<u>The Mormon Battalion was the only religion-based unit in the United States military history.</u>
It was a group of about 500 Latter-day Saints volunteers who joined the United States army in 1846 during the Mexican-American war.
From July 1846 to July 1847 they marched nearly 2000 miles across the southwestern United States, from Council Bluffs to San Diego. Although the battalion never joined a battle, nearly 20 people died during the journey.
The soldiers of the Mormon Battalion played an important role in the settlement of the west as in California, Arizona, Utah, etc. They improved trails and helped Sutter's Mill in finding gold.
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Such language has created considerable debate regarding the Amendment's intended scope.
In Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court ruled that detained criminal suspects, prior to police questioning, must be informed of their constitutional right to an attorney and against self-incrimination.
