Nauvoo Legion Senior Officers, 1 January–15 May 1844
Nauvoo Legion Senior Officers, 1 January–15 May
1844
The charter
for the city of , Illinois, enacted
in December 1840 to take effect in February 1841, allowed for the
formation of a unit of the state militia in
Nauvoo. On 3
February 1841, the city council passed an ordinance officially
organizing the . On the following day, JS and other commissioned officers of the Illinois state
militia elected the general officers of the legion. Additional positions were subsequently
created and staffed.
The Nauvoo
Legion was headed by a lieutenant general, with a major general as
second-in-command. Under the major general were two brigades, or
cohorts, each headed by a brigadier general. The first cohort consisted
of two cavalry regiments and the second cohort of six infantry and
artillery regiments (with all regiments commanded by colonels). The
regiments were subdivided further into battalions (commanded by a
lieutenant colonel or a major) and then companies (commanded by a
captain). Officers retained their rank unless they were terminated by
resignation, death, or cashiering out of the Nauvoo Legion. At times
when officers of the legion were absent or had been cashiered from the
legion but not officially replaced, persons in lower ranks could be
appointed to act temporarily in their place.
was suspended as the major general of the Nauvoo Legion on
29 April 1844 and was presumably cashiered on or about 9 May 1844 for
“unbecoming conduct.” , the brigadier
general commanding the Second Cohort, was ordered to temporarily take
Law’s place.
The following chart identifies the lieutenant general,
major general, brigadier generals, and colonels of the Nauvoo Legion
from 1 January through 15 May 1844; it does not note the generals’
staffs or the officers who commanded the legion’s battalions and
companies. The names of persons who filled vacant offices with acting
ranks are followed by a dagger (†) along with their official rank and,
when known, the dates they held their acting ranks in parentheses.