Night was fast approaching, and flags of truce were passing between the two lines, by which we learned that this formidable army was sent out by Governor Boggs with orders to exterminate us. It was finally concluded not to murder us that night, so the army withdrew until the next morning, when they intended to make a final end of Mormonism. They camped for the night on Goose Creek, one mile away from the city. Thus ended one of the most eventful days of our lives. It fell to my lot to stand guard that night, and the worst confusion and disorder ever witnessed by human beings existed in the enemy's camp. This, with unearthly yelling and howling, produced a real pandemonium very much resembling my idea of hell. A sort of breast-work was constructed during the night, made principally of wagons, house logs, etc. A dark and dreary night was that. On the following day, October 31st, we were preparing to meet death, if necessary, rather than surrender our religion to a mob. We trusted in the Lord, however, and a better way was prepared. Colonel Hinkle had been communicating with the enemy during the day, and in the afternoon Joseph Smith and others passed over the breast-works near where I and others were on duty. Colonel Hinkle lead the party to meet the enemy, where he betrayed them into their hands. This treachery on his part turned out for the best, for God suffers offences to come, as in the case of Judas, "but woe to him by whom they come." On the following day, November 1st, 1838, we were marched into a hollow square just outside of the city, where we delivered up about 630 guns, grounded our arms, and advanced to the center of the square, where the small arms and swords were left in a pile. The late Bishop McRae gave six cuts with his sword and a pointer in the ground and left his sword sticking there. We were left without the means of self-defense and at the mercy of a conscienceless set of ignorant, prejudiced people, many of whom, like St. Paul before his conversion, acted as if they were doing God's service in destroying property and abusing the Mormons. My widowed mother's house was plundered and my sister, now living here in Utah, had her clothes taken from her in open day, leaving her destitute of her necessary apparel. General Wilson, who was one of the mobbers in Jackson County, was in company with Joseph Smith soon after he was condemned to be shot. Joseph asked General Wilson what he had done that he should be treated with such indignity, stating that he had always been a supporter of the Constitution and of good government. Wilson's reply was: "I know it, and that is the reason I want to kill you, or have you killed." Subsequently this same Wilson said to P. P. Pratt and others: