Lesser Lights of the Book of Mormon: Teancum

LESSER LIGHTS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON.

Teancum.

In that glorious galaxy of patriot-priests, or warrior-prophets, call them what we may, to whose stern integrity, inspired valor, and unflinching virtue the Nephite Republic, in its earlier days, owed so much of its stability, and was so greatly indebted for its perpetuity, Teancum shines amongst the brightest. View him from whatever point we please, there is no mistaking the man— his ardent disposition, his fiery impetuosity, his zealous patriotism, his undaunted courage, his love of liberty, his entire disinterest­edness, shine forth in every action. Indeed, we might almost call him rash, so little did he consider his personal safety when he thought the good of his country required the sacrifice. In pictur­ing the heroes of those days, Teancum looms up before us almost as a Hotspur or Murat. In our mind’s eye we can see him charging the solid phalanxes of the Lamanites. rushing at full speed towards the enemy several lengths ahead of his line of battle; his command­ing presence inspiring confidence, his unwavering voice ringing out the word of command, his bright armor shining in the sun, and his auburn hair streaming from beneath his helmet, as, regard­less of all save the liberties of his country, he falls upon the thickest of the foe. seeking out their chief captains, that by their death an end may possibly be put to the horrors of war. Thus we find him slaying with his own hand, at different times, Morianton, Amalickiah and Ammoron. In fact, it is quite noticeable that in nearly all the great battles of this age, the Nephites appear to have made it a conspicuous part of their tactics to slay the com­mander of the opposing hosts: so fell Amlici, Morianton, Jacob, Coriantumr and others.

Teancum appears to have had command of the Nephite army of the North (under the direction of Moroni, the Commander-in-Chief of all the forces of the Republic), and to have had committed to him the defense of the Land Bountiful and the Isthmus of Panama. His first exploit to which our attention is drawn is the defeat of the dissatisfied people of the hot-headed Morianton, who, having unjustly quarrelled with their neighbors, the people of the City of Lehi, and being apparently aware of the unright­eousness of their cause, determined to migrate to the land northward, and there establish an independent government. Such a movement being evidently dangerous to the peace and stability of the Republic. Moroni determined to prevent the accomplish­ment of their scheme. He dispatched Teancum at the head of a body of troops to head them off. This the gallant officer suc­ceeded in doing, but not until they had reached the Isthmus, when a stubbornly-fought battle ensued, in which Teancum slew Morianton with his own hand, and compelled the surrender of his followers (B.C. 68). The prisoners were brought back, the griev­ances of the two peoples were investigated, a union between them brought about, and both were restored to their own lands.

In the following year (B.C. 67). Amalickiah, the apostate Nephite who reigned over the Lamanites, commenced his devas­tating invasion of the Atlantic provinces of the Nephites, com­mencing at Moroni, on the extreme southeast, he gradually advanced northward, capturing and garrisoning all the Nephite cities along the coast, until toward the close of the year he reached the borders of the land Bountiful, driving the forces of the Republic before him. At this point he was met by Teancum and a corps of veterans renowned for their courage, skill and discipline. The Lamanite leader endeavored to force his way to the Isthmus, with the intention of occupying the northern continent. In this he was foiled, for the trained valor of Teancum’s warriors was too much for that of Amalickiah's half-savage hordes. All day the light lasted, and at night the worn out soldiery camped in close proximity, the Lamanites on the sea beach, and the Nephites on the borders of the land Bountiful.

It was the last night of the old year (according to Nephite reckoning); the great heat and the terrible efforts of the day had overcome both officers and men. The murmur of the Atlantic’s waves sounded a soft lullaby in the ears of Amalickiali and his men, who, for the first time during the campaign, had suffered a check in their triumphal march. Even Amalickiali slept; but not so with Teancum. lie was brooding over the wrongs and perils of his beloved country, and his own sufferings, the deadly fruit of one man’s insatiate ambition. As he pondered, he grew more angry, and at last determined by one desperate stroke, to put an end to the war; or, if not that, at least to slay the cause of it. Taking one servant with him, he secretly stole out of his own camp into that of his enemy. A deathlike silence reigned in both. Cau­tiously and unobserved he searched out the royal tent. There lay the foe; there lay his guards, all overcome with resistless fatigue. To draw his javelin, to thrust it into the king’s heart and then flee, was but the work of a moment, and so adroitly did he fulfill his purpose, that the traitor died without a struggle or a cry, and it was not until the morning that his guards discovered that the hosts of Laman were without a head.

When Teancum returned to his own warriors, he awoke them from their slumbers and rehearsed to them all that he had done. It is not difficult to imagine their enthusiasm, which, lest they should arouse the enemy, they were compelled to restrain. Nor does it require any very great stretch of fancy to believe we can hear Teancum’s patriotic appeal. How he incited them to valor by the recollection of Israel’s ancient warriors, by the love they bore to their wives and little ones; how he pictured the horrors of the Lamanite invasion—homes desolated, temples defiled, the true church prostrated, the idols triumphant. And then invoking the protection and guidance of the Lord of Hosts, he would say: “Oh, Thou sole Ruler amongst unnumbered worlds, to whom all things submit, be with us, thou God of our fathers, Abraham. Isaac and Jacob. Gird on thy sword, thou Most Mighty One, go forth with our hosts in the day of battle; add to their inherited valor that confidence which springs from Thy presence. As thou went before Moses, and Joshua, and Jephthah, and Gideon, and Nephi and Alma, so go before us in the power of thy might. Pour into our hearts the spirit of thy departed servants, and inflame us with thine own, that whilst led by thy hand and fighting for the liberties thou hast confirmed unto us, we may ever inarch to victory, that the people may be comforted, thy Church preserved, and thy Most Holy name be glorified.”

