JACOB THE ZORAMITE--HIS CHARACTERISTICS--THE STRATEGY BY WHICH
MULEK WAS TAKEN--THE FIERCE BATTLE BETWEEN JACOB AND THE NEPHITE
FORCES--JACOB'S DEATH.
(ALMA CHAP. 52.)
The general who commanded the Lamanite forces at Mulek was named
Jacob. He was a Nephite apostate, who had accepted the errors of the
Zoramites. His appointment was one characteristic of the prevailing
policy of Amalickiah and of his successor, Ammoron. It was to give
the command of the Lamanite armies to men who, like themselves, were
traitors to their own government; for, in such cases, to military
knowledge was almost invariably added intense religious hate, which
neither asked nor gave quarter on the battlefield, but fought to the
last extremity with unconquerable fury.
Such a one was Jacob. He had entrenched himself in the strongly
fortified city of Mulek, the most northern of the Nephite cities that
had fallen into the enemy's hands. It was a key to the surrounding
country. While it remained in Lamanite possession it was very little
use for Moroni to attempt to recover the cities that lay yet farther
south along the shores of the east sea. The Nephite generals did not
consider themselves justified in making an attempt to carry the place
by assault. Such an effort would have cost too many noble lives, and
probably have proven unsuccessful. Moroni had with him at this time two
of his most trusted lieutenants, Lehi and Teancum, both of whom were
little inferior to the chief captain in wisdom and valor. At a council
of war it was determined to attempt the capture of Mulek by strategy.
They had already sent embassies to Jacob desiring him to bring his
armies into the open plain to meet the Nephites in battle, but the
Lamanite commanders were too well acquainted with the discipline
and courage of the Nephite forces to take such a risk. There was,
therefore, but one plan left, other than to patiently sit down before
the city and reduce it by a regular siege, and that was to decoy a
portion of its defenders beyond the protection of its walls, and when
it was thus weakened to carry it by storm. Moroni determined on this
course.
By command of Moroni, the gallant Teancum, with a small force, marched
along the sea shore to the neighborhood of Mulek, while Moroni, with
the main body of the army, unperceived by the enemy, made a forced
march by night into the wilderness which lay on the west of the city.
There he rested. Lehi, with a third corps, remained in the city of
Bountiful.
On the morrow Teancum's detachment was discovered by the Lamanite
outposts, and from the smallness of its numbers they judged it would
fall an easy prey. Jacob at once sallied forth at the head of his
warriors to attack the presumptuous Nephites. On their approach Teancum
cautiously retreated along the sea shore towards the city of Bountiful.
Jacob followed in vigorous pursuit. Moroni, in the meanwhile, divided
his army into two corps, one of which he dispatched to capture the
city, and with the other he closed in between Jacob's army and Mulek.
The first corps accomplished its work without difficulty, for Jacob had
left but a small force behind him, and all who would not surrender were
slain.
The Lamanites crowded after Teancum in hot pursuit until they came
nigh unto Bountiful, when they were met by Lehi and the small force
under his command. At his appearance the Lamanite captains fled in
confusion, lest they should be out-generaled and cut off from their
fortifications. Jacob's warriors were weary by reason of their long and
hasty advance, while Lehi's soldiers were fresh and unfatigued. But
Lehi refrained from pressing too vigorously on his retreating foes, as
his object was not to exhaust his men before the hour of battle came,
and he was anxious to avoid a conflict till he and Moroni could at the
same moment attack the Lamanites in front and rear.
When Jacob drew near the city he found himself confronted by the
soldiers of Moroni, who closed in around his warriors and barred
their further progress southward; while Lehi, putting forth his
pent-up energies, fell with fury on their rear. Weary and worn though
his troops were, Jacob would not surrender. Whatever his faults may
have been, and they were doubtless numerous, he had a resolute,
unconquerable spirit that would fight to the last. He determined, if
possible, to cut his way through to Mulek. With this intent he made a
desperate, though ineffectual, charge on Moroni's lines. The Nephites
being fresh and unwearied, never wavered, but received the shock firm
as a rock upon which the waves of the ocean break in vain. The battle
here raged with indescribable fierceness, and with heavy losses to both
sides. The wild Lamanites, in the frenzy of desperation, dashed with
all their strength and prowess against the well-ordered ranks of the
Nephites, in the one absorbing endeavor to force their way through;
while the Nephites, in the heroic courage which religion and patriotism
inspire, stood cool and undismayed, breaking the force of the shock of
each charge, then
On the wounded and the slain
Closed their diminished files again.
to receive the next onslaught. In this desperate encounter Moroni was
wounded and Jacob slain.
While Jacob was thus impetuously charging on Moroni's corps, Lehi
with his "strong men" was as furiously driving in the Lamanite rear.
At last the soldiers of Jacob in that part of the field surrendered.
Their leader being slain, the remainder of the troops hesitated between
throwing down their arms and continuing the hopeless strife. Moroni,
with his intense hatred of unnecessary bloodshed, when he noticed that
they wavered, cried out that if they would lay down their weapons
and deliver themselves up he would spare their lives. His offer was
accepted. The chief captains, who remained, came forward and placed
their weapons at his feet and commanded their men to do the same. Most
of the warriors obeyed, yet numbers would not. They preferred death to
surrender, and force had to be used to wrest their weapons from them.
The Lamanite prisoners were then sent under an escort to the city of
Bountiful, and when counted were found to exceed in numbers the slain
on both sides in the late battle. Thus fell Mulek, and thus died its
defender, Jacob the Zoramite.