A Comparison of

The Book of Mormonand the

The Late War Between the United Statesand Great Britainfirst published Jan 11, 2014

last edited Jan 15, 2014

Joseph most likely grew up reading a school book called The Late War byGilbert J. Hunt and it heavily influenced his writing of The Book of Mormon.

SummaryThe War of 1812 was to Joseph Smith what 9/11 was to many of us—very real,and very recent in memory. Why does The Book of Mormon include so muchwar? Could the War of 1812 have played a part in inspiring Joseph'simagination when he wrote The Book of Mormon?

We believe that like all creative works, The Book of Mormon is a remix—it wasremixed from ideas and books contemporary to Joseph. One of those bookswas Gilbert J. Hunt's The Late War Between the United States and GreatBritain, a historical account of the War of 1812 published in New York in 1816.Between 1817 and 1819 it was marketed "for the use of schools throughoutthe United States" under the title The Historical Reader. It was a historicalaccount of the then-recent War of 1812, written in the "scriptural style". TheBook of Mormon is one book of several in this genre. When The Late War waspublished, Joseph would have been 12 years old.

Interestingly, an academic in New York named Samuel Mitchill wrote a letter ofendorsement for Hunt's work, published in the preface of The Late War. Mitchillwas pleased that a historian had used the "scriptural style" as a popular meansof encouraging children to turn to the Holy Scriptures. When Joseph sentMartin Harris to seek endorsements for The Book of Mormon, one of thepeople he visited was the same Samuel Mitchill. Could Joseph have soughtMitchill's endorsement because of his support for The Late War, a book that

held similarities to TheBook of Mormon?

Without a strong linkbetween the two books,the similarities would bedifficult to explain. Thereare over 100 rare phrasesthat bind The Book ofMormon to The Late War(phrases that do notshow up in othercontemporary books—orif they do, only once ortwice per thousandbooks). In addition, thetwo books use verysimilar language whiledetailing shared eventsand themes such asbattles at forts and rivers,weapons of curiousworkmanship, 2,000soldiers (includingstriplings), bands ofrobbers, martyrs burned,righteous vs. savagenatives, cataclysmicevents, ChristopherColumbus, falseprophets, fighting for thecause of liberty, freemenvs. men of the king, andsilver plates and engravings in brass, among many others (and those furtherdocumented by Ryan Thomas).

Table of Contents1. TL;DR2. Summary3. Table of Contents4. Samuel Latham Mitchill5. Availability to New York Students6. It Came to Pass7. Chiasmus8. Description of the Americas

i. Cureloms as Mammoths?9. Warfare

i. Battles at Fortsii. Battles at Riversiii. Battle Casualtiesiv. Weapons of Warv. 2,000 Soldiers, and Striplingsvi. Band of Robbersvii. Pitching Tentsviii. Burned Martyrsix. Mourning the Dead

10. Native Americansi. Righteous vs. Savage Indiansii. Missionary Work to Nativesiii. Anti-Nephi-Lehis?iv. Three Nephites?

11. Travel by Shipi. Jaredite Barges?

ii. Faraway Lands12. Cataclysms13. Troubling Inception14. Liberty

i. Flocking to a Symbol of Libertyii. Cause of Liberty

15. Spiritual Being Entering Hearts16. Using "Lion" Figuratively17. Christopher Columbus18. Nephi, Fulton Build a Ship19. Liahona?20. Silver Plates, Brass Plates21. False Prophets22. Freemen vs. Kingmen23. Tender Women24. Rare Phrase Matches25. BYU Study 200926. Linguistics

i. Hebraismsii. Cognate Accusativeiii. Whirlwindiv. Adverbialsv. Negative Questionsvi. Construct Statevii. Compound Prepositions

27. Why War?28. Authors29. Credits

Samuel Latham MitchillJoseph Smith probably directed Martin Harris to visit Samuel L. Mitchill, inaddition to Martin's famed visit to Professor Charles Anthon. From the PalmyraFreeman, 1829:

So blindly enthusiastic was Harris, that he took some ofthe characters interpreted by Smith, and went in searchof some one, besides the interpreter, who was learnedenough to English them; but all to whom he applied(among the number was Professor Mitchell, of NewYork,) happened not to be possessed of sufficientknowledge to give satisfaction! Harris returned, and setSmith to work at interpreting the Bible.

In the preface to the 2nd and 3rd editions of Gilbert J. Hunt's The Late WarBetween the United States and Great Britain, Samuel Mitchill endorsedHunt's book which was "written in the ancient historical style" or "scripturalstyle" (the description changed between editions). Mitchill wrote:

“

It seems to me one of the best attempts to imitate thebiblical style; and if the perusal of it can induce youngpersons to relish and love the sacred books whoselanguage you have imitated, it will be the strongest of allrecommendations.

Hunt explained his own intention as well:

The author having adopted for the model of his style thephraseology of the best books, remarkable for itssimplicity and strength, the young pupil will acquire,with the knowledge of reading, a love for the manner inwhich the great truths of Divine Revelation are conveyedto his understanding, and this will be an inducement tohim to study the Holy Scriptures.

Samuel Mitchill was a strong proponent of a theory of the origins of AncientAmericans that is largely compatible with the Book of Mormon:

Professor Samuel L. Mitchill, formerly of ColumbiaCollege, had concluded that two main groups of peopleonce dominated the Americas—the Tartars of northernAsia and the Australasians of the Polynesian islands.Furthermore, they fought one another for many years,

““

“

culminating in great battles of extermination in whatlater became upstate New York. This New York theoryhas much in common with the Book of Mormon. Whilevisiting Professor Charles Anthon in New York in 1828,Martin Harris also met with Mitchill, an encounter thatlent support to Harris's work on the Book of Mormon.— Abstract from A Nation Now Extinct

The endorsements in The Late War are clearly an effort to give the booklegitimacy, hence improving its marketability. Hunt is quite wise in getting theendorsement of Mitchill, who was well-known as a sort of human encyclopedia.The endorsement from Picket (also in the preface to The Late War) would gethim into the educational market, as well. Joseph Smith may well have thoughtthat such an endorsement from Mitchill and Anthon would legitimize the book.— grindael

Ultimately, Mitchill (as well as Charles Anthon), did not endorse The Book ofMormon.

Availability to New York StudentsHow available was The Late War to students of New York? Hunt intended tosell the book to students, but did it reach his intended audience?

1. The number of copies present in libraries today isrelatively large, showing that many copies wereindeed printed; and

2. Most copies which I see show considerable wear,suggesting

i. that they were used heavily over the years,and

ii. that most copies were logically read todeath and no longer survive at all (whichlends more significance—for presumedlarge numbers printed—to the numberwhich still survive, than if those modernsurvivals were all in fresh, unread condition).

— Rick Grunder

“

“

There are 158 copies of The Late War listed in the world's largest open librarysystem, the OCLC:

The OCLC system lists 158 copies of the book, in itsvarious 1816-1819 editions, in libraries worldwide. Plus,there are many smaller libraries which don't participatein the OCLC system, and then there are also individualcollectors. A friend of mine has several copies and soldmany more, much of these in his personal collectionacquired that pre-date Hofmann. — Joe Geisner

It seems the book was widely available at the right time and in the right location,but did it reach Joseph Smith in particular? The probabilistic evidence for this isclear from this research; however, there is further reason to believe that Josephhad access to the book: he was closely connected to at least 3 teachers. Hisfather, Joseph Smith Sr. was a teacher during the off season. His wife, EmmaHale Smith, was also a teacher. In addition, Oliver Cowdery's involvementbegan when as a traveling teacher he lodged with the Smiths.

Another way to look at this question is, given that the War of 1812 was such aprominent historical subject, one that would have been taught and discussedat great length during Joseph Smith's teenage years, what textbook other thanThe Late War was more likely to have been used to cover this subject matter byteachers he knew?

It Came to Pass

“

The Bible The Late War Book of Mormon

390 occurrences of thephrase "it came topass"

76 occurrences of thephrase "it came topass"

1322 occurrences ofthe phrase "it came topass"

790,930 words total inbook

59,679 words total inbook

272,004 words total inbook

Density: 0.049% Density: 0.12% Density: 0.48%

Chiasmus

While chiasmus is a pattern that shows up in many English texts, someconsider it to be an important marker that differentiates modern and ancientstyles of writing. We don't believe this is the case—The Late War containsseveral significant chiastic structures. For instance:

Description of the AmericasBoth books share a striking similarity in their describing the Americas. Thetypes of things worthy of mention are alike—metals, fruits, and animals. It'snoteworthy that The Book of Mormon lists European animals instead ofanimals native to America (such as the tapir); and, oddly, in the same sectionthat The Book of Mormon mistakenly includes elephants as native to America,The Late War mentions the elephant in comparison to mammoths.

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

20:11-16

Now the land ofColumbia is a mostplentiful land, yieldinggold and silver, andbrass and ironabundantly. Likewise, allmanner of creatureswhich are used forfood, and herbs andfruits of the earth: Fromthe red cherry, and therosy peach of the north,to the lemon, and thegolden orange of thesouth. And from the smallinsect, that cheateth themicroscopic eye, to thehuge mammoth that

the Lord began again totake the curse from offthe land, and ... theybecame exceeding rich,having all manner offruit, and of grain, and ofsilks, and of fine linen, andof gold, and of silver,and of precious things;And also all manner ofcattle, of oxen, andcows, and of sheep,and of swine, and ofgoats, and also manyother kinds of animalswhich were useful forthe food of man. Andthey also had horses, and

Ether9:17-19,2 Nephi5:15

once moved on theborders of the riverHudson; on the great riverOhio; and even down tothe country of Patagoniain the south. Now theheight of a mammoth isabout seven cubits and ahalf, and the lengththereof fourteen cubits;and the bones thereofbeing weighed were morethan thirty thousandshekels; and the length ofthe tusks is more than sixcubits. It is morewonderful than theelephant; and the historythereof, is it not recordedin the book of Jefferson,the scribe?

asses, and there wereelephants and curelomsand cumoms; all ofwhich were useful untoman, and more especiallythe elephants andcureloms and cumoms.

And I did teach my peopleto build buildings, and towork in all manner ofwood, and of iron, and ofcopper, and of brass,and of steel, and ofgold, and of silver, andof precious ores, whichwere in greatabundance.

Cureloms as Mammoths?

OrsonPratt saidthat a"curelom"was a

"mammoth":

Now to prepare them against these contingencies, andthat they might, have fresh air for the benefit of theelephants, cureloms or mammoths and many otheranimals, that perhaps were in them, as well as thehuman beings they contained, the Lord told them howto construct them in order to receive air, that when theywere on the top of the water, whichever side up theirvessels happened to be, it mattered not; they were soconstructed that they could ride safely, though bottomupwards and they could open their air holes that

“

happened to be uppermost" (Orson Pratt, JoD 12:340).

See also wikipedia

Warfare

Battles at Forts

The elements of the Croghan/Moroni battles are very similar, sharingphraseology and a basic plot: the protagonist men prepare for battle at theirfort, the enemy attacks, the ditches around the fort are filled with the enemy'sbodies, the enemy flees into the forest.

Some may argue that this structure is a scène a faire—that this is a basicstructure common to many battles; however, there are distinctive elements tothese descriptions that raise the question, how could two battles separated bynearly 2,000 years be described by two different people in so similar a manner?In the context of the strong evidence of a connection between The Late Warand The Book of Mormon is it reasonable to conclude that the structure iscoincidental rather than imitative?

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

29:20-23

But the men of Croghanwere prepared for them;and they let loose theirweapons of war uponthem, and set theirdestroying engine towork, and smote the menof Britain, hip and thigh,with great slaughter.

