Mark Alfred Child enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1844 at Fort Leavenworth and went with the Army and the Battalion to San Diego, California. He later was killed in California by Indians.
In memory of these soldiers, I am quoting excerpts from a Memorial Day talk given in 1978 at the Mormon Battalion Monument at the Utah State Capitol, by Lawrence L. Epperson son of the founder of the Sons of Utah Pioneers, Lawrence T. Epperson.
A DAY FOR REMEMBERING
FOR LIBERTY AND LOYALTY
And now, why do we honor the Mormon Battalion? On Monday, July 13, 1846, after receiving a request from Col. Thomas L. Kane, of the U.S. Army, for volunteers, President Brigham Young advised the Saints - "If you want the privilege of going where we can worship God according to the dictates of our conscience, we must raise the Battalion. The War Department (has called upon us) to furnish five hundred volunteers for the Army of the West, to march to California. I say it is right! We can do what other people cannot."
The president told Col. Kane the time would come when the Saints would support the government of the U.S. or it would crumble to atoms.
In speaking of the departure of the Mormon Battalion, Wilford Woodruff said: "It was a great day in the Camp of Israel. Four companies of volunteers were organized and ready within three days (July 16, 1846), for marching." (Probably the fastest enlistment in history!)
SAD FAREWELL
After addresses by several members of the Quorum of the 12, they began their historic march, leaving their families, teams, wagons, and cattle by the wayside, not expecting to meet them again for one or two years. They left them to their brethren and to the tender mercies of God, while they proceeded to do his will. "As I viewed them, I felt I was looking upon the first Battalion of the army of Israel, engaged in the service of the United States."
Histories of Child, Rawson, Coffin and Holtzclaw Families, compiled by Fern Roberts Morgan, page 291.
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