In Mormon 1:15, Mormon was fifteen. During the same year, Yahweh visited him but would not allow him to preach (vv. 16–17). Presumably events were moving so quickly that Mormon’s military talents were needed more than his spirituality.
Mormon was not the commander of the first recorded battle against the Lamanites, suggesting Nephite losses so severe that their commander (whom I hypothesize may have been Mormon’s father) was captured, killed, or incapacitated. Whatever the circumstances, the Nephite commander during the first battle was replaced by a sixteen-year-old, youthful, to be sure, but still an adult by typical standards of the ancient world.
The Nephite army refused to engage the enemy and fled. While this rout must have been personally crushing for Mormon during his first formal command, other influences may be at work. The Nephite army was fighting a defensive war that should have required fewer troops to at least create a standoff and had successfully engaged the Lamanites only five (perhaps fewer) years earlier. The difference seems to be that the Lamanites and Gadiantons came to this second battle “with exceedingly great power.” I read the presence of the Gadiantons as support for my hypothesis of Teotihuacan militarism. (See Helaman, Part 1: Context, Chapter 3, “The Gadianton Robbers in Mormon’s Theological History: Their Structural Role and Plausible Identification.”) “Exceeding great power” suggests that the newly arrived Teotihuacanos had changed the nature of warfare, a change that continues to manifest itself in the wars that follow. One of the known changes was the importation of a new weapon, the atlatl, or spear-thrower. This powerful weapon was introduced into the Maya region during the fourth century, although it appears to have been unsuited to the tropical forests of the Maya lowlands and therefore did not become part of the Maya military arsenal. The Teotihuacano presence among the Maya had strong militaristic overtones, even if the evidence for direct conquest is circumstantial. The net effect, however, was a change in the nature of politics and artistic representations. Whether solely based on improved weaponry or combined with other tactics, the evidence suggests that the Teotihuacanos were typically victorious over their Maya opponents (based on the widespread presence of Teotihuacano symbols among the Maya during this time period).
If the Lamanites were trained and led by Teotihuacanos, Mormon’s Nephite army may have heard about—and feared—this new type of warfare. The presence of Teotihuacan influence would be immediately visible on the battlefield. Even before the rain of darts from the powerful atlatls, the military “uniforms” of the Teotihuacanos would be visible. Archaeologist Michael D. Coe describes the typical Teotihuacano military attire: “Teotihuacan fighting men were armed with atlatl-propelled darts and rectangular shields, and bore round, decorated, pyrite mosaic mirrors on their backs; with their eyes sometimes partially hidden by white shell ‘goggles,’ and their feather headdresses, they must have been terrifying figures to their opponents.”
Their flight, then, may not represent cowardice but a strategic retreat to understand and better prepare for this new type of enemy, one that is differently from any previous army that the Nephites have faced.
Chronology: Three hundred and twenty seven years would be A.D. 318.