And the deep ditch thatsurrounded the fort wasstrewed with their slainand their wounded. Sothe host of Britain weredismayed andoverthrown, and fled inconfusion from the fortinto the forest; fromwhence, in the dead ofthe night, they went intotheir vessels, anddeparted from the place.

Moroni ... had beenpreparing the minds of thepeople to be faithful untothe Lord their God; yea,he had beenstrengthening the armiesof the Nephites, anderecting small forts, orplaces of resort; throwingup banks of earth roundabout, to enclose hisarmies, and also buildingwalls of stone to encirclethem about, round abouttheir cities, and theborders of their lands;

Thus they wereprepared, yea, a body oftheir strongest men,with their swords andtheir slings, to smitedown all who shouldattempt to come into their

Alma48:7-8,Alma49:20-25

Now the loss of the menof Britain was about anhundred two score andten; and of the men ofColumbia there was oneslain and seven wounded.

place of security by theplace of entrance; andthus were they preparedto defend themselvesagainst the Lamanites.

And it came to pass thatthe captains of theLamanites brought uptheir armies before theplace of entrance, andbegan to contend with theNephites, to get into theirplace of security; butbehold, they were drivenback from time to time,insomuch that they wereslain with an immenseslaughter. Now whenthey found that they couldnot obtain power over theNephites by the pass, theybegan to dig down theirbanks of earth that theymight obtain a pass totheir armies, that theymight have an equalchance to fight; butbehold, in these attemptsthey were swept off by thestones and arrows whichwere thrown at them; andinstead of filling up theirditches by pulling downthe banks of earth, theywere filled up in ameasure with their deadand wounded bodies.Thus the Nephites had allpower over their enemies;and thus the Lamanitesdid attempt to destroy theNephites until their chiefcaptains were all slain;yea, and more than athousand of theLamanites were slain;while, on the other hand,there was not a singlesoul of the Nephites

which was slain. Therewere about fifty who werewounded, who had beenexposed to the arrows ofthe Lamanites throughthe pass, but they wereshielded by their shields,and their breastplates,and their head-plates,insomuch that theirwounds were upon theirlegs, many of which werevery severe. And it cameto pass, that when theLamanites saw that theirchief captains were allslain they fled into thewilderness. And it cameto pass that they returnedto the land of Nephi, toinform their king,Amalickiah, who was aNephite by birth,concerning their greatloss.

Battles at Rivers

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

47:2-5 And the battle raged withgreat violence, and themen of Britain strove hardto pass over the rivercalled Saranac; But themen of war of Columbia,who were upon theopposite side of thewater, opposed them,and slew them with greatslaughter. And the braveGrosvenor, and Hamilton,and Riley, and the gallantCronk, drove them backfrom crossing the bridges.Likewise, many were slainin the river, so that thewaters of the Saranac

But Alma, with his guards,contended with theguards of the king of theLamanites, until he slewand drove them back;and thus he cleared theground, or rather thebank, which was on thewest side of the riverSidon, throwing bodiesof the Lamanites whichhad been slain, into thewaters of Sidon, thatthereby his people mighthave room to cross andcontend with theLamanites and the

Alma2:34

were dyed with the bloodof the servants of theking.

Amlicites, on the westside of the river Sidon.

Battle Casualties

Frequent reports of the number slain appear throughoutthe text, rather in the style of the daily reports in theBook of Mormon. And as in the Book of Mormon, near-miraculous differences can occur between casualtynumbers of the wicked vs. the righteous. — RickGrunder, Mormon Parallels

In both books:

The righteous protagonists triumph over the morenumerous foe, and the enemy army consistentlyoutnumbers the righteous protagonists. — RyanThomas, Direct Literary Dependence?

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

8:18-19 Now the slain, themaimed and thecaptives of the host ofBritain that day, wereabout a thousandfighting men: And theloss of the men ofColumbia was aboutthree hundred slain andwounded.

Yea, we did go forthagainst the Lamanites;and in one day and anight, we did slay threethousand and forty-three; we did slay them,even until we had driventhem out of our land. AndI, myself, with mine ownhands, did help to burytheir dead. And behold, toour great sorrow andlamentation, twohundred and seventy-nine of our brethrenwere slain.

Mosiah9:18-19

49:18-20

Nevertheless, theyreceived the reward oftheir unrighteousness, formuch damage was doneto their vessels, and theirslain and wounded weretwo hundred two score

And it came to pass thatthere were two hundred,out of my two thousandand sixty, who hadfainted because of theloss of blood;nevertheless, accordingto the goodness of God,

Alma57:25-26

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“

and ten.

Of the people ofColumbia two only wereslain and seven maimed! ! And the valiant deeds ofSamuel gained him aname amongst the bravemen of Columbia.

and to our greatastonishment, and alsothe joy of our whole army,there was not one soulof them who did perish;yea, and neither wasthere one soul amongthem who had notreceived many wounds.

And now, theirpreservation wasastonishing to our wholearmy, yea, that theyshould be spared whilethere was a thousandof our brethren whowere slain.

49:35-36

35 And the slaughter onboard the ships wasdreadful; and about threehundred of the men ofBritain were slain, andthe Hermes was blownout of the water into theair with an awful noise.The loss of the peopleof Columbia that day,was four slain and fivemaimed.

Thus had Moroni andPahoran obtained thepossession of the city ofNephihah without theloss of one soul; andthere were many of theLamanites who wereslain.

Alma62:26

54:24 Seven hundred of theservants of the kingwere slain; and theirwhole loss that day wastwo thousand sixhundred valiant men,who had fought underWellington, the championof England.

there was a large numberwhich were desirous topossess the land of theirinheritance; wherefore,they went up into thewilderness. And theirleader being a strong andmighty man, and astiffnecked man,wherefore, he caused acontention among them;and they were all slain,save fifty, in thewilderness, and theyreturned again to the landof Zarahemla.

Omni1:28

54:27- The loss of the army of Thus the Nephites had all Alma

28 Jackson was only sevenslain and sevenmaimed, a circumstanceunparalleled in the annalsof history: howbeit, therewere about two scoreslain and wounded uponthe other side of theriver.Now the whole lossof the king's army, fromthe time they cameagainst the country ofLouisiana until theirdeparture, was aboutfive thousand.

power over their enemies;and thus the Lamanitesdid attempt to destroy theNephites until their chiefcaptains were all slain;yea, and more than athousand of theLamanites were slain;while, on the other hand,there was not a singlesoul of the Nephiteswhich was slain.

49:23-24

Weapons of War

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

46:6 And they began toprepare their batteringrams, their bombs andtheir rockets, and allkinds of instruments ofdestruction; and theyentrenched themselvesround about.

Therefore the people ofthe Nephites were awareof the intent of theAmlicites, and thereforethey did prepare to meetthem; yea, they did armthemselves with swords,and with cimeters, andwith bows, and witharrows, and withstones, and with slings,and with all manner ofweapons of war, of everykind.

Alma2:12

19:13 And their weapons ofwar were of curiousworkmanship [footnote:rifles], and they sent forthballs of lead; such as wereunknown to Pharaohwhen he followed theChildren of Israel downinto the red sea.

[Moroni and Pahoran]slew many of them, andtook their provisions andtheir weapons of war.

Alma62:15

54:7 Their polished steels, offine workmanship,glittered in the sun, and

And we multipliedexceedingly, and spreadupon the face of the land,

Jarom1:8

the movement of theirsquadrons was as thewaving of a wheat-field,when the south windpasseth gently over it.

and became exceedinglyrich in gold, and in silver,and in precious things,and in fine workmanshipof wood, in buildings, andin machinery, and also iniron and copper, andbrass and steel, makingall manner of tools ofevery kind to till theground, and weapons ofwar—yea, the sharppointed arrow, and thequiver, and the dart, andthe javelin, and allpreparations for war.

12:12,13:13,50:7

Now these steam-boatswere cunningly contrived,and had abundance ofcurious workmanshiptherein, such assurpassed thecomprehension of all thewise men of the east,from the beginning to thisday.

However, the people ofColumbia were pleasedwith the noble conduct ofJones, and for his valiantacts they gave him asword of curiousworkmanship.

And when Carden cameon board the ship of theColumbia, he bowed hishead, and offered to puthis sword, of curiousworkmanship, into thehands of Decatur.

And it came to pass thatthey did worship the Lord,and did go forth with me;and we did work timbersof curiousworkmanship. And theLord did show me fromtime to time after whatmanner I should work thetimbers of the ship.

And they did make allmanner of weapons ofwar. And they did work allmanner of work ofexceedingly curiousworkmanship.

1 Ne18:1,Ether10:27

2,000 Soldiers, and Striplings

The Late War does not include the phrase "stripling soldiers" like the Book ofMormon; however, it does contain, in various parts, many of the elements that

make the 2,000 stripling soldiers distinctive: striplings who fight, a chosenleader, calling the soldiers a "band", and a decisive victory.

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

19:32 About this time, astripling from the south,with his weapon of war inhis hand, ran up toZebulon, and spake untohim, saying...

6:2 And to a certain chiefcaptain called William,whose sir-name was Hull,was given in trust a bandof more than twothousand chosen men,to go forth to battle in thenorth.

And now behold, as theynever had hitherto been adisadvantage to theNephites, they becamenow at this period of timealso a great support; forthey took their weaponsof war, and they wouldthat Helaman should betheir leader... And now itcame to pass thatHelaman did march at thehead of his twothousand striplingsoldiers, to the supportof the people in theborders of the land on thesouth by the west sea.

Alma53:19-22

22:12 Nevertheless Harrison,and his gallant littleband, fought hardagainst them, and drovethem from before thestrong hold with greatslaughter.

But behold, my littleband of two thousandand sixty fought mostdesperately; yea, theywere firm before theLamanites, and didadminister death untoall those who opposedthem.

Alma57:19

Band of Robbers

Jean Lafitte was a "sea-robber"

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

49:37-38, 1:18

About this time a bandof sea-robbers andpirates, who hadestablished themselvesupon the island ofBarrataria, werecommitting greatwickedness anddepredations and wereready to assist the menof Britain.

But a valiant man,called Daniel, sir-named Patterson,went against themwith his small fightingvessels, and scatteredthem abroad, and tooktheir vessels, anddestroyed their pettyestablishment of sea-robbery.

Now these thingspleased the pirates andthe cruisers and all the

And it came to passthat the Lamanites didhunt the band ofrobbers of Gadianton;and they did preach theword of God among themore wicked part ofthem, insomuch thatthis band of robberswas utterly destroyedfrom among theLamanites.

And it came to passthat it was expedientthat there should be astop put to this work ofdestruction; thereforethey sent an army ofstrong men into thewilderness and uponthe mountains tosearch out this band ofrobbers, and todestroy them.

Helaman6:37,Helaman11:28,30

sea-robbers of Britainmightily, inasmuch asthey could rob withimpunity thecommerce ofColumbia, under thecloak of British honor.

And it came to pass inthe commencement ofthe eighty and first yearthey did go forth againagainst this band ofrobbers, and diddestroy many; andthey were also visitedwith muchdestruction.

There are numerous references to destroying robbers in the Book of Mormonand none in the Bible. While there are no doubt other potential sources (and Iwouldn't make the claim that the robbers in the Book of Mormon are solelybased on this one passage) it is interesting that both the Late War and theBook of Mormon speak of going against the band of robbers and destroyingthem. — Hasa

Pitching Tents on the Borders

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

11:17 And the army of Columbiawent into winter quarters;for the earth was coveredwith snow, and thewaters of the greatlakes, on the borders ofwhich they had pitchedtheir tents, werecongealed.

