They also named one or two individual females of our society, whom they had forcibly bound, and twenty or thirty of them, one after another, committed rape upon them. One of these females was a daughter of a respectable family with whom I have been long acquainted, and with whom I have since conversed and learned that it was truly the case. Delicacy at present forbids my mentioning the names. I also heard several of the soldiers acknowledge and boast of having stolen money in one place, clothing and bedding in another, and horses in another, whilst corn, pork, and beef were taken by the whole army to support the men and horses; and in many cases cattle, hogs, and sheep were shot down, and only a small portion of them used—the rest left to waste. Of these crimes, of which the soldiers boasted, the general officers freely conversed and corroborated the same. And even General Doniphan, who professed to be opposed to such proceedings, acknowledged the truth of them, and gave us several particulars in detail.
I believe the name of the man whose brains they knocked out was Carey. Another individual had his money chest broken open and several hundred dollars in specie taken out. He was the same Smith Humphrey whose house the mob burned at De Witt.
After the "Mormons" were all disarmed, General Lucas gave a compulsory order for men, women, and children to leave the state forthwith, without any exceptions, counting it a mercy to spare their lives on these conditions. Whilst these things were proceeding, instead of releasing us from confinement, Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were forcibly added to our number as prisoners; and under a large military escort, commanded by General Wilson before mentioned, we were all marched to Jackson county, a distance of between fifty and sixty miles, leaving our families and our friends at the mob's mercy, in a destitute condition, to prepare for a journey of more than two hundred miles, at the approach of winter, without our protection, and every moment exposed to robbery, ravishment, and other insults, their personal property robbed and their houses and lands already wrested from them.
We were exhibited like a caravan of wild animals on the way and in the streets of Independence, and were also kept prisoners for a show for several days.
In the meantime, General Clark had been sent by Governor Boggs with an additional force of 6,000 men from the lower country, to join General Lucas in his operations against the "Mormons." He soon arrived before Far West with his army, and confirmed all Lucas had done, and highly commended them for their virtue, forbearance, and other deeds in bringing about so peaceable and amicable an adjustment of affairs. He kept up the same scene of ravage, plunder, ravishment, and depredation, for the support and enrichment of his army, even burning the houses and fences for fuel.
He also insisted that every man, woman, and child of the "Mormon" society should leave the state, except such as he detained as prisoners, stating that the governor had sent him to exterminate them, but that he would, as a mercy, spare their lives, and gave them until the first of April following to get out of the state.
He also compelled them, at the point of the bayonet, to sign a deed of trust of all their real estate, to defray the expenses of what he called "The Mormon War."
After arranging all these matters to his satisfaction, he returned to Richmond, thirty miles distant, taking about sixty men, heads of families, with him, and marching them through a severe snowstorm on foot, as prisoners, leaving their families in a perishing condition.
Having established his headquarters at Richmond, Ray county, he sent to General Lucas and demanded us to be given up to him. We were accordingly transported some thirty or forty miles, delivered over to him, and put in close confinement in chains, under a strong guard.
At length we obtained an interview with him, and inquired why we were detained as prisoners. I said to him, "Sir, we have now been prisoners, under the most aggravating circumstances, for two or three weeks, during which time we have received no information as to why we are prisoners, or for what object, and no writ has been served upon us. We are not detained by the civil law; and as ministers of the Gospel in time of peace, who never bear arms, we cannot be considered prisoners of war, especially as there has been no war; and from present appearances, we can hardly be considered prisoners of hope. Why, then, these bonds?"