“The Number of the Slain Were Not Numbered”

George Reynolds, Janne M. Sjodahl

The number of Nephites that fell in the battle which was fought between them and the allied forces of the Lamanites and the Amlicites was so great that the dead were not counted, but their brethren buried them all, and then afterwards returned to their homes in Zarahemla or wherever else they had chosen to abide. They were met there by their wives and loved ones, but it appears that many of the women and children who lived on the outskirts of their Capital City were slain by marauding bands of rebels and dark-skinned warriors. In their hatred of everything that belonged to those who remained true to the newly born Republic, the Amlicites joined the Lamanites in the wanton destruction of many of the flocks and herds of the Nephites. Also, many of the Nephites' fields of grain were ruined by the arrogant recklessness of the invading hosts who trampled to the earth the growing crops of corn and barley.

Instead of burying the slain of the Amlicites and the Lamanites, the Nephites threw their dead bodies into the River Sidon on whose banks the terrible conflict had been waged. It is almost needless to say that the disquieted waters of that placid stream then carried the lifeless forms of their erstwhile enemies out into the ocean. It is recorded that the slain of the combined Lamanite-Amlicite armies were "many."

Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3

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