... And it came to passthat Teancum and hismen did pitch their tentsin the borders of the landBountiful; and Amalickiahdid pitch his tents inthe borders on thebeach by the seashore,and after this mannerwere they driven.

Alma51:32

Burned Martyrs

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

14:39-41

For the savages put theburning brand to thehouses, from which theycould not flee, and burntthem alive therein. Andthe flames and thesmoke arose! and theircries and their groans

And when Amulek sawthe pains of the womenand children who wereconsuming in the fire, healso was pained; and hesaid unto Alma: How canwe witness this awfulscene? Therefore let us

Alma14:10-11

reached the highchancery of heaven,Where they will standrecorded, until thecoming of that Day forwhich all other dayswere made.

stretch forth our hands,and exercise the power ofGod which is in us, andsave them from theflames. But Alma saidunto him: The Spiritconstraineth me that Imust not stretch forthmine hand; for behold theLord receiveth them upunto himself, in glory; andhe doth suffer that theymay do this thing, or thatthe people may do thisthing unto them,according to the hardnessof their hearts, that thejudgments which he shallexercise upon them in hiswrath may be just; and theblood of the innocentshall stand as a witnessagainst them, yea, andcry mightily againstthem at the last day. ...Now it came to pass thatwhen the bodies of thosewhich had been cast intothe fire, were consumed,and also the recordswhich were cast in withthem

Mourning the Dead

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

19:57-60

Oh! earth, how long shallthy inhabitants delight inwarfare? when shall theold men cease to weepfor their children? Beholdyou lonely widows; theyweep for their husbandsand their children; butthey shall see theirfaces no more! The fairdaughters of Columbia

And my soul was rentwith anguish, because ofthe slain of my people,and I cried: O ye fairones, how could ye havedeparted from the ways ofthe Lord! O ye fair ones,how could ye haverejected that Jesus, whostood with open arms toreceive you! Behold, if ye

Mormon6:16-20

sigh for the return of theirbeloved. Seest thou thoselittle ones? they fly to theirdisconsolate mother, theyleap with joy at the nameof the father! but he shallnever return!

had not done this, yewould not have fallen. Butbehold, ye are fallen, and Imourn your loss. O ye fairsons and daughters, yefathers and mothers, yehusbands and wives, yefair ones, how is it that yecould have fallen! Butbehold, ye are gone, andmy sorrows cannot bringyour return.

And it came to pass thatmany means were devisedto reclaim and restore theLamanites to theknowledge of the truth;but it all was vain, for theydelighted in wars andbloodshed, and they hadan eternal hatred againstus, their brethren. Andthey sought by the powerof their arms to destroy uscontinually.

Jacob7:24

Native Americans

Righteous Indians vs. Savage Indians

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

1:19(Grunderp. 731)

Furthermore, have not theservants of the kingleagued with thesavages of thewilderness, and givenunto them silver and gold,and placed the destroyingengines in their hands?Thereby stirring up thespirit of Satan withinthem, that they mightspill the blood of thepeople of Columbia;

But it came to pass in thefifty and sixth year of thereign of the judges, therewere dissenters whowent up from theNephites unto theLamanites; and theysucceeded with thoseothers in stirring themup to anger against theNephites; and they wereall that year preparing forwar.

Helaman4:4

even the blood of our oldmen, our wives, and ourlittle ones!

Missionary Work to Natives

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

26:18-21(Grunder,p. 731)

Now there were someamongst the tribes ofthe savages who hadbeen instructed in theways of God, andtaught to walk in thepath of righteousness;For the chief governor ofthe land of Columbia,and the greatSanhedrim of thepeople, had taken themunder their care, Andsent good menamongst them topreach the gospel,and instruct them in thesublime doctrine of theSaviour of the world.And they hearkenedunto the preachers,and were convinced,and their natures weresoftened.

yea, having beeninstructed in the sameknowledge of the Lord...

Now it came to pass thatafter the sons of Mosiahhad done all thesethings, they took a smallnumber with them andreturned to their father,the king, and desired ofhim that he would grantunto them that theymight, with these whomthey had selected, go upto the land of Nephithat they might preachthe things which theyhad heard, and that theymight impart the wordof God to their brethren,the Lamanites--

and [Ammon] also madeknown unto themconcerning the comingof Christ ...

And it came to pass thatafter he had said allthese things, andexpounded them to theking, that the kingbelieved all his words.

Alma47:36,Alma18:1,39,40

26:21 And they hearkenedunto the preachers, andwere convinced, andtheir natures were

And behold, I [theLamanite king] thank mygreat God that he hasgiven us a portion of his

Alma 24:8

softened. Spirit to soften ourhearts, that we haveopened acorrespondence withthese brethren, theNephites.

Anti-Nephi-Lehis?

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

26:22-28

Amongst these tribes [thetribes of the savageswho had beeninstructed in the waysof God, see above] werethose who were called,the Six nations of New-York Indians: And theireyes were opened, andthey saw the evil and thewickedness of Britain. Sotheir chiefs and theircounsellors rose up andmade war against theprovince of Canada, andfought against the hiredsavages of the king ofBritain. But in all their actsthey suffered not the spiritof barbarians to rule overthem. They rememberedthe good counsel given tothem by their aged chief.And when the redsavages and the men ofBritain fell into theirhands, they raisedneither the tomahawknor the scalping knife.Nay, they treated themkindly; and those whowere slain in battle theydisturbed not; and theirhumanity exceeded thehumanity of the whitemen of Britain.

Now there was not onesoul among all the people[the Anti-Nephi-Lehis]who had been convertedunto the Lord that wouldtake up arms againsttheir brethren; nay, theywould not even make anypreparations for war; yea,and also their kingcommanded them thatthey should not.

And now it came to passthat when the king hadmade an end of thesesayings, and all the peoplewere assembled together,they took their swords,and all the weaponswhich were used for theshedding of man'sblood, and they didbury them up deep inthe earth.

And thus we see that,when these Lamaniteswere brought to believeand to know the truth,they were firm, and wouldsuffer even unto deathrather than commit sin;and thus we see that theyburied their weapons ofpeace, or they buried theweapons of war, for

Alma24:6,17, 19

peace.

Three Nephites?

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

35:19 And he marched with hisarmy through thewilderness more than anhundred miles, to a townbuilt upon a place calledby the savages the Holy-Ground, where three ofthe Indian prophetsdwelt.

And when he had spokenunto them, he turnedhimself unto the three,and said unto them: Whatwill ye that I should dounto you, when I am goneunto the Father? ...Behold, I know yourthoughts, and ye havedesired the thing whichJohn, my beloved, whowas with me in myministry, before that I waslifted up by the Jews,desired of me. Therefore,more blessed are ye, for yeshall never taste of death;but ye shall live to beholdall the doings of theFather unto the children ofmen, even until all thingsshall be fulfilled accordingto the will of the Father,when I shall come in myglory with the powers ofheaven.

Therefore the truebelievers in Christ, and thetrue worshipers of Christ,(among whom were thethree disciples of Jesuswho should tarry) werecalled Nephites, andJacobites, andJosephites, andZoramites.

3 Nephi28:4-7,4 Nephi1:37

Travel by Ship

Jaredite Barges?

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

52:4,28:12,15:30

Now they sat theirengines to work withdreadful violence; but inabout the third part of anhour the barges of theking's ship wereovercome.

Howsoever, they cutdown the tall trees of theforest, and hewed them,and built many morestrong vessels; althoughthey had no gophar-woodamongst them in thesedays. And they madestories to them, even tothe third story, and theyput windows in them,and they pitched themwithin and without withpitch; after the fashion ofthe ark.

And the fish of the sea,even the mighty whales,fled from the noise of theship.

And it came to pass thatthe brother of Jared didgo to work, and also hisbrethren, and builtbarges after the mannerwhich they had built,according to theinstructions of the Lord.And they were small, andthey were light upon thewater; and they were builtafter a manner that theywere exceeding tight;even that they would holdwater like unto a dish; andthe bottom thereof wastight like unto a dish; andthe sides thereof wastight like unto a dish; andthe ends thereof werepeaked; and the topthereof was tight like untoa dish; and the lengththereof was the length ofa tree;

O Lord, behold I havedone even as thou hastcommanded me; and Ihave prepared thevessels for my people,and behold, there is nolight in them. Behold, OLord, wilt thou suffer thatwe shall cross this greatwater in darkness? Andthe Lord said unto thebrother of Jared, What willye that I should do that yemay have light in yourvessels? For behold, yecannot have windows,for they will be dashed inpieces; neither shall yetake fire with you, for ye

Ether2:17,Ether2:23,Ether6:7

shall not go by the light ofthe fire: for behold, yeshall be as a whale in themidst of the sea;

And it came to pass thatwhen they were buried inthe deep, there was nowater that could hurtthem, their vessels beingtight like unto a dish, andalso they were tight likeunto the ark of Noah;

Faraway Lands

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

15:2-3,6-7

It came to pass, thatone of the strong shipsof the king hadapproached the countryof the south, which liethmany thousand miles off.And the ship was calledJava, after one of thesweet scented islands ofthe east; where the poppyflourishes, where the heatof the sun is abundant,and where the BohonUpas emits its deadlypoison ... So as hepassed along, nigh untothe coast of Brazil, wherethe sun casteth theshadow of a man to thesouth at noon day: (Aplace unknown to thechildren of Israel, in thedays of Moses)

And it came to passthat one other ship alsodid sail forth; and whithershe did go, we know not.And it came to pass thatin this year there weremany people who wentforth into the landnorthward. And thusended the thirty andeighth year.

Alma63:8-9

CataclysmsThe Late War Book of Mormon

Location Quotation Quotation Location

19:37-44

But as the young manreturned to where thearmy stayed, behold! theblack dust in the holdcaught fire, and it rent theair with the noise of athousand thunders: Andthe whole army fell downupon their faces to theearth; and the stones, andthe fragments of rocks,were lifted high; and thefalling thereof was terribleeven unto deaths Yea, itwas dreadful as themighty earthquake,which overturnethcities. And the wholeface of the earth roundabout, and the army ofZebulon, wereovershadowed withblack smoke; so that, fora time, one man saw notanother: But when theheavy clouds of smokepassed away towards thewest, behold the earthwas covered with thekilled and the wounded.Alas! the sight wasshocking to behold; asthe deed was ignoble.About two hundred menrose not: the stones hadbruised them; the sharprocks had fallen uponthem: They were wedgedinto the earth: theirweapons of war were bentdown into the groundwith them; their feet wereturned towards heaven;their limbs were loppedoff.

