Legion survived the loss of its commanding officer, Joseph Smith, when Brigham Young automatically assumed command as the new church president in August 1844, though he had never previously been active in Legion activities because Young was in England on a proselytizing mission for several years and only returned home to Nauvoo when hearing of the prophet's death to assist the family, church, and citizens of Nauvoo . Rather than employ the Legion to protect Nauvoo from increased mob violence, Young directed Nauvoo's tens of thousands of citizens to migrate peacefully to the western part of the continent which wasn't yet part of the United States and they founded the territory of Utah. Nauvoo was officially abandoned and the last remaining citizens had vacated Nauvoo by September 17, 1846, under gunfire and cannon artillery barrage as Illinois and Missouri militia and mobs raided and burned Nauvoo to the ground . Upon the revocation of the Nauvoo Charter in the winter of 1844–1845, the Nauvoo Legion was no longer recognized as state militia, and its members returned the majority of its government-issued arms. Depleted of its official status, remnants assumed roles such as guardians of the handcart and wagon companies heading west after being reorganized by Hosea Stout on September 22, 1846, as they amassed on the other side of the Mississippi River in the territory of Iowa where the citizens of Nauvoo were safe from attack by mobs and Illinois and Missouri militia, and waited for winter to end so they could migrate . An area memorialized by the somber Far West cemetery and LDS Temple. There are however some reported incidents in diaries of Saints concerning gunfire exchange between legion members and mobs during the Nauvoo era . And also legion members participated in the rescue of Joseph from the state Militia who had unlawfully arrested him after luring him to what was supposed to be a peaceful political debate and were going to hang him . Legion reformation in Utah Mormon Battalion in Mexican–American War Not long after the arrival of the Mormons in Iowa, in 1846, Mormon legionnaires volunteered to serve in the 500 man Mormon Battalion for the U.S. government military expedition to Mexican California during the Mexican–American War. State of Deseret Territorial Militia In 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young reformed the Nauvoo Legion into a fully functional paramilitary force, which was organized into sub-units for