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Show Pg. 18 Mormon Battalion. Among the early settlers of Morgan County were six men who enlisted in the Mormon Battalion in July 1846. Philemon C. Merrill held the rank of 3rd Lieutenant in Company B. George W. Taggart – musician in Company B. Willard G. Smith* - musician in Company D. Sanford Porter,+ Lot Smith and Roswell Stevens were Privates in Company E. *Willard G. Smith was a survivor of the Haun’s Mill Massacre. His father and one brother were killed there and another brother seriously wounded. He enlisted, when a young boy, in the Mormon Battalion and marched the entire distance of two thousand miles to California. Soon after arriving a man came into the camp and inquired for Willard Smith. On meeting him he told a story something like the following: “Young man, I am one of the men who shot your father and brothers at Haun’s Mill. I have come all the way to California to forget my troubles but I cannot forget. Now I want you to shoot me and Pg. 19 put an end to my misery.” As he spoke he stood up and bared his breast. Mr. Smith answered. “No, I will not soil my hands on you. There is a God in heaven who will avenge that terrible deed.” (Related by Mr. Smith to Mr. R. R. Fry of Morgan.). +William Ira Porter gives the following account of an experience had by his father, Sanford Porter Jr., during the march of the Mormon Battalion: “At one time, with feet bleeding and faint with hunger and fatigue, he stuck the bayonet of his gun in the ground and hung his knapsack on the stock and laid down to die, thinking perhaps someone might find his remains. He then bid adieu to this world and placed himself in the hands of his God, and fell asleep. He did not know how long he slept, but when he awoke he found himself sound and well. He felt like running and jumping. He shouldered his nap sack and gun and went into camp where he joined his companions. He gave his rations to a sick comrade and stood double guard that nite. From that day until the end of the march he never suffered any pain or hunger.” |