... in that day that he shallsuffer death the sun shallbe darkened and refuseto give his light unto you;and also the moon andthe stars; and there shallbe no light upon the faceof this land, even fromthe time that he shallsuffer death, for the spaceof three days, to the timethat he shall rise againfrom the dead. Yea, at thetime that he shall yield upthe ghost there shall bethunderings andlightnings for the space ofmany hours, and theearth shall shake andtremble; and the rockswhich are upon the faceof this earth, which areboth above the earth andbeneath, which ye knowat this time are solid, orthe more part of it is onesolid mass, shall bebroken up;

And there was also agreat and terribletempest; and there wasterrible thunder,insomuch that it didshake the whole earthas if it was about to divideasunder. And the city ofZarahemla did take fire.And the city of Moronidid sink into the depthsof the sea, and theinhabitants thereofwere drowned. And theearth was carried upupon the city ofMoronihah, that in theplace of the city therebecame a great

Helaman14:7, 3Nephi8:6

mountain. And there wasa great and terribledestruction in the landsouthward. But behold,there was a more greatand terrible destruction inthe land northward; forbehold, the whole faceof the land waschanged, because of thetempest and thewhirlwinds, and thethunderings and thelightnings, and theexceedingly greatquaking of the wholeearth; And the highwayswere broken up, and thelevel roads were spoiled,and many smooth placesbecame rough. And manygreat and notable citieswere sunk, and manywere burned, and manywere shaken till thebuildings thereof hadfallen to the earth, and theinhabitants thereof wereslain, and the places wereleft desolate. And behold,the rocks were rent intwain; they were brokenup upon the face of thewhole earth, insomuchthat they were found inbroken fragments, and inseams and in cracks,upon all the face of theland. And it came to passthat when thethunderings, and thelightnings, and the storm,and the tempest, and thequakings of the earthdid cease—for behold,they did last for about thespace of three hours; andit was said by some thatthe time was greater;nevertheless, all these

great and terrible thingswere done in about thespace of three hours—and then behold, therewas darkness upon theface of the land. And itcame to pass that therewas thick darknessupon all the face of theland, insomuch that theinhabitants thereof whohad not fallen could feelthe vapor of darkness;And there could be nolight, because of thedarkness, neithercandles, neither torches;neither could there be firekindled with their fine andexceedingly dry wood, sothat there could not beany light at all; And therewas not any light seen,neither fire, nor glimmer,neither the sun, nor themoon, nor the stars, forso great were the mistsof darkness which wereupon the face of theland.

In both books we have references to: thunder, large groups of people falling tothe earth, rocks being raised and falling causing deaths, fragments of rocks, theface of the earth, and thick darkness which prevents anyone from seeing eachother or anything around them. It is also interesting that there are mentions ofsinking and drowning in the Book of Mormon which would make more sense ifThe Last War was being used since it includes descriptions of water battles. —Hasa

Troubling InceptionBoth The Late War and The Book of Mormon share an anecdote of leadersconsidering a problem which has never been dealt with before. In The LateWar, it is a military leader, captain Carden, who is troubled with the capture of aBritish war ship as he contemplates the geopolitical implications of the act. InThe Book of Mormon, it is a spiritual leader, Alma, who contemplates whatshould be done with dissenters who are causing trouble in the church, in thecontext of separation of church and state.

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

13:17 And after they had eatenand drank, Cardenopened his mouth, for hewas troubled in hismind, and spake untoDecatur, saying: Lo! if thisthing which hathhappened be knownunto the king, that one ofthe vessels of Britain hathstruck her flag, andbecome captive to avessel of the UnitedStates, what shall bedone unto the captainthereof? for such a thinghath not been heard ofamong the nations of theearth.

Now there had not anysuch thing happenedbefore, in the church;therefore Alma wastroubled in his spirit,and he caused that theyshould be brought beforethe king.

Mosiah26:10

Liberty

Flocking to a Symbol of Liberty

The context for the passages in both books is people choosing sides in a civilwar between one side that is loyal to a king and the other side that is in favor of"freedom" from kings. — Juggler Vain

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

6:14 And it came to pass, thata great multitudeflocked to the bannersof the great Sanhedrim.

And behold, I have sent aproclamation throughoutthis part of the land; andbehold, they are flockingto us daily, to their arms,in the defence of theircountry and their freedom,and to avenge ourwrongs.

And it came to pass thatthousands did flockunto his standard, and

Alma61:6,Alma62:5

did take up their swordsin the defence of theirfreedom, that they mightnot come into bondage.

p. 184,2nd ed.

What is that which thebreeze, o'er the toweringsteep, as it fitfullyblows, half conceals, halfdiscloses?

And the star-spangledbanner in triumph dothwave. O'er the land ofthe free, and the home ofthe brave. O! thus be itever when freemen shallstand, Between theirlov'd home, and thewar's desolation. Blestwith vict'ry and peace,may the Heaven rescu'dland, praise the Powerthat hath made andpreserv'd us a nation!Then conquer we must,when our cause it is just,and this be our motto—"In God is our trust;"

[Moroni] rent his coat; andhe took a piece thereof,and wrote upon it—Inmemory of our God, ourreligion, and freedom, andour peace, our wives,and our children—andhe fastened it upon theend of a pole... and hetook the pole, which hadon the end thereof hisrent coat, (and he called itthe title of liberty) and hebowed himself to theearth, and he prayedmightily unto his God forthe blessings of liberty torest upon his brethren, solong as there should aband of Christiansremain to possess theland ... —A chosen land,and the land of liberty.

[Moroni caused the flag tobe] hoisted upon everytower which was in allthe land, which waspossessed by theNephites; and thusMoroni planted thestandard of libertyamong the Nephites.

Alma46:12,36(Grunderp. 729)

Cause of Liberty

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

24:15 But if, peradventure, weshould be overcome, eventhen shall not the sacredcause of LIBERTY

And it came to pass thatMoroni commanded thathis army should goagainst those king-men,

Alma51:17

perish, neither shall thepeople of Columbia bedisheartened.

to pull down their prideand their nobility and levelthem with the earth, orthey should take up armsand support the cause ofliberty.

54:13 And Jackson spake, andsaid unto his captains offifties, and his captains ofhundreds, Fear not; wedefend our lives and ourliberties, and in thatthing the Lord will notforsake us.

And it came to pass thatthe Lamanites promisedunto Alma and hisbrethren, that if theywould show them theway which led to the landof Nephi that they wouldgrant unto them theirlives and their liberty.

Mosiah23:36

Spiritual Being Entering Hearts

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

3:17 Moreover, Satan enteredinto the heart of one ofthe governors of the east,and he was led astray bythe wickedness thereof,even Caleb the Strong.

And behold, the HolySpirit did come downfrom heaven, and didenter into their hearts,and they were filled aswith fire, and they couldspeak forth marvellouswords.

Helaman5:45

Using "Lion" FigurativelyThe Late War Book of Mormon

Location Quotation Quotation Location

17:3,33:11

They hid themselves inthe wilderness; theycouched down as a lion;and as a young lion, theywatched for their prey.

But the army of Columbiarushed upon them withthe fierceness of lions.

And it came to pass thatthe battle becameexceedingly sore, for theyfought like lions for theirprey.

Mosiah20:10

55:21 And it came to pass,when the news of peacewas spread abroad, thatthe temples of the Lordwere opened, and thepeople of Columbiapraised God for hisgoodness; yea, theythanked him that he hadstrengthened their arms,and delivered them fromthe lion's paw.

2:7 But the wickedness of thekingdom of Great Britain,and the cruelty of theprinces thereof, towardsthe peaceable inhabitantsof the land of Columbia,may be likened unto thefierce lion, when heputteth his paw upon theinnocent lamb to devourhim.

Now the people havingheard a great noise camerunning together bymultitudes to know thecause of it; and when theysaw Alma and Amulekcoming forth out of theprison, and the wallsthereof had fallen to theearth, they were struckwith great fear, and fledfrom the presence of Almaand Amulek even as agoat fleeth with her youngfrom two lions; and thusthey did flee from thepresence of Alma andAmulek.

Alma14:29

That they both use 'lion' isn't particularly strange since the bible is full offigurative language around the subject.

What strikes me about this is that there were actually no lions in the Americasat any time during the Book of Mormon period.

So for Joseph to have used lions figuratively is anachronistic in my opinion. Itmakes no sense for him to have used them, it makes no sense for Jesus tohave spoken to the Nephites about Lions, since they wouldn't have beenfamiliar with them, and it makes no sense for Mormon to have used them sincehe wouldn't have known about them either. (Or am I wrong?)

It does make sense if Joseph was being influenced by the Bible and The LateWar. Interestingly, Joseph doesn't use 'eagle' (as does Hunt and the Bible)which wouldn't have been anachronistic in a Book of Mormon setting.

— Mary

Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was a controversial figure—was he a brutal slavemaster, or an inspired leader? Whatever he was, The Late War and The Bookof Mormon share the same high regard for Columbus. The Late War esteemshim so highly that,

Hunt almost always refers to America as the land of"Columbia," following the example of Richard Snowden.— Rick Grunder, Mormon Parallels, p. 732

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

20:3-5,9-10

Moreover the name of thecountry was called afterthe name of a great man,who was born in a placecalled Genoa; being inItalia, on the sea-coast.His name wasChristopher, sir-namedColumbus. As therighteous manstruggleth againstwickedness, so did heagainst ignorance andstupidity.

Now when the peopleheard that Columbushad found a new land,they were astonishedbeyond measure, for itwas many thousandmiles off; moreover,

And I looked and beheld aman among theGentiles, who wasseparated from the seedof my brethren by themany waters; and Ibeheld the Spirit of God,that it came down andwrought upon the man;and he went forth uponthe many waters, evenunto the seed of mybrethren, who were in thepromised land.

1 Ne13:12

“

some of them strove torob him of the honor, andhe was treated wrongfully.But his name was liftedup above his enemies,and it shall not be lost.

Nephi, Fulton Build a Ship

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

50:3-7 Now the name of thisman was Robert, sur-named Fulton; ... likeother men of genius, inthese days, he wasspoken of but slightly atfirst; for the people said,Lo! the man is besidehimself and theylaughed at him;nevertheless, heexceeded theirexpectations. For itcame to pass, that ... hewas enabled to constructcertain curious vessels,called in the vernacular

And it came to pass thatthe Lord spake unto me,saying: Thou shaltconstruct a ship, after themanner which I shallshew thee, that I maycarry thy people acrossthese waters. ... Andwhen my brethren sawthat I was about to build aship, they began tomurmur against me,saying: Our brother is afool, for he thinketh thathe can build a ship; yea,and he also thinketh thathe can cross these great

1 Nephi17:8,17-18,18:1-2,4

tongue, steam-boats.Now these steam-boatswere cunningly contrived,and had abundance ofcurious workmanshiptherein, such assurpassed thecomprehension of all thewise men of the east,from the beginning to thisday;

waters. And thus mybrethren did complainagainst me, and weredesirous that they mightnot labor, for they did notbelieve that I could build aship; neither would theybelieve that I wasinstructed of the Lord. ...and we did work timbersof curiousworkmanship. ... And itcame to pass that after Ihad finished the shipaccording to the word ofthe Lord, my brethrenbeheld that it wasgood, and that theworkmanship thereofwas exceeding fine;wherefore, they didhumble themselves againbefore the Lord.

Liahona?

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

50:24 Now these wonderfultorpedoes were madepartly of brass and partlyof iron, and werecunningly contrived withcurious works, like untoa clock; and as it were alarge ball.

And it came to pass thatas my father arose in themorning, and went forth tothe tent door, to his greatastonishment he beheldupon the ground a roundball of curiousworkmanship; and it wasof fine brass. And withinthe ball were twospindles; and the onepointed the way whitherwe should go into thewilderness.

And now my son, I havesomewhat to sayconcerning the thingwhich our fathers call a

1 Nephi16:10,Alma37:39

Engraved silver "plate" awarded toOliver Perry

ball, or director; ourfathers called it Liahona,which is interpreted, acompass; and the Lordprepared it. And behold,there cannot any manwork after the manner ofso curious aworkmanship. Andbehold, it was prepared toshow unto our fathers thecourse which they shouldtravel in the wilderness.

Silver Plates, Brass PlatesDid The Late War inspireJoseph to consider brass as astorage medium for the deedsof an ancient people?

Historicalinscriptionsor recordsengraved onbrasssurfaces arenotmentioned inthe Bible, butare highlyimportantthroughoutthe Book ofMormon inthe brassplates ofLaban. —RickGrunder,MormonParallels, p.732

In addition to mentioning brass as a medium of record, The Late War refers to a"silver plate" awarded to Captain Oliver Perry from the people (the governmentof Pennsylvania).

“

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

36:26,31:33

But the imaginary evilswhich the children of mencommit are oftentimesgraven in brass, whilsttheir actual good deedsare written in sand.

