Helaman’s Letter to Moroni
Early in the thirtieth year of the judges’ reign—on the first day of the second month—Moroni received a letter from Helaman describing the situation in his part of the country.
This is what he wrote: “My dear brother Moroni—brother both in the Lord and in the struggles we face—I need to tell you what’s been happening in our war here.”
The Two Thousand Young Warriors
“Two thousand sons of the men Ammon brought out of Lamanite territory have joined us. You know they’re descendants of Laman, our ancestor Lehi’s oldest son. I don’t need to remind you about their traditions or their history of unbelief—you already know all that.”
“What matters is this: two thousand of these young men picked up weapons and asked me to lead them. They’ve come to defend our country.”
“You also know about the covenant their fathers made—that they would never take up weapons against their fellow people or shed blood. But in the twenty-sixth year, when they saw the hard times we were going through for their sake, they almost broke that covenant. They were ready to take up weapons to defend us. I wouldn’t let them break the covenant they’d made. I believed God would strengthen us enough that we wouldn’t suffer more by helping them keep their oath.”
Joining Forces at Judea
“Here’s something to celebrate: In the twenty-sixth year, I led these two thousand young men to the city of Judea to help Antipus—the commander you’d appointed over that region.”
“I joined my two thousand sons—and they’re worthy of being called sons—to Antipus’s army. He was thrilled with the reinforcements, because the Lamanites had devastated his forces. They’d killed so many of our people that we had real reason to grieve. Still, we can take comfort in this: they died for their country and their God. They’re at peace now.”
“The Lamanites have also captured many prisoners—all of them chief captains. They haven’t spared anyone else. We think they’re being held in Lamanite territory, if they haven’t been killed.”
“These are the cities the Lamanites seized after spilling the blood of so many of our brave soldiers: The city of Manti, Zeezrom, Cumeni, and Antiparah.”
“When I arrived at Judea, these were the cities they controlled. I found Antipus and his men working day and night to fortify the city. They were exhausted—physically and emotionally drained. They’d been fighting hard during the day and working through the night to keep their cities secure. They’d endured every kind of suffering. They were determined to either win here or die trying. So you can imagine how much hope and joy my small force—these sons of mine—brought them.”
A Waiting Game
“When the Lamanites saw that Antipus had received reinforcements, their leader Ammoron ordered them not to attack Judea or engage us in battle. The Lord was watching out for us. If they’d attacked while we were still vulnerable, they might have wiped out our small army. But we were spared. Ammoron commanded them to hold the cities they’d already taken. That’s how the twenty-sixth year ended. At the start of the twenty-seventh year, we’d prepared both our city and ourselves for defense.”
“We actually wanted the Lamanites to come after us. We didn’t want to attack them in their fortified positions. We posted scouts all around to track Lamanite movements. We couldn’t let them slip past us—day or night—to attack our other cities to the north. Those northern cities weren’t strong enough to withstand an attack. Our plan was to let the Lamanites pass, then hit them from behind while they were also attacked from the front. We thought we could overwhelm them. But things didn’t work out that way.”
“They didn’t dare march past us with their full army. And they couldn’t split their forces—they’d be too weak and risk defeat. They didn’t dare march down toward Zarahemla. And they didn’t dare cross the Sidon River toward Nephihah. So with all their forces, they committed to holding the cities they’d captured.”
Setting the Trap
“In the second month of that year, we received a large shipment of supplies from the families of my two thousand sons. Zarahemla also sent us two thousand more soldiers. With these reinforcements, we now had ten thousand men, plus provisions for them and their families.”
“When the Lamanites saw our forces growing daily and supplies continuing to arrive, they got nervous. They started making raids, trying to cut off our supply lines and reinforcements.”
“When we saw them getting anxious, we decided to set a trap. Antipus ordered me to march out with my young soldiers toward a neighboring city, making it look like we were delivering supplies there. We’d march near Antiparah, as if heading to a coastal city beyond it.”
“So we marched out with our provisions, pretending to head to that city. Antipus marched out with part of his army, leaving the rest to defend the city. But he waited until I’d left with my small army and gotten close to Antiparah.”
“Antiparah was where the Lamanites had stationed their strongest and largest army. When their scouts spotted us, they marched out with their army to intercept us.”
The Chase
“We turned and ran north. We’d successfully drawn out their most powerful army. They chased us a long way. When they finally spotted Antipus’s army coming hard after them, they didn’t veer right or left—they kept coming straight at us. We figured they wanted to kill us before Antipus could catch up, so they wouldn’t get surrounded.”
“Antipus saw we were in danger and pushed his army to move faster. But night fell, and neither army could catch up to anyone. So we all made camp.”
“Before dawn, the Lamanites were on our trail again. We weren’t strong enough to fight them head-on. I wouldn’t risk my young sons falling into their hands, so we kept running deeper into the wilderness. They couldn’t turn aside or they’d risk being surrounded. And I couldn’t turn aside or they’d catch us, and we’d be killed—and they’d escape. So we ran all day through the wilderness until darkness came.”
“When morning light came again, we saw the Lamanites still behind us, and we kept running. But they didn’t chase us far this time before they stopped. It was the morning of the third day, in the seventh month.”
A Decision to Fight
“We didn’t know if Antipus had caught up with them or not. I told my men: ‘We don’t know—maybe they’ve stopped to trap us if we come back.’ ’So what do you say, my sons? Should we go back and fight them?’”
“Let me tell you, my dear brother Moroni: I had never seen such courage—not even among all the Nephites.”
“I’d always called them my sons—they were all so young. And they answered: ‘Our God is with us, and he won’t let us fall. Let’s go back. We never wanted to kill our brothers if they’d leave us alone. But we have to go—Antipus’s army might be in trouble.’ They’d never fought in battle before. But they didn’t fear death. They cared more about freedom—the freedom their fathers had—than about their own lives. Their mothers had taught them that if they didn’t doubt, God would protect them. They told me what their mothers had said: ‘We don’t doubt our mothers knew this was true.’”
The Battle
“So I turned back with my two thousand to face the Lamanites who’d been chasing us. When we arrived, Antipus’s armies had already caught up with them. A brutal battle was underway.”
“Antipus’s army was exhausted from their forced march. They were about to be overwhelmed by the Lamanites. If I hadn’t returned with my two thousand, the Lamanites would have succeeded. Antipus had been killed, along with many of his officers. Their exhaustion from the hard march had cost them. When Antipus and his leaders fell, his men became disoriented and started falling back before the Lamanites.”
“The Lamanites gained confidence and pressed their attack hard. But then I arrived with my two thousand and hit them from behind, cutting them down so effectively that their entire army stopped and wheeled around to face us. When Antipus’s men saw the Lamanites had turned around, they regrouped and attacked the Lamanites from their rear.”
“So we—the Nephites, Antipus’s people, and my two thousand—surrounded the Lamanites and defeated them. We hit them so hard they had to surrender their weapons and themselves as prisoners.”
A Miraculous Protection
“After they’d surrendered, I counted my young warriors, terrified that many had been killed. But to my absolute joy, not a single one had fallen. They’d fought with the strength of God himself. Men had never been known to fight with such incredible strength and power. They came at the Lamanites so fiercely they terrified them—and that’s why the Lamanites surrendered.”
“Since we had no secure place to guard these prisoners and keep them from rejoining Lamanite armies, we sent them to Zarahemla with some of Antipus’s surviving men as escort. The rest of his survivors I added to my young warriors, and we marched back to Judea.”