Mormon Battalion poem

L. Tom Perry Special Collections is pleased to announce the availability of a new digitized collection: Mormon Battalion poem (MSS SC 2224). This is a handwritten poem commemorating the activities of the Mormon Battalion in service of the United States during the war with Mexico (1845-1848). The item was written in ink. “By John Hancock who went in the Battalion in 1847” has been penciled in at the bottom of the item in another hand. No John Hancock is listed among members of the battalion, but this may be Levi Hancock, a descendant of John Hancock, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a member of the Mormon Battalion who was also a musician.