hat echoed through the hills at
each discharge of the guns added to the confusion, and soon
forced the Mormons to take up their position in the fence corners
and elsewhere, so they could be in a measure protected from the
bullets of the enemy. Soon there was order in our ranks, and we
were prepared to dislodge our opponents or die in the attempt,
when two men came at the full speed of their horses, shouting:

"Peace! peace! Cease firing, it is our friends."

Chapman Duncan, the adjutant of Col. White, was the one who
shouted peace. We were then informed that the men we had taken
for a part of the Gentile mob were no other than the command of
Maj. Brunson, who had been out on Three Forks to defend the
settlers, and that he had been ordered back to the main body of
the Hosts of Israel. They had intended to stop at Mill Port, but
finding it deserted they concluded to alarm the troops at Adam-
on-Diamond, so as to learn whether they would fight or not. I
admit that I was much pleased to learn that danger was over and
we were facing friends and not enemies; yet I was mad to think
men would impose upon us in that way. The experiment was a
dangerous one, and likely to be very serious in its consequences.
The other men with me were equally wroth at the insult offered by
those who had been so foolish as to question our bravery.

The withdrawal of the State militia was the signal for the
Gentiles to give vent to the worst of their inclinations. The
Mormons, at command of the Prophet, at once abandoned their
homes, taking what could be carried with them, and hastened to
either Far West or Adam-on-Diamond for protection and safety.
Some few refused to obey orders, and they afterwards paid the
penalty for disobedience by giving up their lives to the savage
Gentiles who attacked and well-nigh exterminated them.

Armed men roamed in bands all over Caldwell, Carroll, and Daviess
counties; both Mormons and Gentiles were under arms, doing injury
to each other when occasion offered. The burning of houses,
farms, and stacks of grain was generally indulged in by each
party. Lawlessness prevailed, and pillage was the rule.

The Prophet Joseph said it was a civil war, and that by the rules
of war each party was justified in spoiling his enemy. This
opened the door, and men of former quiet became perfect demons in
their efforts to spoil and waste away the enemies of the Church.
I then found that men are creatures of circumstances, and t