A Mission

Frederick Lander is dead. It is hard to imagine that great, stout heart no longer beats. He was dedicated to freedom, and a finer man ne'er walked this earth. Colonel Kimball, his successor, has asked me to go to Camp _______ to receive instructions for a reconnoitering mission to the West. In short, I am to secure the compliance of our Plains Indian allies, or at least to dissuade their interference on the Confederate side, and to try to undo or mitigate any damages done by Copperhead, English or French or even German spies active in Utah. The troops at Fort Bridger and Colonel Connor are pinned down there; Brigham Young reputedly can muster 1,000 men to oppose them in a day; - the troops are tolerated at President Young's pleasure alone. I am to meet several of his Legionnaires: Lot Smith, Porter Rockwell, and others, and assess their readiness to fight, and for whom? Apparently Connor has worked out a temporary alliance with the mysterious "Nauvoo Legion" to "protect" the mails and overland transportation, but he must keep up an appearance of combativeness and of course cannot move about the City as a civilian and listen to what the people are saying. The few copies of the Deseret News that we have seen are not favorable to the Union, while Connor's Vedette is shrill in its attacks on the Copperheads. It is a tinderbox. Therefore, I am to go with all possible haste to that locale to observe, to do what I can, and get back with a report with all haste.