Likewise, the people gavehim [Oliver Perry] muchsilver plate, withgravings thereon,mentioning his deeds.

And these things whichtestify of us, are they notwritten upon the platesof brass which our fatherLehi brought out ofJerusalem?

And it came to pass thatthe Lord commanded me,wherefore I did makeplates of ore that I mightengraven upon them therecord of my people.And upon the plateswhich I made I didengraven the record ofmy father, and also ourjourneyings in thewilderness, and theprophecies of my father;and also many of mineown prophecies have Iengraven upon them.

And they brought a recordwith them, even a recordof the people whosebones they had found;and it was engraven onplates of ore.

3 Nephi10:17, 1Nephi19:1,Mosiah21:27

False Prophets

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

35:29(Grunder,p. 731)

Manahoee, their chiefprophet, was smitten inthe mouth, and slain,and two other falseprophets were slain withhim.

Now when Alma had saidthese words, Korihorwas struck dumb, thathe could not haveutterance, according tothe words of Alma.

and as he went forthamongst them, behold,

Alma30:50,59

he was run upon andtrodden down, evenuntil he was dead.

4:11-13,35:20

Now, there was a certainhypocrite whose namewas Elijah, and he was afalse prophet in theeast, and led astraythose of littleunderstanding: moreover,he was an hireling, andpreached for the sakeof filthy lucre. And herose up and calledhimself a preacher ofthe gospel, and hiswords were smooth,and the people marvelledat him; But he profanedthe temple of the Lord,and he strove to lead hisdisciples into the wrongway.

Now there were lyingprophets among thesavages, even as therewere in the days of old,among the children ofIsrael; and theyprophesied according totheir own wishes;

O ye pollutions, yehypocrites, ye teachers,who sell yourselves forthat which will canker,why have ye polluted theholy church of God?

And after there had beenfalse prophets, andfalse preachers andteachers among thepeople, and all thesehaving been punishedaccording to their crimes...

Yea, and they alsobecame idolatrous,because they weredeceived by the vainand flattering words ofthe king and priests; forthey did speak flatteringthings unto them.

Mormon8:38,WoM1:16,Mosiah11:7

Freemen vs. KingmenThe War of 1812 has also been called the "2nd War of Independence" becauseit settled once and for all the sovereinty of the United States of America, andseparated the nation from Great Britain. During this conflict, however, thequestion of loyalty arose among the colonists once more—would they be trueto their new and fledling nation ("freemen"), or yield to the strong ties that theyhad to their mother country ("Tories")? This division plays out in The Book ofMormon as a battle of might and will between the "freemen" and the "king-men".

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

3:15-18,38:18

Now it happened aboutthis time that there werenumbers of theinhabitants of the countryof Columbia whosehearts yearned afterthe king of Britain.These men were calledTories, which signifieth,in the vernacular tongue,the blind followers ofroyalty.

Inasmuch as he put thewise men of the king totheir wits end ; for theywere unable to out-sailhim and take him captive.

And it came to pass thatthose who were desirousthat Pahoran should bedethroned from thejudgment seat, werecalled king-men, for theywere desirous that thelaw should be altered in amanner to overthrow thefree government, and toestablish a king over theland.

And it came to pass thatMoroni commanded thathis army should goagainst those king-men,to pull down their prideand their nobility and levelthem with the earth, orthey should take up armsand support the cause ofliberty.

Alma51:5,17

51:7,38:26-27,48:12

Nevertheless, it was sothat the freemen whocame to the defence ofthe city, built strong holdsand forts, and raised upfortifications inabundance, inasmuch asthe whole place was as itwere one camp.

Nevertheless, David saidunto the captains of theking, Come singly, andnot like cowards, uponme ; then shall ye receivethe thunders of thefreemen of Columbiaabundantly; And herliberty shall not suffer,although in the contest yemay destroy my vesselupon the face of thewaters.

With the spirit offreemen, they graspedtheir weapons of war in

And those who weredesirous that Pahoranshould remain ChiefJudge over the land, tookupon them the name offreemen; and thus wasthe division among them:for the freemen hadsworn or covenanted tomaintain their rights, andprivileges of their religion,by a free government.

And except ye grant mineepistle, and come out andshow unto me a true spiritof freedom, and strive tostrengthen and fortify ourarmies, and grant untothem food for theirsupport, behold I willleave a part of myfreemen to maintain thispart of our land, and I willleave the strength and theblessings of God uponthem, that none other

Alma51:6,Alma60:25

their hands, and went outto meet them without fear; resolved to conquer or todie.

power can operateagainst them

Tender WomenThe Late War reveals a cultural attitude toward women that is shared by TheBook of Mormon. Women are often spoken of as "tender" and "fair", prey tothe lusts of men.

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

21:40-43,21:4,35:28

Instead of protecting thetender women, thefairest work of God, thelife of the world; behold!What hast thou done?See! The shrieking matroncast herself into thewaters that she mayescape thy brutalviolence: but all in vain;her garments are tornfrom her; she becomes aprey to thy savage lust.Not she alone, but herdaughter, and her fairsisters, have fallen intothe unhallowed hands,and been defiled! Oh,Britain! The voice ofviolated chastity riseth upagainst thee; the mark ofthe beast is indeliblyprinted in thy forehead:

And the old men, the littlechildren, and the women,yea, the fair daughters ofColumbia, werecompelled to fly from thewickedness of thebarbarians.

Seven hundred and fifty ofthe savage warriors were

And it came to pass thatthose who tarried withtheir wives and theirchildren caused that theirfair daughters shouldstand forth and plead withthe Lamanites that theywould not slay them. Andit came to pass that theLamanites hadcompassion on them, forthey were charmed withthe beauty of theirwomen. Therefore theLamanites did spare theirlives, and took themcaptives and carried themback to the land of Nephi,and granted unto themthat they might possessthe land ...

And also it grieveth methat I must use so muchboldness of speechconcerning you, beforeyour wives and yourchildren, many of whosefeelings are exceedinglytender and chaste anddelicate before God,which thing is pleasingunto God;

And I will not suffer, saith

Mosiah19:13,Jacob2:7

found slain in battle; andtwo hundred two scoreand ten women andchildren became captivesto the army of Columbia.

the Lord of Hosts, thatthe cries of the fairdaughters of this people,which I have led out of theland of Jerusalem, shallcome up unto me againstthe men of my people,saith the Lord of Hosts.For they shall not leadaway captive thedaughters of my peoplebecause of theirtenderness, save I shallvisit them with a sorecurse, even untodestruction; for they shallnot commit whoredoms,like unto them of old, saiththe Lord of Hosts. ... Yehave broken the hearts ofyour tender wives, andlost the confidence ofyour children, because ofyour bad examples beforethem; and the sobbings oftheir hearts ascend up toGod against you. Andbecause of the strictnessof the word of God, whichcometh down againstyou, many hearts died,pierced with deepwounds.

Rare Phrase MatchesThese phrases are rare—meaning that they are not found in othercontemporary books of Joseph's time, and that they are not found in the KingJames Version of the bible. The strength of the argument that The Book ofMormon is a remix of The Late War rests on the cumulative improbability offinding all of these phrases somewhere else. No other book, aside from TheFirst Book of Napoleon, approaches the density of rare phrases (4grams,specifically) that are shared by The Book of Mormon.

(For further information about this graph, see Hidden in Plain Sight onAskReality.)

Note that there are perhaps thousands of matching phrases between TheLate War and The Book of Mormon, but we do not consider "commonphrases" to be important in linking the two books. For example, phrases fromthe bible that are found in both books such as "Blessed are the peace-makers,for they shall be called the children of God" do not meaningfully connect thetwo—it's simply understood that they have a common ancestor, and we ignorethose influences.

Word phrases that match exactly are bold red; words that are synonymous,or have some connection (but not an exact match) are italicized orange.

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

34:10 But it came to pass, inthe same year, that thepeople of Columbiawere revenged of the evil:

And it came to passthat in the same yearthat the people ofNephi had peacerestored unto them,

Alma50:37

2:9 And if, peradventure, thepeople of Columbia goout not to battle againstthe king, then will themanifold wrongscommitted against thembe increased tenfold, andthey shall be as a mockand a bye-word amongall nations.

And because they turnedtheir hearts aside, saiththe prophet, and havedespised the Holy one ofIsrael, they shall wanderin the flesh, and perish,and become a hiss anda by-word, and be hatedamong all nations.

1 Nephi19:14

3:33-34 Now the smooth words of Laman was angry with 1 Nephi

80Comparison ofThe Book of

Satan tickled Calebmightily, and hehearkened unto thecounsel of the wickedone. For the goodcounsel given unto himwas as water thrownupon a rock.

me, and also with myfather; and also wasLemuel, for hehearkened unto thewords of Laman

O that cunning plan ofthe evil one! O thevainness, and the frailties,and the foolish of men!When they are learned,they think they are wise,and they hearken notunto the counsel ofGod, for they set it aside,supposing they know ofthemselves. Wherefore,their wisdom isfoolishness, and itprofiteth them not.

3:28, 2Nephi9:28

15:2,7 It came to pass, thatone of the strong shipsof the king hadapproached the countryof the south, which liethmany thousand miles off...(A place unknown to thechildren of Israel, in thedays of Moses)

And it came to passthat one other ship alsodid sail forth; and whithershe did go, we knownot. And it came to passthat in this year therewere many people whowent forth into the landnorthward.

Alma63:8-9

23:24-25

The officers and soldiersof Columbia foughtbravely, and there weremany slain and woundedon both sides;Nevertheless, the armyof the United Statesrested nigh unto theplace.

And it came to pass thatthey fought on bothhands with exceedingfury; and there weremany slain on bothsides; yea, and Moroniwas wounded and Jacobwas killed.

And it came to pass thathe fought with Lib, inwhich Lib did smite uponhis arm that he waswounded; nevertheless,the army of Coriantumrdid press forward uponLib, that he fled to theborders upon theseashore.

Alma52:35,Ether14:12

43:11-12

For, in the mean time,Hardy had sent amessenger to theinhabitants, saying, If yewill not prove wicked,and will refrain fromsending your eviltorpedoes amongst ourvessels, then will wespare your town.

But God did call on men,in the name of his Son,(this being the plan ofredemption which waslaid) saying: If ye willrepent and harden notyour hearts, then will Ihave mercy upon you,through mine OnlyBegotten Son;

Alma12:33

26:1 AND it came to pass, onthe fourth day of theseventh month, which isthe birth day of ColumbianLiberty andIndependence,

I went on rebellingagainst God, in thewickedness of my heart,even until the fourth dayof this seventh month,which is in the tenth yearof the reign of the judges.

Alma10:6

3:32 Then shall thy name beproclaimed with thesound of the trumpetthroughout all the earth ;and thou shalt be aprince and a ruler overthis people.

...on the morrow I shallproclaim unto this mypeople out of mine ownmouth that thou art aking and a ruler overthis people, whom theLord our God hath givenus.

Mosiah1:10

2:8 Nevertheless, the lambshall not be slain; for theLord will be his deliverer.

Now we see that Ammoncould not be slain, forthe Lord had said untoMosiah, his father: I willspare him, and it shall beunto him according to thyfaith—therefore, Mosiahtrusted him unto theLord.

Alma19:23

53:4 So it came to pass, thatthey gathered togethertheir army ... and thename of the chiefcaptain of the navy wasCochrane

And it came to passthat they gatheredthemselves together,and did consecrate Amlicito be their king.

And it came to passthat they gatheredtogether all their people;yea, all the people of theLord ...

