20
May 2008
Foreigners vs. Foreigners (1857)
Posted in The End of Autonomy (1857-1861) by D Marriott at 8:26 pm |
The army sent by President Buchanan against the Saints in 1857 was ill-prepared in more ways than one - many of the units having only recently been filled by recruits and many with absent officers. One officer who was present, complained about the ranks of his own artillery unit, saying it was filled mainly with “ignorant foreigners.” His opinion was that since the Mormons were also mostly recent immigrants, “we exhibit to the sun the ridiculous spectacle of an army of foreigners led by American officers going to attack a set of foreigners on American soil.”
Coakley, p. 201.
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