“Variations in Black”: Eureka’s Stories – February 1, 2008

If you have ever seen the film Glory (1989), you are likely familiar with the story of the 54^th Massachusetts, one of the first regiments of black troops that was raised during the U.S. Civil War, and its valiant but ill-fated assault upon Battery Wagner, located near Charleston, South Carolina, on July 18, 1863. You might also recall that much of the story line in Glory centered upon the social and cultural interaction between the black troops of the 54^th Massachusetts and their white commanding officer, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. The film was a powerful testimony to friendship, heroism, and valor, and these attributes are all connected to Eureka College through the story of one of our own who was there.

When President Abraham Lincoln issued his official Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, he effectively sought to free all persons who remained enslaved in those areas of the southern confederacy that remained in rebellion against the Union. Lincoln additionally used the Emancipation Proclamation as a vehicle to invite black men to join the services of the Union and fight as soldiers and sailors in the armed forces of the United States. The response to this invitation was quite dramatic. By the end of the U.S. Civil War, an estimated 180,000 black men constituted what was called the United States Colored Troops (USCT), and all of these volunteers served in segregated units that were under the command of white officers.

One of the most noted groups to be formed during this period was the 7^th Infantry Regiment USCT, which saw service during the final two years of the war. It is quite possible that the men of the 7^th USCT may have traveled more than any other regiment during the years of the war, and their duties often took them to swampy coastal regions that were not always healthy environments. The men of the 7^th USCT were in reserve when the assault at Battery Wagner occurred in July 1863.

It is not surprising that the 7^th USCT suffered some of the highest mortality rates during the U.S. Civil War. Twenty-five percent of the 1,557 men in the 7^th USCT died during the war – 85 killed in battle and 308 the victims of disease. This is an extraordinarily high casualty rate.

Francis M. Bruner was a young white officer who served as captain to Company A of the 7^th USCT. Bruner was a graduate of Knox College (Class of 1857), who spent three years in Europe furthering his studies after graduating from Knox. Raised in a family of abolitionists who opposed the institution of slavery, Bruner returned to the United States as the nation was dividing over sectional lines and secession threatened the preservation of the Union. Just as Robert Gould Shaw, also the son of abolitionists, was called to serve within the USCT, so too was Francis M. Bruner invited to participate in this noble venture when the 7^th Infantry was raised in 1863.

Black troops and the white officers who served with them knew that they were taking tremendous risks when they joined the USCT. The official position of the southern confederacy was that there was no such thing as a black soldier, and as such, the rules of war would not allow the usual dignities accorded to prisoners of war to be accorded to black troops. Black soldiers risked the possibility of being enslaved or of being killed outright if captured. Similarly, the white officers who commanded black troops were viewed as abolitionists who were trying to foment insurrection, and they too were often killed outright if captured.

Francis M. Bruner served for one year with the 7^th Infantry USCT until disease forced him to depart. During this time he experienced the hardships and the deprivations that the other men of the regiment experienced, and he also lived with both the ever present anxiety that their mission was one that was fraught with difficulty but also the appreciation that their cause was a noble one. Powerful friendships formed in such an environment.

In the years following the U.S. Civil War, Bruner became a college professor, and in 1877 he was asked to accept the presidency of Abingdon College in Abingdon, Illinois, a sister institution of Eureka College that was established by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Economic difficulties made it difficult for competing institutions to thrive in central Illinois, and in 1884 Abingdon College merged with Eureka College. All Abingdon students, faculty, and alumni became members of the Eureka College family at that time. Francis M. Bruner accepted the position of heading the Bible Department at Eureka College and held the position for several years until health issues forced his retirement.

Soldiers of the Civil War era formed friendships that lasted for a lifetime. Many soldiers remained in contact with former comrades through letters and reunions. Many joined the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), an association of Civil War veterans that formed after the war to maintain contact among former comrades and to lobby for veteran’s rights. We can assume that Francis M. Bruner and his former comrades would have similarly used all means at their disposal to maintain contact with one another in the decades following the U.S. Civil War.

By curious coincidence, the first appearance of African American students at Eureka College takes place during the era when Francis M. Bruner was associated with Eureka College in the late-1880s. Further genealogical work would be needed to confirm it, but it is possible that the children and grandchildren of some of the men of the 7^th Infantry USCT may have attended Eureka College under the guidance and tutelage of Captain Bruner. If so, the seeds of honor, heroism, valor, and glory that were born of war may have found fruition in the educational attainment of future generations of African American youth.