Alma2:9,Alma27:14

35:42 For although the king, And they journeyed in the Omni

who calleth himself ourfather, across the greatwaters, did put theinstruments of death intoour hands, and give usthe black dust inabundance; neverthelesshe deceived us;

wilderness, and werebrought by the hand ofthe Lord across thegreat waters, into theland where Mosiahdiscovered them;

1:16

19:3,7 And the vessels of war ofColumbia that were uponthe waters of the lakecalled Ontario, werecommanded by a braveman, whose name wasChauncey. ... On thesame day the sails of thevessels were spread tothe winds of heaven,and they moved towardsa place called Little York,in the province of Canada.

And it came to pass thatthe wind did nevercease to blow towardsthe promised land, whilethey were upon thewaters; and thus theywere driven forth beforethe wind;

Ether6:8

36:5 And in the hope that thewar might speedily cease,and an end be made ofthe shedding of blood, thegreat Sanhedrim of thepeople wished to pushtheir armies into theheart of the provincesof the king, even toMontreal.

And it came to pass thatMoroni and Pahoranwent down with theirarmies into the land ofZarahemla, and wentforth against the city,and did meet the men ofPachus, insomuch thatthey did come to battle.

Alma62:7

48:34-35

Now when the men ofColumbia heard thatRoss, the chief captain ofthe king, was slain, andthe host of Britain wascompelled to flee frombefore the city, theywere exceedinglyrejoiced. And the bravedefenders of Baltimorehad great praise andhonor given themthroughout the land.

And it came to pass thatwhen the servant ofLaban beheld mybrethren, he began totremble, and was aboutto flee from before meand return to the city ofJerusalem.

and they wereexceedingly rejoicedbecause of the libertywhich had been grantedunto them.

Behold, now it came topass that the people of

1 Nephi4:30,Mosiah29:39,Alma45:1

Nephi were exceedinglyrejoiced, because theLord had again deliveredthem out of the hands oftheir enemies; thereforethey gave thanks untothe Lord their God;

44:21 Lo! we are stronger thanthe host of Columbia;therefore, let us go withall our might againsttheir chief city, and makecapture thereof

And thus we did go forthwith all our mightagainst the Lamanites,who were in the city ofManti

Alma58:13

49:15, p.311

Now Lloyd, whocommanded thePlantagenet, was thechief captain of thesquadron of the king

And thirty of thebarbarians were slain,among whom was theirchief captain, whosename was Rais Hammida

Now Gid was the ChiefCaptain over the bandwhich was appointed toguard them down to theland.

Zerahemnah, who wastheir Chief Captain, ortheir chief leader andcommander

Alma57:29,Alma43:44

41:10 The huge engines ofdestruction roared as theloud thunder, and theblaze thereof was likeunto flashes oflightning.

and the brightnessthereof was like untothe brightness of aflaming fire, whichascendeth up unto Godforever and ever, andhath no end

1 Nephi15:30

15:27 Now, after the servantsof the king were takenfrom the wreck

And it came to pass thatall they who loved theking, when they heardthese words, came forthand pursued after theservants of the king.

Alma47:28

10:19 Nevertheless, the sameday a mighty host ofsavages and soldiers ofthe king, came forthagain to battle, andrushed upon the peopleof the United States

And it came to pass thaton the morrow they didgo again to battle, andgreat and terrible wasthat day

Ether15:17

53:17 However, he fought [Moroni] did cause that Alma

bravely against them,and slew numbers ofthem;

his men should marchforth against them, andslew many, andsurrounded many others,and took them prisoners

62:25

55:36 However, when he sawthe strong ships ofColumbia were about todestroy the town, hepaid the money...

And now it came to passthat while he was goingabout to destroy thechurch of God...

Mosiah27:10

p. 44Footnote

when a mighty and ablood-thirsty enemyappeared before hisbattlements

They were a wild, andferocious, and a blood-thirsty people

Mosiah10:12

40:3 And a part thereofmoved towardsPlattsburgh, on lakeChamplain

and a part thereof,brought forth wild fruit

Jacob5:45

38:23 He looked around, andbehold! he saw two ofthe strong ships of Britainapproaching

And it came to pass thathe turned him about, andbehold, he saw throughthe cloud of darkness thefaces of Nephi and Lehi

Helaman5:36

19:11 And the place where thehost of Columbia landedwas to the west of thetown, about twenty andfour furlongs

Therefore, when ye areabout twenty and fouryears old I would that yeshould remember thethings that ye haveobserved concerning thispeople

Mormon1:3

21:33 Nevertheless, theyprevailed over him, andslew seven of his men,and wounded others

I defended thy servantsand thy flocks, and slewseven of their brethrenwith the sling and withthe sword

Alma18:16

p. 314 the great Sanhedrim ofthe people honored himfor his gallant exploits andgave unto him and hisbrave officers andmariners, an hundredthousand pieces of silver

...the first came andstood before my father,and gave unto him abook, and bade him thathe should read

1 Nephi1:11

34:5 Moreover, they were anation of savages thatdwelt in the back-woods

Therefore the Lamanitescould have no morepossessions only in the

Alma22:34

and the wildernessround about the statesof Georgia, Tennessee,and the MississippiTerritory.

land of Nephi, and thewilderness roundabout. ...

6:11 From this place, he sentforth a Proclamation,which the greatSanhedrim had preparedfor him; and the wisdomthereof appeareth evenunto this day.

And the angel of the Lordspake unto me again,saying: Behold the worldand the wisdomthereof

1 Nephi11:35

11:4 [he made a proclamation,]and the words thereofpleased the young men,so that they went innumbers and joinedAlexander

the Lord God will deliveragain the book and thewords thereof to himthat is not learned

2 Nephi27:19

13:20 Now when Carden heardthese words, his heartleaped with joy;

Now when he had saidthese words, his heartwas swollen within him,and he sunk again withjoy;

Alma17:29

19:13 And their weapons ofwar were of curiousworkmanship, and theysent forth balls of lead;

[Moroni and Pahoran]slew many of them, andtook their provisions andtheir weapons of war.

Alma62:15

37:3 And they were eager to beled onto the battle ; butthe term for which theirservices were engagedexpired, and theyreturned every man tohis own house.

[King Benjamin]dismissed the multitude,and they returned,every one, according totheir families, to theirown houses.

Mosiah6:3

20:8 And the place wasinhabited by wildsavages, and they werenaked.

Now the heads of theLamanites were shorn;and they were naked,save it were skin whichwas girded about theirloins

Alma3:5,Mosiah10:8

15:36 The wise men and theorators were mute; theygaped one upon another,and wist not what to

And he shall stand withfear, and wist not whatto say.

Helaman9:30, 3Nephi11:8

say. and they durst not opentheir mouths, even one toanother, and wist notwhat it meant

15:11 Therefore, if ye go over tofight against them, ye willbe as sheep going to theslaughter, and ye shallnever again return to thehouse of your fathers, forye will be destroyed.

And ye shall neverendure the pains ofdeath; ...

3 Nephi28:8

44:11 [Washington] where thegreat Sanhedrimassemble themselvestogether.

... as often as it was intheir power to assemblethemselves together

Mosiah18:25

26:10 However, while they wereyet carrying them away,there came a band ofmen

after some years hadpassed away, therecame a man among thepeople of Nephi

Jacob7:1

2:11 Gird on your swords andgo forth to battleagainst the king; evenagainst the strong powersof Britain; and the LordGod of Hosts be with you.

and he went to battleagainst the king, Amgid,and they fought for thespace of many years

Ether10:32

36:16 Wilkinson, the chiefcaptain who went beforethe host of Columbia, hadbeen sick many days, andwas unable to go forthagainst them himself.

yea, we will go forthagainst them in thestrength of the Lord,and we will put an end tothis great iniquity.

Alma61:18

13:30 But the storm arose, andthe sea beat upon thevessels, and they werecast away, and theyparted asunder, upon anisland which lieth far tothe south, and bothvessels were lost.

and the wild branchesbegan to be plucked off,and to be cast away;and they did keep theroot and the top thereof,equal, according to thestrength thereof.

Jacob5:73

19:6 And Henry and Zebulon,whose surname was Pike,were the chief captainsof the host of Columbia.

And thus he did appointchief captains of theZoramites, they being themost acquainted with thestrength of the Nephites

Alma48:5

48:1 all the barbarities theycommitted atWashington, the chiefcity

Amalickiah marched ... tothe city of Nephi, whichwas the chief city

Alma47:20-21

48:34 the host of Britain wascompelled to flee frombefore the city, they wereexceedingly rejoiced.

Yea, even those who hadbeen compelled to fleefrom the land of Manti, ...And thus beingexceedingly numerous

Alma59:6-7

16:37-38

Now the wise men ofBritain heard those thingswith sorrow; and theyspake one to anotherconcerning the matter:But they wist not what todo;

therefore there arose awarm disputeconcerning the matter,but not unto bloodshed.

Alma51:4

20:6 it came to pass, in thefourteen hundred andninety-second year of theChristian era, that hecrossed the waters ofthe mighty deep

they were driven by Lehiinto the waters of Sidon,and they crossed thewaters of Sidon.

Alma43:40

18:28 after she departed fromthe land of Columbia,and passed a great way tothe south

after he departed fromthe land of Middoni hewas led by the Spirit tothe land of Nephi

Alma22:1

49:40 From whence they sentforth the weapons ofwar and the black dustamong the savages, todestroy the people ofColumbia

Therefore they senttheir armies forth; yea,even the king himselfwent before his people;and they went up to theland of Nephi to destroythe people of Limhi.

Mosiah20:7

53:5 And they essayed to goagainst the city of New-Orleans

Amalickiah would notsuffer the Lamanites togo against the city ofNephihah to battle

Alma51:25

2:15 And the Decree wassigned with the handwriting of James, the chiefGovernor of the land ofColumbia.

Now there was no lawyernor judge nor high priestthat could have power tocondemn any one todeath save theircondemnation wassigned by the governorof the land.

3 Nephi6:22

49:45 Jackson, the chiefcaptain ... granted untohim and his people, eventhe Spaniards.

therefore the king of theLamanites granted untohim and his brethren ...

Mosiah24:1

14:38 Neither did the sick andwounded escape, whohad gatheredthemselves together inthe houses, that theymight be sheltered fromthe piercing cold

And it came to pass thatthey had gatheredthemselves togetherupon the top of themount which was calledAntipas, in preparation tobattle.

Alma47:7

8:5-6 And he spake unto hisofficers and his menthat were under him,saying, Let every man beat his post ...

when Jesus had saidthese words, he spakeunto his disciples, oneby one, saying untothem, What is it that yedesire of me, after I amgone to the Father?

3 Nephi28:1

13:5 [Decatur] used noentreaty with his men, forthey all loved him

Teancum and his men,for they were greatwarriors

Alma51:31

53:24 and the host of Britainarrayed themselves intheir might to go againstthe hold of Jackson withtheir whole force

they did exert themselvesin their might to doaccording to the words ofLachoneus

3 Nephi3:16

1:14 the Prince Regent, whogoverned the nation in thename of the King hisfather; for, lo! the Kingwas possessed of an evilspirit, and his son reignedin his stead.

they were free from theoppressions of the king,his father; for that hisfather had granted untohim that he might reignover the people who werein the land of Ishmael

Alma21:21

7:16 Moreover, the cowardiceof his heart caused him tomake a league with theslaves of the king, in thewhich he gave unto themthe whole territory overwhich the people hadentrusted him to preside

And he gave battle untoShule the king, in thewhich he did obtain theland of their firstinheritance

Ether7:16

7:20 And the band that wentforth, was entrapped atBrownstown, by thecunning savages, that

therefore [Limhi] gatheredhis people together, andlaid wait for them in thefields and in the forests.

