Potts's Divinely Directed Command to Halt a Marching Company
Published October 12, 2026 at 6:23 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
During the War of the Rebellion, a man named Potts, who had enlisted as a captain of a company, was drilling his men when he found himself compelled by an inward force to suddenly call out 'Halt!' against his own initial confusion. The men stopped instantly, which saved them from marching over an embankment that they had not seen.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 59, No. 25 (24 June 1897), p. 394):
During the war of the rebellion, a man named Potts, who had enlisted as a captain of a company, was drilling his men, when he found himself compelled by an inward force to suddenly call out 'Halt!' against his own initial confusion. The men stopped instantly, which saved them from marching over an embankment that they had not seen.
In Their Own Words
“A gentleman who had enlisted for the War of the Rebellion: He was given command of a company, and, after preparatory drill, led them down a street, when suddenly from the ranks rang out a loud 'Halt!' The men wavered and then came to a full stop. 'Who gave that order?' thundered the captain. 'Potts, sir! Potts!' a dozen voices called out, and then came the question, 'Why did you give that order?' demanded the captain. 'Well, sir, I've been trying for two blocks to get this through my head that we ought to stop, and I finally had to give the order.' In front of them, just at the edge of the embankment, the company was stopped. Had they taken one more step they would have been precipitated down the embankment. — Millennial Star 59:25”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 24 June 1897 (Vol. 59, No. 25). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1897-06-24_59_25 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 59, No. 25 (24 June 1897), p. 394 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1897-06-24_59_25
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