Show UNWITTING WITNESSES IX the prophet mormon was the lot last chief military commander commande of the Welp nephlee hite armies the times ln in which he lived were the most herfi ous kojis and devastating in the whole history of that people he took an active part in their military affairs from the tune time he was sixteen years old to his death dath at the age of aver seventy four upon the battle field with a brief Inter intermission miWon when he be stood an idle witness because of their stubborn contumacy and revengeful fury see book of mormon mor hi 10 xvi 5 during the earthly career of this military commander and aind prophet of god covering a period of over 74 years see note 0 page the descendants of lehi lebi dwindled from being a sult eted and ca cipfl R laed race to a condition of leation and poverty by wild beasts of the jungle i A brief survey of the life of mormon presents an episode of absorbing interest showing how in I 1 a short time a great and macul magnificent fl social structure structured turey was shattered into ruins and at the same game lime furnishing a a clue to iome acme ical problems Mor mormon the son of mormon and a descendant of nepal mor i 1 5 ws was bom born about the year A D IV nep i 1 48 mor i 1 2 he is spoken of as being a sober child chil dand and quick to observe when he was ten years old he was visited by am maron a custodian and registrar of the sacred records who gave him this charge when ye are about twenty and four years ears old I 1 would that ye should remember the things have observed couce concerning ming this peppie pepi WI I 1 and when ye are of that age go athe to the land antum unto aag a MU 1 which shall be called shim and there have I 1 deposited unto the lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people and ancl behold ye shall take the plates lates e of nepal se unto yourself and the remainder remain Sei her ye shall leave in the place where they are am land and ye shall engrave on the plates of nepal IN echi au 9 the things that ye have observed concerning this people mor 1 3 8 4 when mormon was eleven years old his father moved to the land of Zarah emla the whole face of the land having become covered with buildings and the people were re as numerous almost as it were the sand of the sea verse 7 here mormon was witness to the beginning of those sanguinary conflicts which resulted eventually in the total destruction of the Nep hites bItes as a nation and almost as individuals the war began to be among them in the borders of Zar Zarah shem emla by the waters of sidon bidon 11 I 1 this location has been identified OB the present united staw states of columbia south america Aerl ca and the river sidon bidon as the magdalena mor i 1 10 omni 1 fc 18 note A alma it ii 15 note ff at this time the amy of the numbered men and their arms wem very successful at first in harr assing gild and flub subduing duing the Lama aites when mormon was sixteen years of age being large in he was appointed by them the people of nephi to be the of their armies mor it il 1 I 2 the were the com common monand and implacable enemies of the no ne phines they had a separate ga gov ern ment and a king of their own to rule over them and in addition to this Ww powerful erful national foe the ne were harrasser harr assed by a numerous baud band of robbers and murderers who infested the country and joined with the Lama in pillaging and murdering their brethren these freebooters were led by a most moot daring and desperate character named Gad Gadi lanton anton and one of the sacred historians declares that this Gadi anton did prove the overthrow yea almost the entire destruction of the people of nephi 11 hela ii 1 13 war and devastation went on for many years between the rival factions with intervening seasons of cessations and peace in the years 1 A D the Lama came against the Nep hites and were defeated by the latter these victories wade made them vainglorious vain glorious and self conceited and in the flush bush of fancied superiority they bound themselves by solemn oaths to revenge their wrongs and cut their enemies off from the face of the earth in consequence of this boastful and ungrateful attitude the voice of the lord proclaimed to mormon because this people repent not after I 1 have delivered deliver them behold they shall be cut off from the race face of the earth mor ill 7 and 15 about two years after this the Nep hites went up against the lam anides but met with defeat and severe loss lose from this time ensued a series of most terrible conflicts the whole land was filled with rapine bloodshed and calamity multitudes were slain on both sides and the combatants were intoxicated with savage ferocity and in their wild frenzy they rioted in mutual atrocities unparalleled in the annals of civilized warfare mormon says and it is impossible for the conre tongue to describe or for man to write a perfect description of the horrible scene of blood and carnage which was among the people eople both of the Nep hites and of the the e laman ites itee and every heart was hardened so that they delighted in the shedding of blood continually mor iv 11 women and children eb ildren were offered in sacrifice flee to their idol gods verses 14 and 21 in the second epistle of mormon to his son moroni the prophet