| 681 bringing in his hands a quantity of chains and padlocks. He said he was commanded by General Clark to put us in chains. Immediately the soldiers rose up and pointing their guns at us, placed their thumb on the cock, and their finger on the trigger; and the State's prison keeper went to work, putting a chain around the leg of each man, and fastening it on with a padlock, until we were all chained together, seven of us.
"In a few moments came in General Clark. We requested to know of him what was the cause of all this harsh and cruel treatment. He refused to give us any information at that time, but said he would in a few days; so we were compelled to continue in that situation, camping on the floor, all chained together, without any chance or means to be made comfortable, having to eat our victuals as it was served up to us, using our fingers and teeth instead of knives and forks.
"Whilst we were in this situation, a young man of the name of Grant, brother-in-law to my brother William Smith, came to see us, and put up at the tavern where General Clark made his quarters. He happened to come in time to see General Clark make choice of his men to shoot us on Monday morning, the 12th day of November. He saw them make choice of their rifles, and load them with two balls in each, and after they had prepared their guns, General Clark saluted them by saying, 'Gentlemen, you shall have the honor of shooting the Mormon leaders on Monday morning at eight o'clock! But in consequence of the influence of our friends, the heathen General was intimidated, so that he durst not carry his murderous designs into execution, and sent a messenger immediately to Fort Leavenworth to obtain the military code of laws. After the messenger's return, the General was employed nearly a whole week, examining the laws; so Monday passed away without our being shot. However, it seemed like foolishness to me for so great a man as General Clark pretended to be, should have to search the military law to find out whether preachers of the gospel, who never did military duty, could be subject to court-martial. However, the General seemed to learn that fact
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