It will be recalled from Alma chapter 16 that a great Nephite general named Zoram had been appointed to lead the Nephite armies and he had not only recovered the prisoners taken by the Lamanites but completely routed the Lamanites from the land of Zarahemla. The remnants of this Lamanite army fled into the eastern wilderness, and in the next four verses we learn that many of the Lamanites not only felt completely defeated but they remembered the teachings of Aaron and the missionaries and wished they had joined the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. But the Amulonites got control of the remnants of the Lamanite army and put to death by fire any who expressed sympathy for the teachings of the missionaries.