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| 1838 Mormon War | |
|---|---|
| Conflict | 1838 Mormon War |
| Date | October 1838 – November 1838 |
| Place | Missouri, United States |
| Result | Expulsion of Latter Day Saint movement adherents from Missouri |
| Combatant1 | Latter Day Saint movement |
| Combatant2 | Missouri Militia |
| Commander1 | Joseph Smith (Mormon); David Whitmer; Heber C. Kimball |
| Commander2 | Lilburn Boggs; Alexander Doniphan; Samuel D. Lucas |
| Strength1 | Militia and Latter Day Saint (restorationist) settlers |
| Strength2 | Missouri State Guard and local militias |
1838 Mormon War The 1838 Mormon War was an armed conflict in Missouri between adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement and non-Mormon settlers, involving militia actions, pitched engagements, and political intervention that culminated in the expulsion of Mormon communities. The crisis featured leaders such as Joseph Smith (Mormon), Lilburn Boggs, and Alexander Doniphan, and intersected with wider regional tensions in Jackson County, Missouri and Caldwell County, Missouri.
In the 1830s the Latter Day Saint movement under Joseph Smith (Mormon) migrated from New York to Kirtland, Ohio and then to Jackson County, Missouri and Far West, Missouri. Conflict over land, voting blocs, and communal organization pitted Mormon settlers against residents of Jackson County, Missouri and later Clay County, Missouri and Caldwell County, Missouri. Earlier confrontations included the Extermination Order context and the 1833 expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri and the events surrounding Zion's Camp. Tensions involved figures such as Thomas B. Marsh, Oliver Cowdery, Edward Partridge, and county officials in Missouri counties.
By 1836 Latter Day Saint settlers had founded Far West, Missouri in Caldwell County, Missouri and expanded into neighboring Daviess County, Missouri and Ray County, Missouri. Disputes over elections, militia organization, and property incited incidents like the Gallatin Election Day Battle and retaliatory raids that drew in county sheriffs and state authorities. Mormon leaders such as Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, and Sidney Rigdon organized local defense, while non-Mormon leaders including David Atchison and William Peniston mobilized Missouri Militia elements. Media and political actors such as the Hannibal Courier-Post-era press and Missouri General Assembly delegates amplified factional rhetoric.
Skirmishes and raids escalated into named confrontations: the Battle of Crooked River involved Missouri State Guard detachments and Mormon militia units under officers like Jenkins affiliates and prompted statewide alarm. The Missouri response included musters led by Samuel D. Lucas and Alexander Doniphan, while Mormon contingents included leaders such as David Whitmer and John Corrill. Actions around Adam-ondi-Ahman and Millport, and incidents involving Guion Miller-era families, produced civilian casualties and property destruction. The confrontations mirrored frontier conflicts like Bloody Island-era violence and raised parallels with earlier disputes involving western settlers.
Governor Lilburn Boggs issued proclamations and directed the Missouri Militia to restore order, culminating in the siege of Far West, Missouri and arrests of Mormon leadership including Joseph Smith (Mormon) and Hyrum Smith. Military figures such as Alexander Doniphan famously refused direct orders to execute prisoners, citing legal norms. Federal-era personalities and local judges such as Daniel Dunklin and sheriff deputies became involved in detention and transport to Liberty, Missouri and Coles County, Illinois detention sites. The situation prompted involvement from neighboring state dignitaries connected to Illinois and St. Louis interests.
Following Governor Lilburn Boggs's directives and militia actions, Mormon inhabitants were ordered to leave Missouri; entire communities in Caldwell County, Missouri and Ray County, Missouri were abandoned. Prominent Latter Day Saint figures including Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards organized migration routes through Illinois toward Nauvoo, Illinois, while others sought aid from allies in Ohio and New York. The exodus reshaped settlement patterns, influenced land claims in Missouri, and affected later negotiations involving Utah Territory proponents and national leaders like President Martin Van Buren-era officials.
Legal responses included arrests, charges of treason against Mormon leaders, and subsequent trials in venues such as Ray County, Missouri and Daviess County, Missouri. Defense counsel and military advocates, including proponents like Alexander Doniphan, intervened to prevent executions. Later legal actions involved petitions, clemency appeals, and quasi-executive measures paralleling cases adjudicated in state courts and discussed in correspondence with figures like Thomas Reynolds and Daniel Dunklin. Pardons, commutations, and informal releases gradually resolved many detainee cases, enabling Mormon leaders to relocate and rebuild communal institutions in Illinois.
Historians and commentators have examined the conflict in works addressing Latter Day Saint movement persecution narratives, frontier law, and 19th-century American pluralism. Interpretive frameworks reference sources including contemporary accounts by Joseph Smith (Mormon), David Whitmer, and non-Mormon observers, as well as later analyses by scholars of American religious history, Missouri history, and frontier studies. The episode influenced later events such as the establishment of Nauvoo, Illinois and the leadership of Brigham Young during western migration to Utah Territory, and it remains central to discussions involving civil liberties, state authority, and community conflict in antebellum America.
Category:History of Missouri Category:Latter Day Saint movement history