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Testimonies (Why I Believe)

Don B. Colton's grandfather's service in the Mormon Battalion

Published November 5, 2026 at 4:52 PM

1840s · 1846
United States
Don B. Colton·Don B. Colton's grandfather

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Millennial Star Research

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Don B. Colton's grandfather was one of five hundred members of the Mormon Battalion who volunteered for service in the Mexican War in 1846. Despite the Church suffering from persecution and mobs at the time, he and others loyally answered the government's call, leaving behind their families and undertaking a difficult 2,000-mile march across the desert without proper equipment.

In Their Own Words

“Colton: My own grandfather was one of five hundred . . . members of the Mormon Battalion. . . . When the government called for volunteers he left a family on the prairies. His family consisted of a wife and five children. He responded to the call of his country in time of peril. The Mormcn Eattalion made the longest infantry march in history. . . . That was in the Mexican War in 1846. Believe me, it was no small sacrifice for those men to leave their families poorly provided for and go on a journey of this magnitude and which was fraught with such danger. — Millennial Star 104:49”

Sources & References

The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), Vol. 104, No. 49 (1942). https://archive.org/details/millennialstar10449eng (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)

Every published account is vetted against its sources — read our editorial standards.

Filed under

Testimonies (Why I Believe)1840sUnited StatesMormon Battalion MiraclesMillennial Star Miracles

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Questions about this account

Who was involved in this account?
The account involves Don B. Colton, Don B. Colton's grandfather. Each person named here also has a witness page collecting the other accounts involving them.
When did this account take place?
The account is set in 1846, in the 1840s.
Where did this account take place?
It took place in United States.
What kind of miracle is this?
It is filed as a Testimonies (Why I Believe) account reported in United States.
Where does this account come from?
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), Vol. The full source citation appears in the Sources section below, with links to the original where available.

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