…The success of General Young and the Army of the Rockies seems incongruous. They were completely cut off from any external support and had little in the way of industry. Despite this, they would survive not only 1917, but most of 1918…
…There are, as expected, multiple factors. Offensive operations were impeded by the mountainous terrain, but this does not explain why the Reds lost ground during 1917. Some accounts have placed the blame on Joe Hill, who led the Red Army in Utah, but while Hill was no military genius (and would resign from the Red Army after the war), he was far from incompetent. If he had a flaw, it was being overly cautious. It is also telling that while linking up with Pancho Villa helped stabilize the front in eastern Utah, the Red Army did not launch any successful counteroffensives…
…Of greater concern was poor coordination. Throughout 1917, Red forces in the Rockies remained divided between Hill’s Utahns, Vincent St. John’s Nevadans, Louis Tikas’s Coloradoans, and Pancho Villa’s Mexicans, with no central leadership. Some of this was due to communications difficulties, but St. John in particular strenuously resisted any notion of accepting Tikas as overall commander. The dispute was only resolved by Bronstein’s intervention, when he ordered all governors in command of military forces to either resign their political or military positions. Like his fellow firebrand William Trautmann, St. John chose the Red Army, receiving a promotion to Lieutenant General and command of the Army of Denver (which included Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada). The decision to name the army after the Coloradoan capital was largely a political move to mollify Governor Charles Moyer, who had argued vociferously that Tikas was the superior general and should have been given command over St. John. Bronstein agreed with this assessment, but not only was he worried about St. John defying orders, he also believed that Villa was actually the best commander in the Rocky Mountains theater. He did privately warn St. John to listen closely to his subordinates’ advice…
…There was one other factor impeding the Red advance. While he had received his command from President Wilson, General Richard Young was quickly cut off from not only logistical support, but even communications with Washington. Instead, he turned to the Church of Latter-Day Saints, which his father, Brigham Young, had been a prominent figure in, and which dominated Utahn society. The Army of the Rockies was quickly dominated by Mormons, especially among the lower ranks. His recruitment campaign promoted the image of the Reds as godless atheists who sought to destroy the Church. The result was that the Army of the Rockies fought with religious fervor, experiencing by far the lowest rate of desertion among the White armies. They held their ground despite being perpetually undersupplied and outgunned…
…Arriving in March, the American Flu completely halted the Red offensive towards Sevier Lake and bought the Army of the Rockies time to bring up additional supplies. General Young took firm action to fight the disease when it reached his forces, although it still left him vulnerable when the Reds began to recover…
…Unfortunately, the zeal of the Army of the Rockies also led them to continue fighting long after any hope of a military victory had passed. Young suppressed any talk of surrender even when the Red Army reached the outskirts of Salt Lake City in August. In a grim rehearsal for the Battle of Washington, St. John was faced with the prospect of assaulting a heavily fortified city, and his solution was to use heavy artillery to reduce the city. Salt Lake City was virtually leveled as a result, killing thousands. The leadership of the Latter-Day Saints was nearly wiped out. The only survivor from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was Orson F. Whitney[1], who had allowed himself to be captured at Lehi specifically to ensure that at least one member of the Quorum survived, and would become the first postwar President of the Church…
- From Red Star Rising: A History of the Second American Revolution by Tom Clancy
[1] IOTL, Whitney is best known as the author of several Mormon hymns.
