After these arrests had been made, General Clark called the other Mormons at Far West together, and addressed them, telling them that they could now go to their fields for corn, wood, etc., but that the terms of the surrender must be strictly lived up to. Their leading men had been given up, their arms surrendered, and their property assigned as stipulated, but it now remained for them to leave the state forthwith. On that subject the general said:—
"The character of this state has suffered almost beyond redemption, from the character, conduct, and influence that you have exerted; and we deem it an act of justice to restore her character to its former standing among the states by every proper means. The orders of the governor to me were that you should be exterminated and not allowed to remain in the state. And had not your leaders been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this time you and your families would have been destroyed, and your houses in ashes. There is a discretionary power vested in my hands, which, considering your circumstances, I shall exercise for a season. You are indebted to me for this clemency.
"I do not say that you shall go now, but you must not think of staying here another season, or of putting in crops, for the moment you do this the citizens will be upon you; and if I am called here again, in a case of a non-compliance of a treaty made, do not think that I shall do as I have done now. You need not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the governor's orders shall be executed. As for your leaders, do not think, do not imagine for a moment, do not let it enter into your mind, that they will be delivered and restored to you again, for their fate is fixed, their die is cast, their doom is sealed.
"I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so many apparently intelligent men found in the situation you are; and O! if I could invoke the great spirit, the unknown God, to rest upon and deliver you from that awful chain of superstition, and liberate you from those fetters of fanaticism with which you are bound, that you no longer do homage to a man. I would advise you to scatter abroad, and never organize yourselves with bishops, presidents, etc., lest you excite the jealousies of the people, and subject yourselves to the same calamities that have now come upon you. You have always been the aggressors: you have brought upon yourselves these difficulties by being disaffected, and not being subject to rule. And my advice is that you become as other citizens, lest by a recurrence of these events you bring upon yourselves irretrievable ruin."
General Clark then marched with his prisoners to Richmond, where the trial of all the accused began on November 12, before Judge A. A. King. By November 29 the called-out militia had been disbanded, and on that date General Clark made his final report to the governor. In this he asserted that the militia under him had conducted themselves as honorable citizen soldiers, and enclosed a certificate signed by five Mormons, including W. W. Phelps, Colonel Hinckle, and John Corrill, confirming this statement, and saying, "We have no hesitation in saying that the course taken by General Clark with the Mormons was necessary for the public peace, and that the Mormons are generally satisfied with his course."
In his summing up of the results of the campaign, General Clark said:
"It [the Mormon insurrection] had for its object Dominion, the ultimate subjugation of this State and the Union to the laws of a few men called the Presidency. Their church was to be built up at any rate, peaceably if they could, forcibly if necessary. These people had banded themselves together in societies, the object of which was to first drive from their society such as refused to join them in their unholy purposes, and then to plunder the surrounding country, and ultimately to subject the state to their rule."
"The whole number of the Mormons killed through the whole difficulty, so far as I can ascertain, are about forty, and several wounded. There has been one citizen killed, and about fifteen badly wounded."*
* "Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 92.
Brigadier General R. Wilson was sent with his command to settle the Mormon question in Daviess County. Finding the town of Adamondi-Ahman unguarded, he placed guards around it, and gathered in the Mormons of the neighborhood, to the number of about two hundred. Most of these, he explained in his report, were late comers from Canada and the northern border of the United States, and were living mostly in tents, without any adequate provision for the winter. Those against whom criminal charges had been made were placed under arrest, and the others were informed that General Wilson would protect them for ten days, and would guarantee their safety to Caldwell County or out of the state. "This appeared to me," said General Wilson, in his report to General Clark, "to be the only course to prevent a general massacre." In this report General Wilson presented the following picture of the situation there as he found it: "It is perfectly impossible for me to convey to you anything like the awful state of things which exists here—language is inadequate to the task. The citizens of a whole county first plundered, and then their houses and other buildings burnt to ashes; without houses, beds, furniture, or even clothing in many instances, to meet the inclemency of the weather. I confess that my feelings have been shocked with the gross brutality of these Mormons, who have acted more like demons from the infernal regions than human beings. Under these circumstances, you will readily perceive that it would be perfectly impossible for me to protect the Mormons against the just indignation of the citizens.... The Mormons themselves appeared pleased with the idea of getting away from their enemies and a justly insulted people, and I believe all have applied and received permits to leave the county; and I suppose about fifty families have left, and others are hourly leaving, and at the end of ten days Mormonism will not be known in Daviess county. This appeared to me to be the only course left to prevent a general massacre."*