Patrick E. Connor remains in command of…

Patrick E. Connor remains in command of the District of Utah until it is merged in March 1865 into the District of the Plains, established at his suggestion that a "Department of the Plains" be created which he would command.

The new district, in the Department of the Missouri, combines the former districts of Utah (re-designated West Sub District), Nebraska (East Sub-District), Colorado (South Sub-District), and Territory of Idaho (North Sub-District).

Connor is named commander of the new District.

Connor had been in command of the "Stockton Blues," a unit in the California Militia, when the Civil War broke out.

He brought the strength of the unit up to regimental size and it became the 3rd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry.

His regiment had been ordered to the Utah Territory to protect the overland routes from Indians and quell a possible Mormon uprising.

While in Utah, Connor, as senior officer, had become commander of the District of Utah, Department of the Pacific, on August 6, 1862, establishing Camp Douglas at Salt Lake City in October, but had become discontented with his assignment, as he and his men wished to head to Virginia where the real fighting and glory was occurring.

When major general Henry W. Halleck (a personal friend of Connor's) became the general-in-chief of the Union armies, Connor had pleaded that his men had enlisted to fight traitors, and had offered to withhold $30,000 from the regiment's pay to ship the troops to the eastern battlefields.

Halleck had suggested that Connor reconnoiter the Salt Lake City area.

Connor did so and established Fort Douglas in a commanding position over the city, despite the wishes of the Mormons.

Brigham Young had tried, through his personal representative to Congress, Kinney, to displace Federal troops.

However, through the efforts of Governor Doty and Colonel Connor, Federal troops had been sequestered at Fort Douglas by Washington and the Pacific Theater commanding general.

After the Bear River Battle (or massacre) of January 1863, Connor had been appointed brigadier general in the Volunteer Army.

In October of that year, Connor, along with Governor Doty, had signed peace treaties with the remaining hostile Indian tribes, thereby bringing to a close all Indian hostilities within the Utah Territory.

Shortly after the signing of the treaties, officers and enlisted men of the California Volunteers stationed at Fort Douglas had established the first daily Utah newspaper, The Union Vedette, which offers a balance of news unavailable through the LDS Church-owned Deseret News.

Connor has provided protection for non-Mormons and those wishing to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during his three years of service in Utah.

He has also discovered valuable mineral wealth in Utah that is reported to his superiors.

This leads to the gradual immigration of non-Mormons into Utah and eventually to the weakening of the influence of the LDS Church over everyday affairs in the territory.

Connor engages in extensive military correspondence which will be published in 1897 under The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.