As this week's online essay (and as a follow-up to yesterday's post) go read the Nauvoo Legion article from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. It notes:
As part of the state militia, the Nauvoo Legion was at the disposal of the governor of Illinois "for the public defense, and the execution of the laws of the State or of the United States." Significantly, it was also at the disposal of the mayor of Nauvoo for "executing the laws and ordinances of the city corporation" (HC 4:244).
Not an ideal arrangement, but at least the Nauvoo Legion was an offically organized unit of the Illinois militia.
To again underline the key role militias played in the events swirling around Mormon communities, consider the following:
Joseph Smith mobilized the Nauvoo Legion to defend the city and declared martial law in June 1844 as tensions mounted between the Latter-day Saints, dissenters, and hostile neighbors. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were among those arrested by another Illinois militia and placed in Carthage Jail, where they were killed by members of yet another militia.
From the accounts in LDS history, one gets the impression that the Nauvoo Legion was the only "well regulated militia" in the state. Maybe that's one of the reasons it was so unpopular outside Nauvoo.
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