The actual hostilities of the American Civil War began on April 12. A year later, the Indians along the mail routes and telegraph lines became very destructive. They frequently robbed the mail coaches and ruthlessly murdered white people. Important lines of communication had been cut, all the more intolerable for those engaged in the war efforts.

On April 28, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln sent a request to Brigham Young, the leader of a group of people known as the Mormons, asking the governor to ‘raise, arm, and equip a company of cavalry to be put at the disposal of the Government.’ Three days later, Captain Lot Smith left Salt Lake City with 106 men headed towards the scenes of the Indian depredations.

Early in 1862, President Lincoln had a few concerns. The previous year, the Confederacy appointed James M. Mason and John Slidell as ambassadors to the court of St. James in London. These two made their escape from Charleston Harbor, went to Cuba and boarded a British steamer headed for England. Captain Wilkes, of the U.S. Navy, was dispatched to capture the two men and return them stateside as prisoners of war. This was loudly applauded by the people of the north. Lincoln feared England would openly and actively come to the aid of the southern states.

Great Britain claimed to be severely offended by Captain Wilkes’ decisions. A suitable apology was made. The two Confederates were released and put on a ship headed for Britain. Already, Britain was sending out warships to prey upon American commerce and aid the cause of secession.

Captain Lot Smith assigned the task of daily record keeping of their activities to Private C. Hullinger. The men encountered rough roads and even rougher weather. In some places, there were ten feet of newly fallen snow making the roads impassable. Bridges were washed out and needed to be reconstructed. By the end of May, the Utah Volunteers could be seen moving swiftly from point to point, giving ample protection to the mail, the telegraph lines, and the emigrants.

On the 20th of October, 1862, General Patrick E. Conner and his volunteers established Camp Douglas three miles east of Salt Lake City, at the mouth of the Red Butte Canyon and on the shelf overlooking Eagles’ Gate. They were to protect the trails from Utah to California and establish a presence in Utah.

Much of Utah and the Civil War is the diary of Private Hullinger and speaks of travels and woes along the trail. Each day starts with a weather report: May 28: The morning was beautifully clear and warm. May 29: The morning was rainy and disagreeable. They received a telegram to send fifty men towards Ham’s Fork where the Indians had stolen sixty horses.

June 1st: The morning was clear and pretty cool. The men were sent to repair a bridge at Independence Rock. When this volunteer army wasn’t on the road, they were busy rebuilding houses, waystations, and bridges. After the weather report on the 6th of June, the camp was ordered to clean up their weapons and the campground. Five wagon loads of overlanders passed that day.

On June tenth, the men went out to meet the first Church train that came from the east. The next day the teams were sent to the canyons for timber to be used in building a bridge just below Devil’s Gate for the Church train to cross. The next morning, teams were sent to the canyons for more bridge timber. This saved the church train considerable money in wagon tolls they would have been charged had they crossed at the Rock Bridge.

By the thirteenth of June, the men received orders to go and work on the bridges. Not unusual, a number of emigrants passed by on their way to the Salmon River. Four days later, the volunteer troops were still working on the bridges. One night, U.S. Government troops passed by the camp and the next morning quite a number of emigrants passed. On the 18th, the men began working on a covering for the bridge.

The next day the men were ordered to wash their clothes in preparation for their journey to South Pass. When they finally started, they discovered the roads were very sandy and dusty. On June 24th, Captain Haight’s church train arrived.

On the twenty-fifth, the men camped eight miles southeast of Pacific Springs where there was water, wood, and good grass. The next day they received no orders other than to stay out for a while. An antelope was killed and the men enjoyed fresh meat after so many days of prairie chicken. The following day the men were on the move again, headed for Fort Bridger.

On the twenty-eighth of June, the volunteer army moved over to the Dry Sandy. The river bed was dry so they moved between the Dry Sandy and the Little Sandy. They had some success in digging for drinking water. They found plenty of good sagebrushes for firewood.

By the first of July, the volunteer troops were moving down the Green River. It was so muddy the animals had trouble keeping ground so the men began to ferry, first the saddled horses, then the wagons and mules. The banks of the river were lined with emigrants waiting for their turn in crossing.

On the third of July, the north side of the river was crowded with emigrants. On the fourth, two hundred wagons arrived on the other side of the river along with an escort of thirty soldiers.

The next day, around noon, two of the circuit judges called on the troops for an escort to Fort Bridger. Eight men were sent with the judges. News continually reached the men of Indian depredations.

The telegraph lines became disconnected all the way across the Green River. Whether this was due to continued depredations or severe weather, one could only imagine. The men finished repairing the lines on the eighth and, in preparation for their next move, began loading their belongings. On the eleventh, our diarist patched up a pair of pants for an emigrant and received fifty cents for his efforts. This money was given to a squaw to half-sole his moccasins. The next day the man purchased two deer skins and made himself a pair of pants.

On July 13th, Hullinger’s diary entry reads: “There has been less emigration today than any day since we came.”

On Monday, July 28th, it was reported to be a fine morning weatherwise, but not much of anything happening during the day. On August 8th, the men were mustered out of the service that had begun the previous April.

During the Civil War, the Mormons aided the United States Government in keeping the bridges repaired, the roads open, the mails running, and the telegraph lines functioning. Their term of service lasted three and one-half months. While they lost one man to a raging river and a boat accident, and one or two in an Indian skirmish, I don’t think their service, even while valuable, can be considered in the same light as what the American Troops encountered while on the battlefields fighting over the issues of slavery, state’s rights, and westward expansion.

While the Mormons were firm in their statements that they love, honor, and revere the Constitution, if you listen to a few of Brigham Young’s sermons you will quickly realize that he had no love for the men who governed under that Constitution.

From the day Brigham led his people out of Illinois and across the prairie, he was leading them to a land where they could worship as they pleased, free from government interference. Then came the gold rush, and a rush of emigrants passing through Utah Territory on their way to California. After February 1848 and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Utah was no longer a part of Mexico. Brigham Young rarely worried about his plans and that his plans were God’s plans not pan out because, in his mind, his plans were God’s plans. He would wait for his next move to be revealed.