“The City Council may organize the inhabitants of said city, subject to military duty, into a body of independent military men to be called the ‘Nauvoo Legion.’” — Nauvoo City Charter¹

The Nauvoo Legion was organized as part of the Illinois state militia and was divided into two cohorts—infantry and cavalry.² Joseph Smith was appointed lieutenant general in 1841, leading the Legion in military exercises and city defense.³ In 1844, facing increasing conflict, Governor Ford demanded the Legion's disarmament. By January 1845, the Nauvoo Legion lost its legal standing with the repeal of the Nauvoo city charter.³ Despite this lose of legal standing, the Legion continued to function as before, protecting the Nauvoo Saints from mobbers through much of that year.⁴

1. City Charter: Laws, Ordinances, and Acts, July 1842, p. 7, The Joseph Smith Papers

2. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5155/ , pp. 92–93.

3. “Nauvoo Legion,” josephsmithpapers.org

4. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5155/ , pp. 129–133