The Utah Expedition leaves Fort Leavenworth on…
July 1857 CE
The Utah Expedition had begun to gather as early as May under orders from General Winfield Scott.
The troops were originally to be led by Gen. William S. Harney.
However, affairs in "Bleeding Kansas" had forced Harney to remain behind to deal with skirmishes between pro-slavery and free-soiler militants.
The Expedition's cavalry, the 2nd Dragoons, is kept in Kansas for the same reason.
Because of Harney's unavailability, Colonel Edmund Alexander is charged with the first detachment of troops headed for Utah.
However, overall command is assigned to Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, who will not leave Kansas until much later.
As it is, July is already far into the campaigning season, and the army and their supply train are unprepared for winter in the Rocky Mountains.
The army is not given instructions on how to react in case of resistance.
U.S. Army Captain Stewart Van Vliet, an assistant quartermaster, and a small escort are ordered to proceed directly from Kansas to Salt Lake City, ahead of the main body of troops.
Van Vliet carries a letter to Young from General Harney ordering Brigham Young to make arrangements for the citizens of Utah to accommodate and supply the troops once they arrive.
However, Harney's letter doers not mention that Young has been replaced as governor, nor does it detail what the mission of the troops will be once they arrive, and these omissions will spark even greater distrust among the Saints.
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