gives a most graphic and touching picture of the woeful scenes in which he himself took an active though unavailing part the people had bad lost their love one towards another they thirsted after blood and revenge con they fod fed women upon the flesh of their slain husbands and children upon the flesh of their fathers for behold many of the daughters of the Lama have they taken prisoners and after depriving them of that which which was most dear and precious above all things which is chastity and virtue and af after ter they had done this thing they did murder them in a most cruel manner torturing their bodies even unto death and after they have done this they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts because of the hardness of their hearts and they do it for a token of bravery moroni ix 9 10 about the year the distressed leader of the Nep hites wrote to the king of the Lama requesting permission to collect together the scattered remnants of his people and locate them in the land of cumorah and there to give the Lama battle which request was granted mormon vi A I 1 and 8 there was a hill called cumorah in that locality and the vicinity of this hill bill was the fatal gathering place of the people of nephi As stated in a previous article this section of country is in 11 the present state of new york and the hill cumorah is situated in ontario county of that state it was upon this very soil that nearly ten centuries before the last and fiercest battles of were fought and that race became extinct with the fatal duel between shiz and the situation of the Nep hites was now painful and distressing dib in the extreme the battered and dis heartened remnants of the army JI the delicate women and the innocent children had gathered for the final struggle had been assembled to the cruel and horrible slaughter the devoted assemblage saw the enemy in all the dread panoply of war approaching and it would seem that th they were utterly helpless before him the Lama fell upon them with sword and axe and all manner of murderous weapons and hewed them down as grass is cut with scythes twenty two captains having each ten thousand men under bomm command nil were slain with their entire companies the women and children suffered a like cruel fate mor vi 4 20 twenty four only escaped with their lives from slaughter but this was only to increase their sufferings and postpone their fate as we learn that after the great and tremendous battle at cumorah the Nep hites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lama Laina nitea until they were all oe de st royed mor kiil 2 this thia was written by moroni who adds and my father also was killed by them and 1 I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people but behold th they are gone and I 1 fulfill the com commandment of my father and whether they will slay me I 1 know not verse 3 the picture here presented of the fearfully demoralized condition of the only race which remained upon the american continent at the close of the fourth century after christ goes far to clear up the mystery of the fallen and barbarous condition in which the aboriginal races were found shut off from all contact and communication with the civilized world what else could be el expected what else does experience teach than that the Lama would not only not reform their lives and recover their high state of national dignity but that they would retrograde and sink lower and lower until they reached their present degraded condition this was the tendency of the race when moroni their last historian closed the record just previous to his inhumation of the plates this is his last historical notice four hundred years after christ behold the Lama have hunted my people the Nep NeD hites bites down from city to city and and from place to place even until they are no more and great has been their fall yea great and marvelous marve laus Is ia the destruction of my people the Nep Ne philes hites and behold it is the hand of the lord which hath done it and behold also the laman ites are at war one with ano another thery and the whole face of this land to Is one continual round of murder and bloodshed and no one the end of the war and now behold I 1 say no more concerning them for there are none save it be the Lama and robbers that do OX ex upon the face of the land mor vill viii 79 the decadence and almost the total extinction of the people of nephi were a befitting sequel to A train of successive wars and wholesale tragedies extending through many centuries we have a already dy 1 adduced from authentic and respectable spec table sources evidences of stupendous idous milleray mill mili tray operations upon 9 wide area am of country in the new world these writers and explorers attest the existence of military works and the wrecks of the ba atle field in endless variety and extent the historical part of the book of mormon is principally taken up OP with the vicissitudes of governments and reigning monarchs monar cbs f dials of the movements of armies the sickening details of sanguinary inflicts assassinations murders victories stories and defeats with the consequent results of distress privation and misery this is equally true of bath the first settlers and their suc oes sols but the records of the latter race mee the Nep hites