John McLean's preservation in the Crimean War
Published October 4, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
John McLean, a Latter-day Saint serving in the British Army during the Crimean War, was wounded in the left arm by a bayonet on November 5, 1854. Through the blessing of God, he was able to return to his duty within five days. Later in the same engagement, his brother McDonald, a fellow Saint in the same regiment, was struck by shell splinters, then knocked senseless by a shell bursting near him, and finally wounded in the hand, yet he survived.
In Their Own Words
“I was wounded, myself, by a bayonet, in the left arm, but the Lord enabled me, through the blessing of God, to return to my duty in about five days. ... Brother McDonald, of this regiment, was wounded three times—the top of his head was first scratched by the splinters of a shell, and he had it bound with a handkerchief, and entered the engagement again, when another shell burst near him, and threw the clay and stones up into his face, knocking him senseless for some time, and it swelled his jaw very much. He received also a musket shot in the palm of his hand, but he appeared to be doing well at the time he went away with the rest of the wounded to Balaklava. — Millennial Star 17:1”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 6 January 1855 (Vol. 17, No. 1). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1855-01-06_17_1 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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