Mosiah20:8

laid wait for them

41:8-9 and the battle waxed hotbeyond measure. And itlasted for the space ofseven hours

And there began to be awar between the sons ofAkish and Akish, whichlasted for the space ofmany years

Ether9:12

46:18 Then began theirdestroying engines toutter their voices, and itwas like unto the voiceof mighty thunders

he hath spoken unto youin a still small voice, butye were past feeling, thatye could not feel hiswords; wherefore, he hasspoken unto you likeunto the voice ofthunder, which didcause the earth to shakeas if it were to divideasunder.

And I looked and behelda tree; and it was likeunto the tree which myfather had seen

1 Nephi17:45, 1Nephi11:18

35:32 And so the judgment ofthe Lord fell upon themfor their unrighteousness,and for their wicked andmurderous deeds.

and the severity of theLord fell upon themaccording to hisjudgments, which arejust

Omni1:22

18:9 Moreover, the captain ofthe Hornet was a valiantman, and his name wasLawrence.

Now the leader of thosewho were wroth againsttheir brethren was a largeand a strong man; andhis name wasAmalickiah.

Alma46:3

2:7 But the wickedness of thekingdom of Great Britain...may be likened unto thefierce lion, when heputteth his paw upon theinnocent lamb to devourhim.

And now, the wordswhich I shall read are theywhich Isaiah spakeconcerning all the houseof Israel; wherefore, theymay be likened untoyou, for ye are of thehouse of Israel.

2 Nephi6:5

51:11 were my strength asunimpaired as my love formy country, and that soulwhich still animates me,ye would not have found

For I am assured that if yehad known me ye wouldnot have suffered that Ishould have worn thesebands. For I am Ammon,

Mosiah7:13

me in the rostrum, but inthe midst of the battle!

and am a descendant ofZarahemla ...

29:1 Nevertheless, it cameto pass, that Harrison,the chief captain of thenorth west army, hadplaced a captain, a youngman, in the hold calledFort Stephenson, todefend it.

Nevertheless, it cameto pass that Pahoranwas appointed by thevoice of the people to bechief judge and agovernor over the peopleof Nephi.

Helaman1:5

7:47 Nevertheless, thepeople of the UnitedStates, even the greatSanhedrim, were notdisheartened; neitherwere they afraid

Nevertheless, thepeople of the church didhave great joy becauseof the conversion of theLamanites

Helaman6:3

6:15 Nevertheless, theyknew not that they wereto be entrapt.

And they were a peoplefriendly one with another;nevertheless they knewnot God;

Mosiah24:5

5:4, 33:3 Now the armies of theking of Britain, are theynot numbered and writtenin the book of Hume, thescribe?

Now the army ofProctor was mighty; forhe had a thousandhorsemen

Now the armies of theLamanites, which hadfollowed after the peopleof king Limhi, had beenlost in the wilderness formany days.

Now the army ofZerahemnah was notprepared with any suchthing...

Mosiah23:30,Alma43:20

20:11 Now the land ofColumbia is a mostplentiful land, yielding goldand silver, and brass andiron abundantly.

Now the land of Moron,where the king dwelt,was near the land whichis called Desolation bythe Nephites.

Ether7:6

29:23 Now the loss of the menof Britain was about anhundred two score andten ; and of the men ofColumbia there was oneslain and seven wounded.

Now the loss of men,women and children onboth sides was so greatthat Shiz commanded hispeople that they shouldnot pursue the armies ofCoriantumr; wherefore,they returned to theircamp.

Ether14:31

38:39 Now when the people ofColumbia beheld thevaliant Porter, they wererejoiced with exceedinggreat joy;

And now when thepeople had heard thesewords, they clapped theirhands for joy, andexclaimed: This is thedesire of our hearts.

Mosiah18:11

21:26 Britain in her folly hadinvented a newinstrument ofdestruction, which theycalled Congreve Rockets

the great plan ofdestruction which theyhad laid for those whobelieved in the words ofthe prophets had beenfrustrated

3 Nephi1:16

28:23 Thus committing a sin, byviolating the eighthcommandmant of God,which saith, THOUSHALT NOT STEAL.

For I remember the wordof God, which saith bytheir works ye shall knowthem

Moroni7:5

54:10 the battering-rams of theking began to uttertheir noises

Now the servants of theking began to murmur

Alma17:28

10:16,54:21

and the army of the kingfled: and Chrystie waswounded in the palm ofhis hand.

for the warriors of theking fled in confusion

Now the servants of theking fled; and theservants of Amalickiahraised a cry

Alma47:25

53:16 Jackson went out withhis army against them

Jacob, who was aZoramite, would notcome out with his armyto meet them upon theplains.

Alma52:20

25:6 Now it came to pass, inthe second year of thewar, on the twenty-thirdday of the sixth month,

And now it came topass in the secondmonth of this year, therewas brought unto usmany provisions

Alma56:27

13:28 Not many days after thosethings, it came to pass,that the hearts of thelords and the counsellorsof Britain were rejoiced.

And it came to passthat the hearts of thesons of Mosiah, and alsothose which were withthem, took courage to goforth unto the Lamanites

Alma17:12

3:29 Inasmuch as it may cause therefore, he was about Helaman

the people to rise upone against another, andspill the blood of their ownchildren.

to flatter away thosepeople to rise up inrebellion against theirbrethren.

1:7

32:7 And when he saw themen of Columbiaapproach, he destroyedthe fort

Therefore whenZerahemnah saw themen of Lehi on the eastof the river Sidon, ... theywere struck with terror.

Alma43:53

3:35 But when the chiefgovernor and the greatSanhedrim of the peoplesaw the wickedness ofCaleb, their hearts weremoved with pity towardhim and his followers

Now it came to pass thatwhen Nephi, the son ofNephi, saw thewickedness of hispeople, his heart wasexceedingly sorrowful.

3 Nephi1:10

3:5 For, verily, shall we sufferthese cunning Yankeesto beard the mighty lion ...?

And Alma cried, saying:How long shall wesuffer these greatafflictions, O Lord?

Alma14:26

38:26 Nevertheless, David saidunto the captains of theking, Come singly, andnot like cowards, uponme; then shall ye receivethe thunders of thefreemen of Columbiaabundantly;

by following your Lordand your Savior downinto the water, accordingto his word, behold, thenshall ye receive the HolyGhost; yea, then comeththe baptism of fire and ofthe Holy Ghost;

2 Nephi31:13

19:33-34

Behold! a man of Britainappeareth in the fort ;suffer me, I pray thee, toslay him, for he is busiedwith the destroyingengines: But Zebulonsaid, Nay ; we are yet agreat way off.

I command you to bringAbinadi hither, that I mayslay him: for he hathsaid these things, that hemight stir up my peopleto anger

Mosiah11:28

15:12 Even as the wickednessof the war, which thegreat Sanhedrim havemade, against the king,cannot prosper, so shallye fall a prey to the follythereof.

Even as this scalp hasfallen to the earth, whichis the scalp of your chief,so shall ye fall to theearth except ye will deliverup your weapons of warand depart with acovenant of peace.

Alma44:14

55:29- And the beauty thereof and the beauty thereof 1 Nephi

30 was as if, from the blueand spangled vault ofheaven, it had showereddiamonds; And all thenations of the earthbeheld the glory ofColumbia.

was far beyond, yea,exceeding of all beauty;and the whitenessthereof, did exceed thewhiteness of the drivensnow.

11:8

26:24 So their chiefs and theircounsellors rose up andmade war against theprovince of Canada, andfought against the hiredsavages of the king ofBritain.

... for [their laws] wereestablished according tothe minds of them whichwas their chiefs andtheir leaders.

3 Nephi7:14

14:40 And the flames and thesmoke arose! and theircries and their groansreached the highchancery of heaven,

they did rend the air withtheir cries, and theirhowlings, and theirmournings, for the loss ofthe slain of their people.

Ether15:17

42:20 he took and destroyedtheir strong holds, andslew many of them,

[robbers began to sallyforth from] their strongholds, and their secretplaces

3 Nephi4:1

53:24 the captains and the hostof Britain arrayedthemselves in theirmight to go against thehold of Jackson with theirwhole force.

and they did exertthemselves in theirmight, to do accordingto the words ofLachoneus.

3 Nephi3:16

23:24 The officers and soldiersof Columbia foughtbravely, and there weremany slain and woundedon both sides

And it came to pass thatthey fought on bothhands with exceedingfury; and there weremany slain on bothsides; yea, and Moroniwas wounded and Jacobwas killed.

Alma52:35

15:22 But when Bainbridge,who saw this, came downupon them a second time,they humbledthemselves, and drewdown the British cross.

they humbledthemselves, and puttheir trust in the true andliving God

Alma5:13

42:6 And on the fifteenth day ofthe month, after they had

and they did followAmmon, and they

Alma17:32

prepared themselves,they rushed forth withall their might againstthe strong hold ofColumbia.

rushed forth with muchswiftness, and did headthe flocks of the king

34:6 So about this time theytook their weapons ofdeath in their hands, andwent against the stronghold of Fort Minims

for they took theirweapons of war, andthey would that Helamanshould be their leader

Alma53:19

33:30 when the Prince Regent,and the chief counsellors,and the wise men ofBritain, heard the tidings,for a truth, that their fleetand their army werecaptured, they wereastonished beyondmeasure.

Now it came to pass thatafter Alma and hisbrethren, and his sons,had heard these prayers,they were astonishedbeyond all measure.

Alma31:19

17:17 the slaves of Britain ... forthey were like unto agiant going out against abulrush.

And they were like untothe Jews, which were atJerusalem

1 Nephi2:13

39:9 And he received greatpraise throughout theland for this gallantexploit.

there was a cry of warheard throughout theland; for behold, thearmies of the Lamaniteshad come

Alma16:1-2

46:9-10 In the meantime, Downie,the chief captain of thefleet of Britain upon thelake, had preparedhimself to assist Prevoston a certain dayappointed. When he wasto come out against thefleet of Columbia, whichwas commanded by thegallant Macdonough.

And when we saw thatthey were makingpreparations to comeout against us, behold, Icaused that Gid, with asmall number of men,should secrete himself inthe wilderness

Alma58:16

7:26 Inasmuch as they werecompelled to fleebefore the arms ofColumbia: and Miller gatgreat honor thereby.

And their armies were sonumerous, that theremainder of the peopleof Nephihah wereobliged to flee beforethem

Alma59:8

40:9 it came to pass, thatJacob, the chiefcaptain of the host ofColumbia, ... crossed theriver and captured fort Erie

And it came to passthat Jacob, being theirleader ... led theLamanites forth to battle

Alma52:33

45:23 Now the art of printingwas not known amongthe ancients ; for it wasinvented in these latterdays

therefore Kishkumenwas not known amongthe people of Nephi, forhe was in disguise at thetime that he murderedPahoran

Helaman1:12

28:8 Moreover, thewickedness which hadbeen committed atHampton, was noisedabroad, even from theshores of Virginia to lakeChamplain.

and whosoever of thosewhich belonged to theirband, should reveal untothe world of theirwickedness and theirabominations, should betried, not according tothe laws of their country,but according to the lawsof their wickedness,which had been givenby Gadianton andKishkumen

Helaman6:24

53:16-17

But, that the host ofBritain might bediscomfited at the onset,Jackson went out withhis army against them;but the men of war of tbeking were twofold greaterthan the men ofColumbia, so Jacksonwas unable to drive themaway. However, he foughtbravely against them, andslew numbers of them;albeit, the slain andmaimed of Columbia wereabout two hundred, soJackson drew back tohis entrenchments, andstrengthened himselfthere.

