Now the logic of Mormon's 'last defense' does not make for any common sense if one places the Hill Cumorah just a couple of days journey from the prime lands of the Lamanites south of the narrow neck of land. Nor does it make sense in terms of the Lamanite conquest and take over of the land for the last 10 plus years of the conflict from 375 to 385 AD. Since the time of the last treaty that failed in of the lands being divided at the narrow neck, the Nephites according to Mormon's record would continue to fall before the Lamanites as the disapearance of dew before the sun from 375 AD on. Many readers fail to appreciate the facts of this ever northward removal of the Nephites from their lands because Mormon's abridgement had become even more greatly abridged to practically nothing being reported from 380 - 384 AD. The only two statements that Mormon makes in his own record regarding this period which reveals the events after the fall of Jordan is first found in Mormon 5:7 and then in Mormon 6:5. I will quote both of these below:
And when the three hundred and eighty and four years had passed away, we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah. (Mor. 6:5)
There is some discussion about just how long the gathering period took, and some have either adopted the Jaredite four years of gathering to Ramah as their logical base, borrowed such a conclusion as four years of gathering from Orson Pratt, or have concluded of their own logic, that since the last year of time mentioned from the fall of Jordan in 380 AD to the cummination of the gathering of the Nephites at the end of 384 AD, the period of gathering dominated this four year void of historical account. But there is just as much, if not more reason to conclude that the time spent from 380 to and including all of 383 AD was actually spent in continual retreat of the type reported in Mormon 5:7, and that the gathering just occupied the single year of 384 exclusively. And is was in the year 385, that the Nephites nation was destoryed at Cumorah.
A careful reading and study of Mormon 5:3-9, particularly verses 8 and 9 disclose ample reason why there is such a void of recorded events from 380 to 384 AD. The day in and day out, week in an week out, month in and month out, and year in and year out details where just being kept back because Mormon untterly refused to share such details of the blood and horror of the happenings from our understanding. Villeges, cities, and lands go unnamed and un-detailed as they where being pasted by in the writings of Mormon. The hint that there were much more land comes in two forms. First in verse 5, there is a very straight forward statement that clearly presents to the reader the fact that there was 'an entire 'country' north of the Mormon's line of stronghold defense' being protected by the short stand at Jordan and the other stronghold cities that presented this line of defense.
A second hint or evidence, that the flight of the Nephites after 'Jordan's Defense' failed was a period almost totally void or record of events, is to be seen from a careful analysis of Mormon's epistle to his son Moroni found in Moroni 9. A complete discussion of placing this epistle at the time of the Jordan fall is given on the page that discusses the ever northward retreat of the Nephites from 375 to 385 AD page. As presented there, Moroni was still north of Mormon's retreating armies working with the Nephite people well north of the battle front. Mormon in his letter to Moroni tells him of just one small sequence of events which he had not included at all in his small abridged personal book. Mormon's letter to Moroni gives a small glimpse into such 'horrors that Mormon was refusing to share' with his readers in his own abriged record. And that was just one short sequence reported in just one letter to his son Moroni.
Third Mormon never records at what point in his retreat that his son Moroni joined the battle. We know that Moroni is at Cumorah as one of the leaders of his command of 10,000, but through out all of Mormon's record, Moroni is never a part of Mormon's war against the Lamanites. We have two letters from Mormon to his son Moroni. The first is where Mormon commends Moroni for having to been called into the service of the Lord. And in the other letter, which is accessed to be written to Moroni upon the fall of Jordan, Moroni is yet north in the previously protect country working in the ministry. It is during Mormon's retreat of flight where Moroni finally is gathered up into the flight of the Nephites, which if it was not rapid enough, the Lamanites did destroy them. Such 'missing significant events' adds evidence that Mormon's record of the years after Jordan where being withheld yet full of the happenings of the retreat from Jordan to Cumorah a great distance away and not just a few miles to a localized Cumorah to which the Mesoamerican theory subscribes to.
The Nephite retreat from the narrow neck of land continued for over 10 years. Mormon only tells a greatly abreviated 'readers digest' summary of a few of the events. From Desolation he jumps to Boaz. He never tells of the fall of the intervening cities and lands such as Teancum and others. He barely gives a slight reference to the removal of the records from the Hill Shim. These records where great in number and the chore of removal and carting them from place to place was a task in and of itself. Mormon in his extremely shortened summary tells of none of it. Mormon barely gives any information of the stand in Jordan other than it envolved many cities (strongholds) and did halt the Lamanite invasion for a short time, perhaps some months or even a year's time. Mormon's account never does record when it was that Moroni was gathered up and became a part of the massive national retreat, yet Moroni was not a recorded part of any of the battles until Cumorah.
And the words on the Book of Mormon, without contrivance to fit a preconceived model only supports a continue going forth northward to the land of Cumorah. Only a Mesoamerican model ever requires such an illogical move by Mormon to plummet his remaining quarter to half million Nephites into a suicide battle in the very laps of the now occupied lands of the Lamanites. Surely logic would say that if there were lands to retreat to with a half a million people to populate them, that would be the more logical course.
Just what advantage could Mormon hope to achieve by placing his remaining half million people just a couple of days journey north of the narrow neck in the center of the lands taken over by the Lamanites? Even Custer had to be decoyed and exercised more sense than to gather himself willingly into the midst of the Cheyenne nation. Only in the Cumorah of New York is there any real advantage to Mormon's last resort gathering to Cumorah. Pushed to the extremes of the land, in a land only familiar to the local Nephites, who had occupied it, far from any Lamanite strongholds of support or defense, would Mormon's out numbered Nephites attempt to stand and see any hope of gaining an advantage over the ever pursuing Lamanite hoards.
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