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Adventures in Mormon History

"Thieves, Thugs, and Worthless Characters" - Johnston's Army Heads West

July 05, 2022 Season 4 Episode 3
Adventures in Mormon History
"Thieves, Thugs, and Worthless Characters" - Johnston's Army Heads West
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Adventures in Mormon History
"Thieves, Thugs, and Worthless Characters" - Johnston's Army Heads West
Jul 05, 2022 Season 4 Episode 3

In 1857, the Buchanan Administration sent an Army Expedition to Utah.  It was sure to be an arduous, difficulty journey, with many ways to suffer and few to win glory.  But who were the Soldiers marching against the Latter-day Saints?  On today’s episode, we explore the Soldiers and Teamsters, which included both selfless heroes and hopeless drunks, public servants and fugitive criminals, that made up Johnston’s Army.  

Discussions include:  

  • A letter from Robert E. Lee warning Albert Sidney Johnston not to take his wife to Utah, as the many wives of Brigham Young would look upon her as a "poor, imposed on sinner."
  • The medical journal of Dr. Robert Bartholomew, Regimental Surgeon to the 10th Infantry Division.  He noted two classes of Soldiers - those who grew stronger through exercise and moderate living, and "worthless recruits" whose only abstained from whiskey when they could procure it.  
  • The lone, dogged Marine, LT Robert Browning, who joined the Army expedition as an observer.  Three years later, the dashing young Marine would be lost in the Pacific Ocean, having gone down with his ship, USS Levant.  
  • The "Thieves, Thugs, and Worthless Characters" that made up the Teamsters and Contractors joining the expedition.  
  • The memoirs of Private Robert Morris Peck, including a description of how the card sharks and sharpers among the Teamsters would have nearly all the Soldiers' money within a few days of pay day, and a colorful description of Charlie Hart, one of the most reckless gamblers to join the expedition.  
  • The desertion of Private Charles Wilcken, his defection to the Latter-day Saints, and his long and fruitful life as a baptized member of the Church.  Wilcken would have three descendants run for the U.S. Presidency - George Romney, Mitt Romney, and Jon Huntsman, Jr.   


To learn more about the start of the Utah War, please check out these (excellent!) sources:  

  • William MacKinnon, At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War (Vol. I and II) (2016).  MacKinnon's work on the Utah War is nothing short of phenomenal.  They are available on Google Books to anyone interested.   Also, I drew on the Forward to Volume I written by Will Bagley.  
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Show Notes

In 1857, the Buchanan Administration sent an Army Expedition to Utah.  It was sure to be an arduous, difficulty journey, with many ways to suffer and few to win glory.  But who were the Soldiers marching against the Latter-day Saints?  On today’s episode, we explore the Soldiers and Teamsters, which included both selfless heroes and hopeless drunks, public servants and fugitive criminals, that made up Johnston’s Army.  

Discussions include:  

  • A letter from Robert E. Lee warning Albert Sidney Johnston not to take his wife to Utah, as the many wives of Brigham Young would look upon her as a "poor, imposed on sinner."
  • The medical journal of Dr. Robert Bartholomew, Regimental Surgeon to the 10th Infantry Division.  He noted two classes of Soldiers - those who grew stronger through exercise and moderate living, and "worthless recruits" whose only abstained from whiskey when they could procure it.  
  • The lone, dogged Marine, LT Robert Browning, who joined the Army expedition as an observer.  Three years later, the dashing young Marine would be lost in the Pacific Ocean, having gone down with his ship, USS Levant.  
  • The "Thieves, Thugs, and Worthless Characters" that made up the Teamsters and Contractors joining the expedition.  
  • The memoirs of Private Robert Morris Peck, including a description of how the card sharks and sharpers among the Teamsters would have nearly all the Soldiers' money within a few days of pay day, and a colorful description of Charlie Hart, one of the most reckless gamblers to join the expedition.  
  • The desertion of Private Charles Wilcken, his defection to the Latter-day Saints, and his long and fruitful life as a baptized member of the Church.  Wilcken would have three descendants run for the U.S. Presidency - George Romney, Mitt Romney, and Jon Huntsman, Jr.   


To learn more about the start of the Utah War, please check out these (excellent!) sources:  

  • William MacKinnon, At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War (Vol. I and II) (2016).  MacKinnon's work on the Utah War is nothing short of phenomenal.  They are available on Google Books to anyone interested.   Also, I drew on the Forward to Volume I written by Will Bagley.