are out of order; in the current order, this draft includes pp. [5]–[8], [15]–[22].

  7. 7

    Wilson Law, Nauvoo, IL, to Moses K. Anderson, Springfield, IL, 24 Apr. 1843, Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; Nauvoo Legion, Hancock Co., Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855, vol. 14, p. 1163, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; Albert P. Rockwood, “Roll of the Lieut Gen Staff,” 15 Sept. 1843, Albert P. Rockwood, Papers, CHL; JS, Journal, 15 and 18 Apr. 1843; “Death of Elias Higbee,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1843, 4:232–233.

    Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Rockwood, Albert P. Papers, 1832–1877. CHL. MS 14888.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  8. 8

    Wilson Law, Nauvoo, IL, to Moses K. Anderson, Springfield, IL, 24 Apr. 1843, Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; Nauvoo Legion, Hancock Co., Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855, vol. 14, p. 1163, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

Contact UsFAQFollow Us on Facebook

Request for Documents

Do you know of any Joseph Smith documents that we might not have heard about? Tell us

The Church Historian’s Press is an imprint of the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, and a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06