Footnotes

1. [1]

   Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840. Illinois records show the Nauvoo Legion officers, along with other state militia participants, listed as subject to the state governor. (Nauvoo Legion, Hancock Co., Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855, vol. 14, pp. 1163–1165; vol. 17, pp. 39–44, 46, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.)

   Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

2. [2]

   See Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.

3. [3]

   The legion chose to adopt Alexander Macomb’s Concise System of Instructions but deviated from it somewhat in rank and organization. Not only was the rank of major general superseded by the rank of lieutenant general, but the legion also changed the makeup of companies and battalions. In Macomb’s system, an infantry battalion comprised ten companies and a cavalry regiment three squadrons. In the Nauvoo Legion, two companies formed a battalion and two battalions a regiment. (“Record of the ‘Nauvoo Legion,’” 4, 5, Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; Cooper and Macomb, Concise System of Instructions, pt. 1, p. 59; pt. 2, p. 22.)

   Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.

   Cooper, Samuel, and Alexander Macomb. A Concise System of Instructions and Regulations for the Militia and Volunteers of the United States, Comprehending the Exercises and Movements of the Infantry, Light Infantry, and Riflemen; Cavalry and Artillery: Together with the Manner of Doing Duty in Garrison and in Camp, and the Forms of Parades, Reviews, and Inspections, as Established by Authority for the Government of the Regular Army. Philadelphia: Robert P. Desilver, 1836.

4. [4]

   Lieutenant general ranked immediately below general but above the more common major general. George Washington earned the rank of general during the Revolutionary War but resigned his commission at that war’s conclusion. After Washington retired from political and military life, on 2 July 1798, John Adams reappointed him “Lieutenant General and Commander in Chief of all the armies raised,” which was the most senior office in the United States military at that time, in hopes of using Washington’s name to boost morale within the nation during an ongoing conflict with France. (Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate, 1:284; see also “From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, [8 July 1798],” in Syrett, Papers of Alexander Hamilton, 21:534–536.)

   Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America, from March 4, 1829, to March 3, 1837, Inclusive. Vol. 4. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1887.

   Syrett, Harold C., ed. Papers of Alexander Hamilton. 27 vols. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961–1987.

5. [5]

   Minutes, 4 Feb. 1841.

6. [6]

   The office of secretary of state in Illinois had been contested since 1838, when Governor Carlin tried to appoint a new secretary and incumbent Alexander Field refused to resign. With disagreements across party lines causing a stalemate, the matter was taken to court. After hearing the case, the Illinois Supreme Court decided in favor of Field, but eventually Field retired and Carlin appointed Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas only held the office for two months before resigning to take his appointment on the Illinois Supreme Court in mid-February 1841, at which point Lyman Trumbull was appointed the next secretary of state. (See White, Life of Lyman Trumbull, 11; Johannsen, Stephen A. Douglas, 84–87, 96–97; and Ford, History of Illinois, 305.)

   White, Horace. The Life of Lyman Trumbull. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913.

   Johannsen, Robert W. Stephen A. Douglas. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973.

   Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

7. [7]

   Because the commission was finalized after Douglas’s resignation, it is possible that some of the dates were filled in by Trumbull.