Fearing that when the Lamanites awoke they, in their desperate anger, might make a sudden onslaught, Teancum kept his men under arms during the remainder of the night. But when the Lamanites saw his preparations they were affrighted, and hastily retreated to the neighboring city of Mulek, where they shut them­selves up. Each commander now felt only sufficiently strong to act on the defensive, and Teancum employed his soldiery in vigor­ously strengthening the fortifications of the land Bountiful, and also, by Moroni’s orders, the Isthmus which formed the natural northern boundary of that land. Moroni likewise desired him to harass and scourge the enemy whenever opportunity offered, but they kept too closely within their fortifications for much to be done in this way. This state of mutual watching, without any aggressive movements, continued for some time. Once Teancum, by Moroni’s direction, made reconnoissance in force towards Mulek. but he found it too strongly fortified to warrant an attempt to capture it by assault. He, therefore, retired to Bountiful and awaited Moroni’s arrival, that officer being now conducting operations in the southwest, in the region lying between the Pacific Ocean and the upper waters of the Sidon; where, also, Ammoron, Amalickiah’s brother and successor, was directing the movements of the invaders. Moroni did not rejoin Teancum until the end of the year B.C. 65.

At the commencement of the next year a grand council of war was held at the Nephite headquarters. Efforts had been made to induce the Lamanites to come out and fight on the open plains between Mulek and Bountiful, but their leaders very prudently declined. It was therefore decided to make an effort to draw them out by strategem. The Nephite army was divided into three divisions, commanded by Moroni, Lehi and Teancum respectively. Teancum advanced with a small body of men near to the walls of Mulek. The Lamanites, noticing his weakness, sallied forth to capture him. He retreated rapidly northward along the sea beach, in well-feigned trepidation. The enemy followed in hot pursuit. When they neared Bountiful, Lehi and his men marched out, covered the retreat, and confronted the now fatigued legions of Laman. Jacob, their leader, ordered a retreat to Mulek; Lehi leisurely advanced, till they reached the place where Moroni’s command blockaded the road. Then both Nephite com­manders met the Lamanites in the shock of battle, front and rear. The Lamanites were disastrously defeated, Jacob was killed and Mulek fell into the hands of the Nephites. This was the turning point in the war, for from this time the patriots gradually regained their lost cities.

We have no details of the services of Teancum in the brilliant campaign that followed, during which the tide of victory rolled resistlessly down the Atlantic shore. In the year B.C. 62, Moroni was compelled to march to the rescue of the Chief Judge, Pahoran, who had been driven out of the City of Zarahemla by a traitorous body of royalists, who took advantage of their country’s misfor­tunes to advance their own ambitions schemes. Moroni then left Lehi and Teancum in command of the forces in the east. When the royalist movement had been overthrown, and Pahoran had been reinstated on the judgment seat, Moroni returned to the work of driving out the invaders. The details of this campaign belong more properly to the life of Moroni than Teancum: we will therefore simply say that at last the soldiery of Ammoron were driven out of every Nephite City on the Atlantic sea-board, except the outlying one, called Moroni, where the whole of the invad­ing host were massed for a final desperate stand, and around which Moroni, with hurried and lengthened marches, had con­centrated his warriors.

It was the night before an expected decisive battle, and the Nephite officers and soldiery were too worn out to either devise stratagems or execute them. Teancum alone was in a condition of unrest. He remembered with intense bitterness all the bloodshed, woes, hardships, famine, etc., that had been brought about in this great and lasting war between the two races, which he rightly attributed to the infamous ambition of Amalickiah and Ammoron. He reflected how he had slain the former, and determined that as he had slain Amalickiah, so should Ammoron fall. In his anger he stole forth into the enemy's camp, let himself over the walls of the city, sought out the king’s tent, and when he had found out the object of his search, he cast a javelin at him, which pierced him near the heart; but, unlike Amalickiah. Ammoron’s death was not instantaneous, he had time to wake up his servant, before he passed away. The alarm was given, the guards started in pursuit, Teancum was overtaken, caught and slain. On the morrow Moroni attacked the Lamanites, defeated them with great slaughter, captured the city, and drove them entirely out of Nephite Territory. (B.C. 61).

The writer of the Book of Alma records: “When Lehi and Moroni knew that Teancum was dead they were exceedingly sorrowful: for behold, he had been a man who had fought vali­antly for his country, yea. a true friend to liberty, and he had suffered very many exceeding sore afflictions. But behold, he was dead, and gone the way of all the earth."

George Reynolds.