are much waller fuller and more compre comprehensive than the brief annals of the former the built large cities and encircled them with thick high walls and nd fortifications trenches anaf threw up extensive earth works they wore armor of breast plates and very thick garments of skins alma alix 6 also arm shields and head plates alma alm W alvi 13 they had weapons of all a kinds and these were very effective mor vi 9 alma am 44 A and before they became so degraded as 48 to be lost to every noble senti boyat ht they possessed in a marked m aked lagree ree that love for liberty a and ral res for social rights which ch has anguished ngui shed ci civilized and cultured aple P in all ages j add A now it came to pass that when moroni not moroni the son of i mormon who was the chief com ader of the armies of the ne philes had heard of these dissen Qs he was angry with an ah and it came to pass that he be rent nt his coat I 1 and he took a piece thereof hereof 1 an and d wrote upon lt it rn in memry 0 of ow god GA ow our religion re and reea aw and our peace and our teijo div and our cawren and he fastened it upon the end of a pole thereof and he fastened on his hia head plate and his breast t and his shields and girded on aw I 1 8 armor armor about his loins and he took ck the pole which ha hal I 1 on the end beof 0 f his rent coat and he called title of liberty and he bowed to the earth and he prayed unto his god for the bless NO bf K I ot of liberty to rest upon his hren ethren alma alvi 11 1113 13 ith regard to fortifications allua writes rites t 67 they knew not that moroni 1 d l fortified 0 or had built forts of land T for every ev ery city in au all the i 10 round about now behold in d the Lama could not get ito oth daber their ir forts forte of security se rity by y any aay eat ul way save by the entrance beof the highness of the bank had h been thrown up and the depth ath of the ditch which had been fag S the round about save it were by lae I 1 ance and thus were the altes prepared to destroy all to aa should attempt to climb up b the fort by any other way lc X casting ng over stones and arrows at 4 and instead of f 1114 UP their ditches by pulling pulling filled aln the e banks of earth they were sa up P in a measure with their ead and wounded bodies al a hans A 1822 18 22 the ty bountiful was waa a place of orenee oi enee strength owl to owing ng a strong ww of timbers and earth of great height and a ditch of corresponding depth and as an evidence of the skill and efficiency of military commanders of those times we quote further and it came to pass that after the Lama had finished burying their dead and also the dead id of the Nep hites they were marched back into the land bountiful and tean cum by the orders of moroni caused that they should commence laboring in digging a ditch round about the land or the eity bountiful and he caused that they should build a breastwork of timbers upon n i the inner bank of the ditch and they cast up dirt out of the ditch against the breastwork of timbers and thus did they cause the laman ites to labor until they had encircled the city of bountiful round about with a strong wall of timbers and earth to an exceeding height and this cit city became an exceeding strong hotd hold ever after and in this city they did guard the prisoners of the Lama yen yea even within a wall which they had caused them to build with their own hands NOV no moroni was compelled pe red to cause the Lama Lam aultes to labor because it were easy to guard them while at their labor and he desired all his forces when he be should make an attack upon the Lama 11 alma ill 35 3 5 we will now offer a few selections from out witnesses confair confirmatory ma tory of the truth of what the book of mormon affirms upon the points just quoted the whole of the space so separating at the allega alleghenies anies from the bocky y mountains affords a succession of in trenched camps campo fortifications generally made of earth these were used as ramparts stockades and trenches near many eminences and nearly every junction of two rivers war was evidently an important arta n t subject with the mound V builders 1 prehistoric pre historic america page 88 another remarkable instance of the skill and topographical ingenuity of the ancestors of the red bed men is shown in the selection of their city site and locations for forts the present cities of cincinnati st lout louis newark portsmouth frankfort liew tew madrid and nd many others flourish today upon situations chosen as sites for cities and strongholds strong holds by those ancient engineers we quote further chillicothe Chilli to is one of the most curious fortified en enclosures chures of ohio the walls a rare occurrence are age of stone built up without cements cement presenting a striking resemblance to the ancient prehistoric pre historic forts forte of bel g gium alum a and nd the north of prance france the he closing ridge measures more than two miles and three entrances can be made out defended by mounds which made access more difficult dr jones in his contributions to the smithsonian institute vol 22 page 4 says A connected system of aiom stretches the state of ohio in a dJa diagonal gunaL direction also along rqn the big harpeth harleth river tenn Earth are very numerous all these |