And it came to pass thatTeancum madepreparations to make anattack upon the city ofMulek, and march forthwith his army againstthe Lamanites; but hesaw that it wasimpossible that he couldoverpower them whilethey were in theirfortifications; therefore heabandoned his designs,and returned again tothe city Bountiful, to waitfor the coming of Moroni,that he might receivestrength to his army.

Alma52:17

43:6 Although Hardy, the chiefcaptain of the king'sships, had threatened to

may the peace of Godrest upon you, and uponyour houses and land,

Alma7:27

destroy the place ; saying,Remove from the townyour women and yourchildren, who areinnocent and fight not.

and upon your flocks andherds, and all that youpossess; your womenand your children,according to your faithand good works

BYU Study 2009Sara Cranford study of The Late War, 2009 Topics: Book of Mormon, Translation Author: Gilbert J. Hunt Title of Book: The Late War, Between the United States and Great Britain Title of Article: Title of Periodical: Place of Publication: New York Publisher: Daniel D. Smith Date of Publication: 1819 Library Location: Microfiche Z 1201.S32 Unit 179, 17184-18187

Nature of Source: Grunder describes this as an "essentially naive, jingoistic,but extremely popular panoply of American virtues in the face of Britishwickedness in the war of 1812." However, he justifies putting it on the listbecause Hunt writes his book in biblical style, which, according to Grunder,illustrates "the ease with which works that sounded like the Bible could bewritten and marketed in the early United States."

Comment: The author admittedly tries to imitate Biblical style in his writings. Hedivides his book into chapters and verses and uses similar wording as theBible. His work does not include books (like Matthew, Mark, etc.) but insteadjust has chapter and verse numbers. To the untrained eye, the book clearlydoes resemble Biblical style. However, a trained scholar in ancient texts wouldeasily be able to pick out obvious differences. Furthermore, there is clearly amajor difference in content between Hunt's book and the Book of Mormon.Joseph did not try to merely write a familiar historical event in Biblical fashion.His book was of a content never before heard, an entirely new history, and onethat he claimed to be directly from God.

Excerpt (pages):

"17 Now it was on the eighteenth day of the fifth month,in the same year, in the afterpart of the day..." (310).

"24 Now these things happened nigh unto a placecalled Carthagene, on the borders of Spain, and whenthe Spaniards beheld the skill and prowess of thepeople of Columbia, they were amazed" (311).

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"2 But lo! When his fleet arrived there..." (315).

"39 Now it came to pass, when Jackson heard thatPensacola, the capital of west Florida, had become aresting place for the enemies of Columbia..."(263).

Length of Relevant Material: 317 pps.

HebraismsThe presence of hebraisms and semiticisms in The Book of Mormon isimportant to some scholars, as well as leaders of the LDS church, who believethe Book of Mormon is a translation of an ancient record:

If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming withliterary and Semitic complexity without honestlyattempting to account for the origin of those pages—especially without accounting for their powerful witnessof Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact thatwitness has had on what is now tens of millions ofreaders—if that is the case, then such a person, elect orotherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she leavesthis Church, it must be done by crawling over or underor around the Book of Mormon to make that exit. —Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland

From the FAIR wiki:

The presence of hebraisms does not prove the Book ofMormon is an ancient record, but they suggest that thetranslation was (at times, at least) relatively 'tight,' andrequire the critic to explain where Joseph Smith wouldhave picked up such expressions in rural New York ofthe 1820s.

For a Semiticism to be strong evidence it must be:

present in the Book of Mormon, butnot common to Joseph's language environment(i.e., the KJV, or English of his day.)

— FAIR wiki

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Cognate Accusative

the word denoting the object of a verb is sometimesderived from the same root as the verb itself. "Behold,"says the prophet Lehi, "I have dreamed a dream." —FAIR wiki

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

8:21 And the great Sanhedrimhonored Isaac with greathonor

Behold, I have dreameda dream

1 Nephi3:2

13:4 he spake unto Decatur,saying

And I did teach my peopleto build buildings

2 Nephi5:15

38:39 they were rejoiced withexceeding great joy

1:10-11 therefore they murmured,and their murmuringshave been heard

Whirlwind

Claim:

If Joseph had authored the Book of Mormon ratherthan translated it, he naturally would have used tornadorather than whirlwind as a reflection of his "vocabulary,environment, and perceptions" or his "language andvernacular." He certainly would have had no way ofknowing that whirlwind was the legitimate choice as areflection of Maya languages from Mesoamerica....

Joseph's choice of whirlwind rather than tornado wentbeyond his upstate New York "vocabulary, environment,and perceptions" or "language and vernacular."

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

9:1 NOW the movements ofthe enemy were as themotion of a whirlwind,which passeth from thenorth to the south, and

for behold, the whole faceof the land changed,because of the tempest,and the whirlwinds, andthe thunderings, and the

3 Nephi8:12

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from the east to the west. lightnings

Negative Questions

In Hebrew, questions that require a yes or no answerare prefixed by ha (an interrogative particle), andnegative questions are prefixed by halo (the particle plusthe word for no). In contrast to a "simple question,when the questioner is wholly uncertain as to theanswer to be expected," these negative questions,Hebrew scholars have pointed out, sometimes have an"exclamatory nuance" or "a special force ofasseveration" (i.e., they are being used for rhetoricaleffect, conveying positive or even emphatic force). [...]

One good example of a potentially Hebrew-basednegative question in the Book of Mormon comes fromHelaman 9, where Nephi is accused of murdering thechief judge, Seezoram. In prophetically sending theauthorities to the true assassin, Seantum, Nephiinstructs them to ask Seantum, "From whence comeththis blood [on your cloak]? Do we not know that it is theblood of your brother?" (Helaman 9:32). In other words,"We do indeed know that it is the blood of yourbrother."

— Ben Spackman "Negative Questions in the Book ofMormon", by Ben Spackman, Insights, Vol. 26, Issue 4.

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

3:23-24 For, lo! are not thefighting men of Britain inmultitude as the sand onthe sea shore? and shallwe prevail against them?Are not the mighty shipsof the king spread overthe whole face of thewaters? is not Britain the"bulwark of our religion?"

For do ye not rememberthe priests of thy father,whom this people soughtto destroy? And are theynot in the wilderness?And are not they theones who have stolen thedaughters of theLamanites?

Mosiah20:18

5:4 Now the armies of theking of Britain, are theynot numbered andwritten in the book ofHume, the scribe? is nottheir name a terror to all

... and behold are we notbroken off from the houseof Israel, and are we nota branch of the house ofIsrael?

1 Nephi15:12

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nations?6:38 if injury can be prevented,

shall we not rather withour might endeavor tohelp him?

Know ye not that he washoly?

2 Nephi31:7

16:32 Lo ! are we not thefaithful servants of theking, our master ? havewe not given unto himthe one half of our wholesubstance? ...

Is it not the loftiness ofthy vineyard—have notthe branches thereofovercome the roots whichare good?

Jacob5:48

For behold, are we not allbeggars? Do we not alldepend upon the sameBeing, even God, for allthe substance which wehave ... ?

Mosiah4:19

And now, is not thisgrievous to be borne?And is not this, ouraffliction, great? Nowbehold, how great reasonwe have to mourn.

Mosiah7:23

ye would ask God, theEternal Father, in thename of Christ, if thesethings are not true

Moroni10:4

For behold, doth not myvoice shake the earth?And can ye not alsobehold me before you?

Mosiah27:15

Behold, I can tell you—did not my father Almabelieve in the words whichwere delivered by themouth of Abinadi? Andwas he not a holyprophet? Did he notspeak the words of God,and my father Almabelieve them?

Alma5:11

Now was not thisexceeding joy?

Alma27:18

Is it not as necessarythat the plan ofredemption should bemade known unto thispeople as well as untotheir children?

Alma39:18

Is it not as easy at thistime for the Lord to sendhis angel to declare theseglad tidings unto us asunto our children, or asafter the time of hiscoming?

Alma39:19

They have fled; does notthis testify against them?

Alma47:34

Construct State

When English shows a possessive or descriptiverelationship between two nouns, it usually puts thepossessive or descriptive noun first: the king's house orwood house. Hebrew, however, uses the oppositeorder: house the king (which would usually betranslated house of the king) or house wood (house ofwood). If the Hebrew word order is kept in the Englishtranslation, the word of must be added, even though itdoes not exist in the Hebrew.

The Book of Mormon contains a large number of whatappear to be translations from the Hebrew preservingthe Hebrew word order:

— The Hebrew Background of the Book of Mormon, byJohn A. Tvedtnes

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

3:4 rod of iron... hewers ofwood... drawers of water

rod of iron 1 Nephi8:19

3:33 words of Satan words of plainness Jacob4:14

26:18 ways of God... path ofrighteousness

works of righteousness Alma5:16

15:17 balls of lead... balls of iron chains of hell Alma 5:7

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21:38 pen of iron voice of the Spirit 1 Nephi4:18

skin of blackness 2 Nephi5:21

night of darkness Alma34:33

plates of brass 1 Nephi3:24

Compound Prepositions

Hebrew often uses compound prepositions, made up ofa preposition plus a noun, in places where Englishwould normally use just a preposition. For example,Hebrew uses compound prepositions that would betranslated literally as by the hand of and by the mouthof. English would normally use just by. The Book ofMormon contains many examples that appear to showthe influence of this Hebrew use of compoundprepositions: — The Hebrew Background of the Bookof Mormon, by John A. Tvedtnes

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

43:2 But it was lighted up bythe hand of heaven

ye shall be taken by thehand of your enemies

Mosiah17:18

I have also acquired muchriches by the hand of myindustry

Alma10:4

sold into Egypt by thehands of his brethren

Alma10:3

Hebrew uses another compound preposition thatwould be translated literally as from before the presenceof or from before the face of. English would normally usesimply from. The influence of the Hebrew can be seen inthese Book of Mormon passages: — The HebrewBackground of the Book of Mormon, by John A.Tvedtnes

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

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48:34 the host of Britain wascompelled to flee frombefore the city

they fled from before mypresence

1 Nephi4:28

he had gone from beforemy presence

1 Nephi11:12

they were carried away ...from before my face

1 Nephi11:29

Adverbials

Hebrew has fewer adverbs than English. Instead, itoften uses prepositional phrases with the prepositionmeaning in or with. The English translation of the Bookof Mormon contains more of these prepositionalphrases in place of adverbs than we would expect if thebook had been written in English originally—anotherHebraism. — The Hebrew Background of the Book ofMormon, by John A. Tvedtnes

The Late War Book of MormonLocation Quotation Quotation Location

7:43 with reverence with patience Mosiah24:15

8:48 with joy with joy Jacob4:3

14:21 with great violence with much harshness 1 Nephi18:11

17:15,14:36

in sorrow

in abundance

in spirit and in truth Alma34:38

16:34 in safety in righteousness 1 Nephi20:1

16:37 with sorrow with gladness 2 Nephi28:28

Why War?Lesson 31: "Firm in the Faith of Christ", Book of Mormon Gospel DoctrineTeacher's Manual, (1999), p.138

"Why do you think Mormon included so much information about war in the

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Book of Mormon?"

AuthorsChris JohnsonDuane Johnson

For further information about the computer analysis of 130,000 books that leadto the discovery of The Late War, please see our notes on the Hidden in PlainSight study.

CreditsRick Grunder—author of Mormon Parallels and original researcher to findThe Late Warmms, Kishkumen, grindael, Shulem, Everybody Wang Chung, DrW,Gadianton, Hasa, Mary, and others on the mormondiscussions.comforum who found parallels and basically crowd sourced the research thatthis web page summarizes.Ryan Thomas—author of The Book of Mormon and the Late War: DirectLiterary Dependence?