A white flag was sent by each party, but judge our surprise, when on enquiring their designs, our flag-bearer was informed that they wanted three men out of our city, and then they designed to massacre the rest. The day following a flag was sent by the enemy, and some of our brethren went and learned that they were commissioned by the chief executive, and that their commission authorized them to exterminate the Mormons _en masse_, and they had three thousand troops to carry these orders into effect. Col. Hinkle went out to meet a flag of truce and secretly made arrangements to deliver up the Church leaders to be tried and punished; to have the property of the Saints delivered over to pay the expenses of the expedition and the damage done to them, and arranged that the Saints should leave the state, and their arms should be delivered up to the enemy. In the evening the first step in this base treachery was taken. Col. Hinkle represented to Brother Joseph and others that the officers of the militia desired an interview in the hope that the matter might be settled without carrying out the exterminating order. They complied with the request, and were delivered up to the mob by Hinkle, and claimed as prisoners of war. They were put into a small hollow square, and strongly guarded; and the enemy set up a most horrid yell, and continued it for hours; the noise was past description, and had there been ten thousand wolves yelling for their prey it would not have been worse. On the morning of November 1st, Hinkle took another step to carry out his nefarious designs. The bugle sounded for the brethren to assemble, armed and equipped. Every man went out well armed and was paraded and delivered over to the enemy. The brethren were surrounded and required to surrender their arms, and were then guarded all day while the rapacious soldiery went from house to house, plundering, pillaging, and destroying, and even driving many helpless women and children from their homes, and committing deeds even worse than these in some instances. A court martial was held by the officers and priests, and without being heard in their own defense, the brethren were sentenced to be shot on Friday morning on the public square in Far West, in the presence of their wives and families. At this imprecedented action General Doniphan objected, saying he would have nothing to do with such cold-blooded actions, and he would draw off his brigade from the army. This probably saved the lives of the prisoners, as the sentence was changed and the prisoners were taken to Independence, Jackson county. The designs of the enemy were, without doubt, to destroy the brethren when they arrived there, but the Lord did not suffer it, for their work was not yet finished. They were thrust into prison and held until a demand was made by General Clark to have them forwarded to Richmond, where they underwent a mock trial and were remanded to Liberty jail to await a further investigation.